OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

25475 Ezra Herman <ezraherman@p...> 1997‑09‑03 Bio: My Life and Times
I've been given to understand that a bio is in order, as I've 
been popping up with the occasional question from time to 
time. Well, OK...

When I was born, I was very young, but as time went by 
I grew older.

--Hold it, this isn't going to work. Let me try this again.--

I was born and raised in a small town of 800 people in central 
New Jersey. (Farm and horse country for those of you whose 
experience of NJ is the urban part.) I now live in New York 
City and have had my own computer consulting business for 
about 15 years.

I got badly bitten by the woodworking bug about six months ago.
I have always been handy, but had never tried to do anything 
beyond shelving, countertops and the like. But I was putting 
together some shelves and started thinking about perhaps doing 
something else besides butt joints. Then I started musing on 
finishes and wood grain and before I knew it I was mooning over 
tool catalogs and trying frantically to figure out what I needed to
know to do the things I was thinking of.

I live in Manhattan, in a two bedroom apartment; medium-sized by NYC
standards, small by all rational standards. Now there are people who
say that a small apartment in not the most suitable place to practice
woodworking. Those people are absolutely right. 

However, in my case, a small apartment turned out to be a very
lucky choice for starting woodworking. I quickly realized that 
the way that everybody I knew practiced woodworking, i.e. with 
power tools, was impossible for me. So I started reading about 
and playing with hand tools and discovered how much more 
satisfying they were to work with.

I'm still working on those shelves. They are almost done, and I
will be sort of sorry when they are. They have taught me a lot
about planing, chiseling, sharpening, finishing and a host of 
other skills.

Meanwhile, my estimable SWMBO has turned over a small (8' x 9') 
anteroom in our apartment for my exclusive use. As this is no 
small percentage of our total floor space this was a large
sacrifice on her part. I finally have a real workbench. (For a
pleasant picture, imagine me chasing a board on a Black & Decker
Workmate around the room with a #4 :)) I think I'll be working 
on mostly small pieces for awhile.

My biggest problem to date is that I've had to learn this stuff
by reading and experimentation. I haven't had anybody to talk
to who knows anything about how to joint a board, for example.

I have also not had the chance to see anybody else work, which 
has been hugely frustrating. But recently I found a wood-
working course in Manhattan which I am starting in a few weeks.
I am looking forward not only to the course, but to finding
other like minded souls.

Meanwhile, the OldTools list has been a wonderful resource. I am
just starting to go to various old tools haunts and auctions
and am looking forward to meeting some of you in person.

-Ezra Herman

(BTW, I am definitely a user, not a collector. I have a 
very supportive SWMBO, but collecting is probably pushing it. :))

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Recent Bios FAQ