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86581 "BUCKNER, BRIAN" BBUCKNER@a... 2000‑11‑22 Bio (updated) - Brian Buckner
Galoots,

Since there seems to be a general wave of new and updated bios lately I
guess I should add mine. Especially since my first bio never made it out to
the Galoot Bio Index. 

I've been an "avid lurker" on this porch since early 1997. I've been an
fairly active woodworker since I was a kid. My dad taught me some things
while we built several hydroplanes (very small, very fast boats). I grew up
in Miami, Fl. so boating was a big thing in my boyhood. My brothers and me
were always building something using (and mostly abusing) my old mans tools.
I'm sure that my kids (I have a 10 year old and a 2 year old) will get me
back in this regard before it's all over. (I do believe in "cosmic payback"
and boy am I in trouble!).

My interest in building furniture got a major boost when I was in high
school. We had a fantastic shop program (both wood and metals) and I ate it
up. I learned a lot of great things but mostly that I was really interested
in learning more. After I graduated from college in 1985 I bought a small
"craftsmen bungalow" that was built in 1921. I immediately built a work shop
in the backyard and spent the next 10 years totally working on the house and
learning more and more about woodworking and house renovation. Of course, as
all my friends had said I would do, I sold it 3 months after I finished it.
Now I've got another "fixer upper" house with (more importantly) a BIGGER
SHOP! I even have a barn to store my "wood collection" in.

My tastes in furniture tend to be more traditional (sometimes even
primitive). I've built lots of stuff from a book called "American Country
Furniture : Projects from the Workshop of David T. Smith"
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0762101482.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg 
Also see http://www.naplesnews.com/sites/workshops/gallery_of_products.html
and http://www.hueyfurniture.com/ for a source for some real nice examples
of early American furniture.

I admit to being a big iron junkie. I like to tinker and rebuild stationary
tools (among other things). But a few years back I started to become more
and sensitive to wood dust. I guess that is what started my interest in hand
tools. Shortly after that I discovered this list. It's been downhill since.

I have accumulated a fair number of planes (many more than I really need).
But I do use them all at one time or another. Nothing collectable or rare.
Not all Stanley either. Got some saws and braces and the typical stuff that
most folks on this list have.

In the last couple of years (since the arrival of my son) I've gotten more
and more interested in building tools. It started out with planes and has
branched into saws and spokeshaves. I really enjoy making tools. They take a
lot less time (which is something that I have less of these days) than most
of my furniture projects and I really enjoy using tools that I have made
myself. It also gives me an outlet to use skills that are less called upon
in furniture projects (like metal working).

Some of my tool projects have included infill planes, woodies, a panel plane
(that I built in David Sobel's class), a dovetail plane (built from Louis
Michaud's plans), stairsaws, bowsaws (from BugBear's drawings) and a bunch
of spoke shaves. My daughter and me attended John Gunterman's last shave
class in Tampa last year and had a blast.

I finally built a little web page a couple of weeks ago and put some of my
stuff out there on it (what I had images of handy). I hope to have some time
in the future to add to it and improve upon it (it certainly needs lots of
improvement). But, it's a start. Check it out at:

http://128.186.187.251/default.htm

Hopefully I can contribute something useful to the list in the years to
come.

Best regards,

Brian Buckner
Tallahassee, Fl.




Recent Bios FAQ