It is way past due for my bio, so here goes.

My father built houses on spec back in his early days.  He was/is
skilled at hand tool use.  When I came along, my father had gone into
another business.  Nevertheless, he always had hand tools around the
house and lots of shop space in the basement, but no table saws or band
saws, only hand tools.  My father taught me to use hand tools as I was
growing up but, since I was young and stupid, I liked power tools
better.

I was pressed into service to work/maintain the family houseboat. which
is made of wood.  It is a custom design by my father, and he and my many
uncles built it in our driveway working around the clock, back when I
was in diapers.  The boat is still floating and has been very well
maintained by my father, brother and I (The design was featured in an
issue of Yachting  magazine from waaay back, but I can't find the issue
now.)

Anyway back to hand tools.  I have been doing occasional commercial
carpentry work to pay the bills for some years now.  Not much romance in
working with sheets of 3/4 plywood, but the accuracy required in the
cabinet work I really do enjoy.  I met a few folks on the jobsites who
knew and collected old tools and they got me to reconsider the use and
appreciation of oldtools.  Ahh, that first step onto the slippery
slope!  (One guys wife divorced him over his oldtools collection.  She
got the house, he had to move back in with his mother.  His collection
took up three rooms and the entire screened-in porch.  He was proud he
lost not a single tool in the divorce!)

I have to say my evaluation of the function and design of old tools made
me understand the tailed demons better, and my carpentry work was better
for it.    Examining and using old tools certainly made me realize the
shortcomings of the tailed ones.  The difference in the sound hitting my
(failing) ears was much appreciated also.

I have been lurking on the oldtools list for nearly three years (!) I
think.  Shameful I never bio'd until now.  Since I am such a rookie on
old tools, I did not have anything to add to the list other than the
occasional "Me, too" to someone who asked the exact question I was
thinking.  I suppose I could have added my tales of errors, bloodshed
and stupid mistakes to the chorus, but I could clog the server with my
quantity.

The few people I know who actually know how to do any carpentry at all,
no matter how simple or basic, have nothing but power tools.  (and no
interest in learning about hand tools either.  They all pray to Norm.
Oh well....)  So I was/am grateful for the info I gained here.

It seems an understatement to say "I Learned a great deal reading the
OLDTOOLS list" but it is absolutely true.  Thanks to the wonder of the
web and this group I have gained knowledge I wouldn't easily get
anywhere else.  And the bottom of this slope I'm on is nowhere in sight!

Mark Reed
Who misses the ease of reading OLDTOOLS on Yahoo!groups.