I've been lurking here for some time, and as I find myself struggling to
type this morning because of a self-inflicted galootinous wound, I
thought it was time to introduce myself...

My name is Tom. I live just outside of Columbus, Ohio, with my wife and
two GITs (9 and 7, both girls) where I make my living as a software
developer. As a recovering Normite, I should note that my interest in
woodworking originally stemmed from watching Norm on PBS years ago while
eating breakfast on Saturday mornings. Once I bought a house and had
room for a workshop, I naturally assumed that I needed a bunch of p*w*r
tools in order to be a woodworker. Of course, the best I could afford
was bottom-of-the-line Craftsman, but that didn’t stop me. So, for quite
a few years I struggled with my sub-par tools, turning borg wood into
serving trays and coat racks, calling myself a woodworker, all the while
eschewing any tool that didn’t have a plug.

That all changed last year when I met Don Weber at a woodworking show:
watching him using a pole lathe and tools he cobbled together out of old
auto parts was enlightening. After his demo, he took the time to answer
my questions and even showed me some of his sharpening techniques. After
that, I was hooked. I scoured the internet for any information I could
on the care and use of hand tools. I discovered quickly that I’m drawn
to hand saws. I’m not sure why, I just like the way they work I guess. I
don’t yet have a whole lot of hand tools, but I find that while I could
only afford bottom-of-the-line p*w*r tools, I can easily afford decent
hand tools. And as I work on my refurbishing skills, I’ll be able to
take even cheaper old tools and turn them into good users. My ideal is
to one day rid myself of my tailed apprentices entirely (and I don’t
mean my dogs) and bask in the quiet splendor of my shop, without a dust
mask! So far I’ve been making some useful items (bench hook, shooting
board) using only hand tools and have truly enjoyed myself.

Just to round out the picture, woodworking competes for my time and
money with two other passions: riding, maintaining, fixing and re-fixing
my ’95 Harley-Davidson Sportster and playing the bass.

As to my wound: I was practicing hand-cut dovetails yesterday and was
cleaning out the bottom of a socket when the chisel slipped and nicked
my finger. After cleaning up the cut and applying a band-aid (it wasn’t
bad enough for stitches), SWMBO had a worried look on her face. This
quickly went away, however, once I pointed out that had I made a similar
mistake using a p*w*r tool, I probably would be looking for my finger on
the shop floor. She seemed happy with this comparison and I went back to
work, finishing my dovetail, keeping my fingers out of the way.

A big "Thank you" to all the members of the porch; I’ve learned a lot
here and am sure to learn a whole lot more in the coming years.

-tom

=====
Craftsmen are those people who cannot help doing whatever is given them
to do better than others think is worthwhile. -Anonymous

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection
around http://mail.yahoo.com

Welcome to the group Ben. I look forward to getting to know you.

Having several decades experience with the machine trades I may be able to
help you in your other hobbies.

Bill Rittner
R & B ENTERPRISES
Manchester, CT

"Don't take this life too seriously.......nobody gets out alive!" (unknown)

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Welcome to the top of the Porch, Ben.

Great to have another member in the land of 10,000 mosquitoes.

I don't understand, do you mean it's a 3/4 of a car garage (and which 3/4 of 
the car do you put inside?) or is it a 3 to 4 car garage like the current 
McMansions seem to require.

>I have a great wife of 3+ years that lets me take up the whole 3/4 car 
>garage
>with my "stuff".

And a suggestion for Dylan--you are arresting his development with that 
plastic toy tool stuff.  My granddaughter happily played in the sawdust and 
with off cuts at three.  Maybe a hammer and some supervised pounding later.

Set a spell, I think the cider's still hot.

Walt C
In tropical Cleveland Minnesota.
(That's close to St. Peter, Jeff)

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Welcome Ben,
                       Enjoy your seat.Being a new porch sitter you will 
find it is a pleasant and enjoyable place to converse, and share knowledge & 
experiences.
Kind Regards
Andrew J Hargreaves
rustycow
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Benjamin Mullin" 
To: "Oldtools" 
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 5:55 PM
Subject: [OldTools] Bio

