OldTools Archive

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20909 Rob Stevens <rstevens@m...> 1997‑06‑26 Bio (finally!)
I'm 39 with SWMBO and two young daughters. After many years intermittantly
studying (earning enough paper to do the bathroom) and travelling, I have
worked 10 yrs+ in "international development" ie. foreign aid,
coordinating/managing "human resource development" ie.  cross-cultural
exchange & training/educational programs. 

More recently I have been the Manager of the War & Health Program at
McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA.  This is a collaborative
initiative looking at the interplay of health and peace related
interventions in past/present/future conflict zones. For anyone who's
interested, there's more info at;
War & Health Program: http://www-cih.csu.mcmaster.ca/war&hlth.htm

My main interest in galootish activties is carving canoe paddles and
leading workshops teaching the same. I have also built a few canoes, both
cedar strip and wood-canvas, and spend a lot of time thinking about trying
out various modifications to the more "standard" construction methods &
materials. Thus I am very familiar with drawknife, spokeshaves and cabinet
scrapers. I sometimes also turn to a plane or two, rasps, etc.

I am a member of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and the Tool
Group of Canada and volunteer in the blacksmith's forge and
cabinet-maker's shops at Westfield Heritage Centre, a pioneer village. I'm
working at making some of my own tools eg. canoe or bent knife,
re-discovering turning (on a treadle) and spoon-making. 

With an abiding interest in trees, I an an inveterate scrounger of wood to
be converted from the vertical to other orientations. I have made some
furniture and dovetailed boxes, but lack confidence to tackle a rocking
chair. The library chair that I started for SWMBO has become known as the
"5 year chair". It's almost done, really!



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