OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

2541 DStevens@s... 1996‑07‑24 Bio, Michigan Hunting, Textile Gloat (long)
Howdy all,

Boy, time sure flies when you're lurking.  it's been about 4 months or so 
since I signed on--I've been putting off the obligatory intro til I had 
something of interest to the group.

*BIO*

Like a fair number of the list, I'm a mid 30's techno-geek, who rides a 
computer a good part of the day.  I'm a senior research engineer at Southwest 
Research Institute, in San Antonio, TX, and I design, analyze, and test things 
that tend to get blown up, accidentally or deliberately.

On the personal side, I've got three great kids (F-2, M-4, F-7) and a 
wonderful wife, who, while supportive of my growing addiction to old tools, 
still expects to see a new piece of furniture every 6 months or so.

I'm an oldtools newbie, having started (as has many an innocent lad) under the 
influence of Norm.  However, my interest in and use of p***r tools has waned 
since reading the wonderfully inspiring prose of the two Patricks and others 
in rec.w.w.  Shortly after this list started, I began to miss the passion, 
wit, and sincerity that is typical of old tool aficionados and joined this 
list to continue eavesdropping.

Not being aware of the distinction between old and new handtools, my first 
acquisitions were 2 new Record planes--a #5 and a #60 1/2.  Despite my best 
efforts, I could never get the #5 to perform well but the #60 1/2 has turned 
out to be a pretty good tool.  Last summer, while vacationing in Michigan, I 
picked up an old Stanley #5 which had belonged to a grandfather and a Stanley 
#26 transitional, which had belonged to a great-grandfather who worked in the 
furniture factories in Grand Rapids around the turn of the century.  I resoled 
the #26 (and I blush to admit, stripped and painted the cast iron 
frame--honest, I didn't know any
better) and tuned the Stanley #5 and had two tools that are just a joy to hold 
and use.  I was hooked.

*TOOL HUNTING IN WESTERN MICHIGAN*

I just returned from a 2 week vacation in the western Michigan area--I was 
born and raised there, and am a full-blooded "Hollander" as we call ourselves, 
which, considering I'm fourth generation American in this big ol' melting pot, 
is kind of rare.  Anyway, I went up there eager to finally stalk some real 
tools--San Antonio, despite it's strong German heritage, is pretty barren--at 
one point, after a couple of months of fruitless hunting in antique stores and 
flea markets, I finally found a 12" Stanley square in good shape and paid $25 
for it, probably $10 too much. 
However, by that time, I was so desperate that I would have paid $25 for a 
fossilized piece of Mr. Bailey's poop, $30 if it had a Stanley decal.

In any event, I headed north with some apprehension after reading Doug 
Marshall's post of his trip.  But I had a little better luck.  I hit two 
antique malls on U.S. 31 between Holland and Grand Haven; one was Tulip City 
Antique Mall and I forget the other--it's just south of Grand Haven.  At the 
former, there was a booth set up with just old tools, woodworking and metal.  
Had a half dozen nice S-B Bench Planes, couple of complete #45s and #55s, 
thirty or 40 wooden molding planes, lots of chisels and wrenches and rules and 
levels.  For $35, I picked up a really nice #78 (the first version without the 
thumb depth control); it
was complete with a fence, depth gage, nicker, almost all the Japanning, and a 
primo "Stanley Rule and Level" blade--it couldn't have been used much, if at 
all.  And at the same mall, every other booth had at least 2 wooden bench 
planes, as well as 3 or 4 old rip saws.  The other mall had a fair selection 
of block planes I've got enough) and a few beat up Stanley and Craftsmen #5s.  
But I did get two nice 3/8" chisels (Buck Bros and Barton), a Taintor's 
Positive 1900 saw set, and an unmarked spokeshave (all for $22).  I also found 
an antique shop in Ludington, down near the pier, that had 4 clean Winchester 
bench planes (I have the Stanley equivalents and I'm still only a user) and 
three complete wooden fillester/dado/plow planes (I'm not sure which), with 
the threaded wooden arms, for about $125 each, as well as a few molding planes 
and block planes.

To make sure I wasn't skunked, I had also made an appointment with Tom Witte 
in Mattawan.  As Doug said, he's a heck of a nice guy and was real friendly 
and pleasant despite me being 1/2 hour late (my dumb-ass brother-in-law told 
me it would take 45 minutes to get there--wrong--and then loaned me his car 
which was on empty--as they say, relatives are why God lets us pick our 
friends).  Anyway, his shop/store--man oh man oh man.  Now I'm not as addicted 
as some on this list and I'm new at acquiring old tools, but I felt as if I 
was walking onto holy ground. 
His display area takes up only the front 1/4 of the building, and after I 
purchased a nice #3 and a #71 1/2, he gave me a tour of the remaining 3/4, 
which houses the storage/work/photography areas.  It was almost mindnumbing to 
see so many tools and so much American (and British) history in one place.  I 
think I now understand Patrick's and Randy's passion about not diluting or 
altering the condition of old tools.

Tom isn't networked and hadn't heard of this mailing list or of rec.ww or of 
the Electronic Neanderthal.  I briefly filled him in and showed him Doug 
Marshall's post, which he enjoyed reading (my apologies if I violated list 
etiquette by flashing someone else's posts around).  He has a "friend who 
knows computers" so I gave him more details on finding the woodworking stuff.

Some of Tom's observations that may be of interest:  1. a few years ago, about 
75% of his customers were collectors, the rest users; now it's 50/50; 2. it is 
getting harder to find old tools, here and in England; he said that he used to 
fill a shipping container during his biannual trips to England, now he's lucky 
to get it 1/4 full; 3. nowadays, just about every Norris he sells ends up 
being put to use again  (and he did have quite a few Norris planes as well as 
extra Norris-type blades of three different sizes--he said he'd "commissioned" 
someone to make them for him).

*TEXTILE GLOAT*

While in Michigan, the family and I traveled to Grand Rapids to see the 
Western Michigan Whitecaps, the Oakland A's newest single A ball club; the 
Whitecaps set the single A season attendance record in their first year--those 
Dutch just can't get enough baseball.  The wife and I were in the 
souvenir/merchandise shop, to get the obligatory shirt and/or hat, when I saw 
the coolest tee-shirt--it was a re-creation of the team logo/mascot from an 
earlier Grand Rapids professional baseball team, called the "Furntiture 
Makers" (I kid you not).  The team's logo (or
trademark or whatever it was called back then, in 1899) has a mustachioed, 
cocky-looking, devil-may-care baseball player tossing a baseball with one hand 
and holding a hammer in the other.  He's got a cap on, with a carpenter's 
pencil behind his ear, and he's leaning against a tall chest of drawers.   
Now, if only I had a GALOOT hat to go with my "furniture maker" shirt....

Well, this was way too long, but, hey, if you're going to delurk, you might as 
well go all the way.  In the near future, my main contribution to the list 
will probably be questions (hopefully intelligent ones), but someday I hope to 
repay all of you for your generosity and willingness to share, by helping 
others in the same way.

David Stevens



Recent Bios FAQ