> After several weeks lurking I've decided to introduce myself to those on 
> the Porch.  I'm a 26 year old born and raised Minnesotan.  I have a great 
> wife of 3+ years that lets me take up the whole 3/4 car garage with my 
> "stuff".  We have one GIT, Dylan, who will be 2 in May.  Its hard to keep 
> him away from the tools.  Looks darn cute in his little tool belt filled 
> with plastic tools.  I can't wait to actually work with him.  We are 
> expecting our second GIT, sonographer is 99% sure it'll be Dalton, at the 
> end of April.
>
> I am an embedded software engineer working on medical devices by trade. 
> While getting the lights to blink and motors to spin is far better than 
> writing the next great banking-middleware-database-bore-me-to-death 
> software, when I get home at the end of the day I really want to DO 
> something.  I have any number of hobbies that I rotate through including 
> but not limited to:  woodworking, astronomy (including telescope making), 
> metal casting (still just collecting stuff and reading lots), metal 
> working, etc etc.
>
> I wouldn't say that I came from a long line of handy folks.  I guess my 
> Dad can be fairly handy when he wants to and does own a decent collection 
> of *l*ctr*n killers that I have used for most of my woodworking.  My 
> grandfather on my mothers side was definitely handy.  My mother tells me 
> that she was 20 something when she first realized that he couldn't fix 
> everything and I believe her.  He passed away a year and a half ago and we 
> miss him every day (even more when I'm digging through his tools and 
> wonder "what the heck is this?").
>
> In any case.  I'm a recent convert to galootism.  We haven't got the spare 
> fortune or the space (hey there will be four of us in this 2 bedroom town 
> home this spring) for a collection of tailed tools.  Besides, I usually 
> get gara... err shop time after everyone else is in bed.  I can't be 
> waking the whole block up.  To that end I recently purchased my first 
> plane (that 9 dollar block plane shaped thing from the local mega store 
> probably shouldn't count).  The owner of Beaumont's Quality Tool and I 
> pieced together a nice usable (with some cleaning and tuning) #5 (uh Jack 
> Plane, Jeff?).  It was a great experience purchasing a tool from a 
> knowledgeable sales person.  In the coming years I hope to build a good 
> set of users and the skills to use them to produce some quality heirloom 
> furniture for myself and my family.
>
> But enough about me.  I'm going to continue to lurk and learn and maybe 
> speak up with a question or two now and then.  And thanks to the list moms 
> for providing such a warm and hospitable place to talk old tools.
>
> Ben
>
> ps.  If anyone wants to share other good rust hunting locations in the 
> Twin Cities area with me I'm all ears.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
>
> To read the FAQ:
> http://www.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswingle/archive/faq.html
>
> OldTools archive: http://www.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswingle/archive/
>
> OldTools@r...
> http://ruckus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> 

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Hi Roy!

Wow--three years as journeyman and then you're the construction 
superintendent.  Way to go!

My motto was always that no matter who the contractor was, it was the supe 
who determined how well the building got built.

Loved the image of planes marching across the yard into the house.

By the way, there's a fellow in our area you should meet.  He collects 
threshing machines.  Got about 30.  They make a nice windbreak around his 
house.  Maybe he'd help you get started....

You're in the right place, set a spell.

Walt C

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Benjamin Mullin wrote:

>   If anyone wants to share other good rust hunting locations in the 
> Twin Cities area with me I'm all ears.
>
Thought I'd posted this before, but can't find it in the archives.  This 
is all 5 years old, so call before driving

Some antique store way out of town at (forget who recommended it)
419 Main St
Red Wing
651 365 5914
Got my Saw Vice Here

7 Corners Hardware, enough said, power upstairs, hand tools etc 
downstairs, not great on planes, but lots of hammers etc

Beaumont's you know

Tried and True Tools
7550 University Ave NE
Fridley
763 574-0407
Some hand tools amid the ancient power tools, old magazines, lots of 
mitre boxes

Never been, another recommended to me
Youngblood lumber for exotics
1335 Central Ave NE
900 933-1535

-- 
Kirk Eppler, haven't been to MN for a few years now from HAlf Moon Bay, CA
Process Development Engineering
Eppler.Kirk@g...

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> 
> Never been, another recommended to me
> Youngblood lumber for exotics
> 1335 Central Ave NE
> 900 933-1535
> 

They've got a pretty good selection. Not sure
where they fall price wise. If you have a tax 
number or business ID number you can get a pretty
good discount off of the "guy off the street" 
price. I was just in the Rockler store in Maplewood.
Don't know if all Rockler stores have gone this route,
but they'd added a _lot_ of wood since the last time
I was there. Pallets of some woods, lots of turning 
stock (pen blanks, bowl blanks, etc.) and had a room
off of the back that was exotics. I think the guy
said they had over 100 kinds of wood back there. Worth
a look. 

For me the best Twin Cities sources of tools have
ended up being the Medina MWTCA meet (Feb 11th I think)
and the tool sales at Beaumont's. And of course the 
hit/miss garage saleing, which is now closed for the winter. B^)

Jim Foster
Minnesota

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peter Robinson wrote:

> 
> As LOML knows, each of these tasks will likely require some more 
> reference books and several new tools added to the non-tailed assortment 
> which is sorely lacking.  Since I have a Stanley #4 1/2, I think I need 
> a smoother plane like a Stanley #7 or maybe #8 next, and with those, I 

It's probalby bad form to reply to my own note but, of course, I did in 
fact mean to say a jointer not smoother (thanks paul).  Now I will have 
a glaring error in my bio, for all to see until the end of time :-)

oh well....

-- 

Peter Robinson, Brisbane, Australia

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