OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

125330 "Flowers, Curt" <cjflower@u...> 2003‑12‑05 BIO - Curt Flowers - Update
	'Tis the season........

	I joined the list early in 1998, so I guess I am a not quite an old
timer, but maybe medium-old timer.  I've amassed a few old tools since
then. About half are in use regularly on projects that I eventually get
around to doing. The other half are awaiting refurbishing - another project
I need to get around to. 
	Aside from the #4 smoother and #220 block plane, the plane that gets
the most use is my moving fillister. It has replaced the use of several of
the fixed rabbet planes and I've been known to trim door frames and other
similar places with it. I also have a few (3, I think) center bead planes of
different sizes that get a lot of use because that's the only 'decoration'
that I know how to make. 
	My woodworking is still pretty much limited to garage and basement
furniture. But I have been restoring an old chestnut chest of drawers. Did a
lot of scraping work on that.

	My shop is a third of the garage - heated with a wood stove. I share
it now with my 4WD auto mechanic, 19 year old son. That creates the
greaseyness vs. curleyness problem. But we get along OK. He just made a
gearshift handle out of a piece of scrap oak.  It looks great! So maybe some
galootishness is rubbing off on him. 

	My SWMBO Linda and I just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.
My 17 year old daughter is an absolute honey! She dabbles occasionally in
wood carving, but her big hobby in life is horses. I'm a computer
sumpinorother for the University of Illinois. I have 12 or 15 more years of
work here before I can switch full time to wood work.  

	I like the color blue and cats and wish for world peace.

	Curt Flowers, Monticello, East Central Illinois, Midwest USA, North
America.

-------------------------------------------
Original 5/14/1998 bio:
Subject: BIO - Curt Flowers 
From: "Flowers, Curt"  

Greetings:

Sketch:
        I'm Curt Flowers, a 46 year old computer programmer in East
Central Illinois (Champaign-Urbana area). I'm a recreational woodworker
(How's that for phrase to coin?) with an interest in gathering old tools
to use. My current fetish is wooden molding planes, but I have and use
old metal planes, old saws, old marking gages and old screwdrivers.

Long Biograph:
        My college degree is in geodesics (domes, like the Epcot Center
Bell dome) and back then my dream was to build low-cost housing. That
is, domes out of wood. Dome struts require compound angles, so I
acquired a radial arm saw and other electrical tools. I went power
because I couldn't cut straight with hand tools. I became a programmer
because that paid and domes didn't. But, over the years,  I realized it
took me longer to set up the radial arm saw (Craftsman (tm)) for one
cut, (cuz the thing just wouldn't cut straight and wouldn't stay in
'tune') than it did to cut 2 dozen pieces by hand. So after I inherited
a panel saw from my Grandfather, I sold the radial, bit the bullet, and
learned to cut straight. 
        That saw started me on the road to appreciation of old tools. 
        One day about 5 years ago my father in law invited me to an
auction for the estate of (And I'll bet there's those of you out there
who knew this man) Lucky Hebert. I bought a hunk of 4x4 ish wood that
looked like a wood plane to me for two bucks. Then, of course, I had to
go out and buy $75.00 worth of books on planes and old tools to find out
what I had. Well, what I had was a hunk of old 4x4 ish ash that was once
a side-by-side match plane with missing irons and wedges. It was worth
about, uh, two bucks. 
        But,...... That was the hook set irremovably in my jaw and made
me an OldToolite. I went to three of the remaining four Hebert estate
auctions. (I skipped the gun collection one.) Oh My Goodness! did this
man gather things! One of the auctions was of his tool collection. There
were four or five hay wagons full of old tools! Literally scores of
planes, at least fifty braces, gages, clamps, hammers, boxes, tada,
tada, tada.... I was drooling all morning. I made my way up to a prime
spot near the auctioneer and planted myself there, bidding and buying
and sending my son to and fro to stash what I bought and check out the
next pile to be sold. Never had so much fun in my life! I went home with
a couple dozen wooden beauties that are still giving me much enjoyment
identifying, refurbishing, tuning and using. 
        Then I cleaned, lapped and tuned my Grandfathers war years #4
Stanley/Bailey and have been making curleys ever since. 

        I'm not yet skilled or knowledgable enough to offer much
expertise in this forum, but I'd be glad to answer the simple questions,
that many of you may have heard so often already that you've tired of.
And then, of course I'll be soaking up the expert knowledge that is
regularly shared herein.

        Again, greetings!



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