OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

84498 "Paul D.May" paulncathy@n... 2000‑10‑03 Totally uninteresting bio...
I have been lurking here for a long time (occasional post…whoossat?) so I
thought I would post a bio.  Seems like a lot of folks with a posted bio still
lurk though…

 I was born the winter of '59 in Wisconsin and lived there until the spring of
'91 when I moved to Michigan with my wife (my best friend) and three
daughters. Soon afterwards we added a fourth daughter and are currently
holding there. 

I have always enjoyed working with tools. My love for them really took off
during the summers back from college when I was an apprentice homebuilder
engaged in primarily rough carpentry.  This following a few summers as a
longshoreman that helped to build up several gallootnick attributes in me. 

After moving into a Michigan farmhouse built in 1872, (and through extensive
remodeling), my collection of tools grew and my finishing skills really took
off.   It was during this time that my interest in furniture building
blossomed (footstools, simple cabinets etc…) using the evil tailed creatures
exclusively (except for maybe a chisel or two) and I really felt there was
something more to this WW thing than pushing sticks through a machine.  Over
time I also became interested in building more advanced pieces of furniture
and worked at increasing my knowledge of joinery and how the forces of wood
work.   Thinking cap on: "how could I make that joint with the tools I
hav...dunno"...: "boy I would like to shave that down a bit". Thinking cap
off.  This is where my interest in oldtools took off.  I started reading from
the forums on the net and any sort of printed material I could get my hand on
pertaining to handplanes, scrapers, spokeshaves and the like (read: I now have
a BIG library!). After convincing myself it was worth the time to tune an old
handplane and actually use it, I never looked back.  SWMBO thought it was odd
at first but now she seems to have accepted it as more than just a passing
interest.  I now have #'s 3-8 (no #1's or #2's…remember I have 4 kids.),
assorted scrapers, block planes, braces, eggbeaters…the list goes on.  I use
almost everything I got and still look for the odd item I still need.  

This is a great place to learn and exchange thoughts.  Even though I have been
building things out of wood for over 20 years, I still consider myself
intermediate in technique and skill.  This is a good thing for me because when
I stop learning, it won't be fun anymore.

Paul D. May  10/3/00




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Recent Bios FAQ