don't tell me, it's the shoes...

bill
felton, ca

just say i grew up wearing converse all-stars...

On Wednesday, September 24, 2003, at 10:49 AM, Chuck Taylor wrote:

> Esteemed Gentle Galoots,
>
> I have been lurking under the far corner of the porch
> for some time now, so I suppose it is past time to
> introduce myself.
>
> I live in the great Pacific Northwest, where summers
> are dry and not too hot, and winters are wet and not
> too cold, and life is good.  Douglas Fir is king here.
> Hardwood trees (mainly Western Red Alder and Bigleaf
> Maple) are greatly outnumbered by Douglas Fir, Western
>
> Red Cedar, and Western Hemlook in the woods around
> here.
> That's why Washington is called The Evergreen State.
>
> My roots are in the wood products industry.  My dad
> was a sawyer back in the 1930's and 1940's in a
> softwood sawmill.  In 1945 he bought into a co-op
> plywood mill and operated a lathe for the rest of his
> working years.  Plywood put food on the table when I
> was growing up, so I don't have the same aversion to
> it as some of you seem to.  In fact I make dovetailed
> boxes (handcut of course) for the shop out of plywood
> scraps, and make no attempt to hide the edges.  I
> worked in that very same plywood mill summers and
> vacations while going to college.  I love the smell of
> fresh-cut (or peeled) Douglas Fir.
>
> I served in the US Navy for 20 years before returning
> home 15 years ago.  Too bad I wasn't into old tools
> when I was stationed near Harrisburg, PA.  I now
> make my living trying to break computer software.
> SWMBO and I have been married for 35 years, and we
> have one chick left in the nest.
>
> My earliest woodworking memory is of, as a young teen,
>
> making a box for my dog, a toy fox terrier, to sleep
> in.  I used 1/4-inch plywood with butt joints held
> together by brads into the end grain.  The 5-pound dog
>
> easily destroyed it in short order, discouraging my
> woodworking aspirations for some time. Since then
> I have tended to make things twice as strong as they
> need to be (at least).
>
> I don't get nearly enough shop time, but my most
> recent
> galootish project was to make a shavehorse out of a
> downed maple log.  The legs are maple branches in the
> rough.  It's a bit on the rustic side, but that's how
> shavehorses are supposed to be, isn't it?  How many
> other people have spalted maple shavehorses?
>
> I also run a home for unwed chisels in my
> gar^H^H^Hshop.
> I enjoy sharpening them up nice and mating them to
> new handles I have made. I find it hard to resist a
> $1 socket chisel at a flea market.  I made a nice
> chisel handle last night out of some crabapple wood.
>
> My other manias include my wooden boat
> (mahogany-planked) and celestial navigation (kind of
> galootish in its own way).
>
> I hope you all don't mind if I sit real quiet down
> here
> under The Porch and listen in on the conversation.  I
> learn a lot that way.  Maybe I can even contribute now
> and again.  I learned how to polish brass when I was
> in
> the Navy, and that may come in handy when it's my turn
> to polish the spittoon.
>
> Best regards to Galoots everywhere,
>
> Chuck Taylor
> Stealth Galoot
> Everett, WA, USA
>
>
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