OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

164981 "Karl Rookey" <karl.rookey@g...> 2006‑11‑20 Updated Bio: lengthy


Well, in preparation for the arrival of Galootaclaus, I've updated my
bio. Since I don't want the new bio to contain less information than
the old one, this is fairly long:

In "real" life I am a corporate trainer turned Instructional Designer,
currently contracting at EMC. I have two GITS (9 and 3, both girls),
the eldest of whom actually likes sanding, and last year built a
birdhouse from a kit (someday I'll post the pictures I took of her
ripping the pieces from a single board using the tiny saw they
provided...). Both GITs like to come down into the shop and watch me
work, or better yet: pick up small nails from the floor, dust
surfaces, explore the tool shelves. I need to clean the basement to
make more space, but once I do I plan to make a bench for the two of
them.

If you know me, you'll know that I have too many interests for my own
good, one of which is a form of living re-enactment called the Society
for Creative Anachronism. This is one interest I share with Esther
Heller, and as she says, it is like being a Galoot for everything.
Currently, my focus is in medieval martial arts, so generally, on at
least one out of every seven days, I get dressed in armor and test my
skill with the "sword" against all challengers. You can see a picture
of my current armor (with me in it) here:
http://www.robertkarl.org/images/PennsicXXXIII/DSCF0009.JPG Making the
"swords" is a form of woodworking: they are fashioned out of ratan,
using a draw knife. Some day I need to get a better draw knife, but
for now I work on improving the one I have, flattening the back and
improving the bevel a little bit before each use...

As for Old Tools: friend of mine failed to tell me that loving old
tools is communicable. He just invited me to his house, showed me
around his shop (complete with a newly designed and built
cabinetmaker's bench and a decided bent toward found, bargained, and
rehabilitated tools) then sent me home with a couple of "extra" hand
planes: A Dunlop block plane in dire need of something, a Craftsman
equivalent of a #4, and a #4 Stanley: newer model with the brown paint
Japanning. As you can probably tell, my friend was infected and quite
contagious; I apparently had not been innoculated against the bug and
was soon infected as well.

What has followed that innocent workshop visit is an attempt to cram
too much information into too little time: Hours spent following links
from woodworking and tool websites (especially this list); spontaneous
recovery from nearly all urges to visit The Borg (especially for hand
tools); compulsive perusal of FWW, Woodworking, Woodwork, and Taunton
Press books of all stripes; long browses of the Bay's tool listings;
and enrollment in several woodworking courses at the North Bennett
Street School, all of which had a focus on hand tools. Woodworking
tools are a working fascination, but machinists tools are my
impractical affection. I don't know what to do with most of them, but
I buy them anyway...

I am decidedly a user of tools (not a collector), and while my
friend's donations provided tinder for the fire, the logs were added
when I decided to build, rather than buy, birthday and Christmas gifts
for SWMBO. It just happens that my chosen gifts were tools of another
trade: weaving. At the time of my first bio I had designed and built a
lap loom, three combination beater/shuttles, and two pickup sticks,
all workable tools that raised my status in the eyes of SWMBO and the
eldest GIT. Since then, I've had much more time with the tools, and
I've become even more attached to hand tools as a method for working
wood.

Though I'm not really a Neanderthal by intent, I've been drawn there by
a need to work in an extremely small workspace, and by my interest in
how things were done in medieval times. I find satisfaction in knowing
what can be done by hand, and being able to do some of it. I expect,
in the end, to become a Normanderthal (or is it a Neandermite?) like
Chris Schwartz but I'm doing that the hard way too: restoring a free
early period Bandsaw and '60's era DeWalt radial armsaw...

Some of the most useful additions to my shop since 2004: a face vise
on my bench, holdfasts from our northern friend Phil Koontz (worth
every penny!),a pair of matched skew chisels, a nice brace, and a
Millers Falls egg beater. I'm more and more interested in building my
own tools, especially after recently making a mallet and marking awl
on a lathe.

Ambitions abound: I want to build a viking-style bed for my eldest GIT
(think a Gokstad four post bed, not Oseburg woodcarvers deluxe), a six
board chest and knock-down table for "camping" in style, and a wooden
casting pattern for a Draco (a dragon's head mount for the heraldic
wind socks used by some Roman legions). As for tool making: I hope to
make a few Krenov-style planes in the next year. All I need is to get
the wood, metal, and time gathered together in the same place.

Wiktor recently asked me to contribute something for WKFT, so look for
an article sometime soon about the adventures of building an oak box
by hand, starting (mostly) from the tree...

P.S. If you are interested in what the Vikings did with wood, this is
a good place to start: http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/wood.shtml


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Recent Bios FAQ