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Recent Bios FAQ

165332 Gary Roberts <toolemera@m...> 2006‑12‑01 Bio update take two
For some reason, part of the bio was dropped by the mail program. So here goes t
he real thing:

GG's

I realized that my bio is wayyyy old. Well, dating from 1999. 20th
century in fact.

I started as a collector/user whilst in college. The very first old
tool was a Millers Falls breast drill that had been left by someone in
the house I was sharing with some other students. The first old tools I
ever bought:

1. Whittier & Spear jack plane (long since sold off)
2. Brass headed & Plated British brace (still in my possession)

They cost me a week's earnings at the O'Neill Grill, one of the SUNY at
Stony Brook student run businesses. Next came a handful of purchases in
Rochester during a trip. The bug had bit. I was already a neophyte
furnisher refinisher type, picking up old stuff, cleaning it up and
either keeping it or selling it. I got my start making parts for beat up
chairs and tables. I still groan to think of the number of mission style
pieces that I bought for a song and sold for a song and half. I guess
you could say that I got my start in woodworking through using old tools
along with tailed daemons. And not knowing a thing about the handtools
either. Learned by doing, making mistakes and eventually by reading
whatever I could get my hands on.

Moved to Boston, was broke most of the time and still living like a
student, so the only tools to be added where needed or found super cheap
in thrift stores. Married, settled in an apartment in West Roxbury for
six of us. That's my wife, myself and four Maine Coon Cats. Had a big
basement and started to slowly fill the basement and the china cabinet)
with tools bought cheap at local auctions and antique shows, both of
which where plentiful at that time. Then I discovered Brimfield. The bug
bite blossomed into a major disease. The occassional auction or show
purchase exploded into a thrice yearly buying trip for tools, art
pottery and stuff. Even managed to find a handful of pieces of furniture
there and other stuff for the apartment. Eventually I realized that I
had too much stuff and started to bring the overflow to Richard Crane's
Country Auctioneer. That at least trimmed the accumulation. Yes, I was a
Collector. Used a lot of the tools too, but was seriously caught by t!
he collecting bug.

Worked in an architectural fixture shop, maintenance supervisor for a
factory, crisis counselor, vocational rehabilitation counselor ( got an
MA in the process), got unemployed, ran the mail room for a college,
attended Simmons College for an Masters in Library and Information
Science (quite a mouthful ,that one), worked in various medical and
research libraries, ended up at an MIT library from which I hope to
retire at a ripe old age. , Started out with Stanley tools of course,
but eventually began to learn about wooden planes and peculiar patented
things. That affliction took hold and in time the woodie collection
expanded. At one time I only sought Boston area makers, but then
branched out. They still have a soft spot for me, or any Massachusetts
maker. Joined the EAIA, MWTCA, CRAFTS and a few other groups and started
to really learn about the stuff. Bought whatever book came out and
studied more. I made the occassional thing and continued to refinish or
restore furniture. But my concentration was learning about the
tradespeople and trades. That meant books. And then that meant old
catalogs. Which became ephemera. And then there was Ebay.

Travels to local book and ephemera shows turned up a fair amount of
good stuff, but in time, Ebay became my primary source for stuff to
feed my addiction. Suddenly, one day I realized that my primary
interests had shifted from woodies and patented things to books. Then
that shifted to ephemera. Part of the shift was due to the slowly
disappearing availability of tools. They where harder to find at decent
bottom feeder prices at Brimfield, the antique shows closed and Ebay
prices rose. I still have a soft spot for a peculiar or user made
plane. Or a bizarre patented thingy. But books and particularly
ephemera took hold and never let go.

Learning about books and ephemera took some doing. It's harder to find
books that fill the bill... books and ephemera related to tools and
trades are few and far between. But gradually, using my knowledge of
tools and trades along with what I could learn from whatever material
was available, I learned. Sold books and ephemera for a while on the
Oldtools list, took a long break from that (have to start up again... I
have 20-30 boxes of books and stuff in the basement to move) and then
realized that some of the material was turning to dust as it aged. I had
played around with scanners and computers for a long time and decided to
put that to use. The plan was to digitize as much of the collection as
possible. But simply digitizing everything and hoarding it went against
the grain. So I learned a new program for the Mac, Freeway Pro and
through hit and miss, made the Toolemera Press website, housed at Wiktor
Kruc's Old Tools Shop site.

And that is where I am at today. Still can't pass up an interesting
woodie. Still a chump for wierd patented things. Still prefer hand tools
to tailed daemons. Still living with one foot in the 21st Century and
one in the 19th Century.

Gary Gary Roberts Dedham, MA toolemera@m...
http://www.oldtoolsshop.com/Galoots/gRoberts/grr/index.html

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