Galoots-
Well, here I am at last. A place where all who hold the tools holy reside.
I guess since this is my first official posting I should include the
prerequiste bio.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, I have been fascinated with woodworking
ever since my father passed on an OLD tool box with this thing in it that
had a flat bottom and a handle. Before he died, he told me never, ever,
ever sell it. When I was old enough to actually understand what tools were
I found out it was an old Stanley #1 and that they didn't make them
anymore. (gloat?)
Well, it did not take me long to figure out that I liked working with wood
and worked for many years as a carpenter. O.K. I really was into the whole
tool thing, but one day I found my (you-know-what)saw could not finish the
cut I was making into a piece of poplar. One of the old foremen pulled out
a handsaw and it was like an epiphany. I realized that most of the things I
were doing could be handled with (gasp) handtools!
Jump ahead several years, and SWMBO and I bought a very old victorian home
that was badly in need of a lot of reparation. Yippee! Just the excuse I
needed to start stockpiling those old tools that you KNOW we all need. "But
hon, what if there is a war and there is no more electricity and I HAVE to
cut that board..." Needless to say, when restoring/repairing a 130+ year
old house, there are things that will require a little finesse not to be
found straddling some big heavy piece of equipment with a cord hanging off
the end.
Since then I have tried my hand at making furniture of various types (end
tables, coffee tables, a bedboard {turned into a fiasco...}, and a jewelry
box for my wife (you think I didn't get a little APPRECIATION for that
one??).
I have spent countless hours getting my workshop just where I want it to
be, and in about twenty years or so I should be just about there. But I
have aquired what I consider a "basic list of must haves" for my own shop
including a "new" #4 #5 and #7, a collection of handsaws and backsaws,bit
brace, chisels, hammers, and such. Most of my purchases have been
practical,rather than asthetic, but I have paid the price with a few
choices. My first new plane was a new Stanley #4. Yep, that's right,
plastic handles, plastic adjustment nut, about as flat as the earth, and
just as sharp. Well, there's no excuse for all that. I am just going to
have to start finding those flea markets I keep hearing about and pull that
coffee can I have stashed under my bench and spend some of that green. BTW,
If anyone is from western Pa and knows where these tool sales happen (yes I
will be watching for the first of the month...) nearby, please let me know.
Well, thank you all for having a place where I can go to talk about my
tools (can you see the drool on my lower lip?)
My shop motto: get it done before she finds out you didn't take out the
trash yet...
-William Elman
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