OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

149608 "Bill Taggart" <wtaggart@c...> 2005‑09‑09 Updated Bio
Well with all these bio postings, and since I've been away for a long  
time,
and I see lots of new faces around here, I guess I'll toss out a brief  
(as
brief as I am able, hehehe) update to my bio.

Basics: 

I'll be 39 as of Sept. 11 (yes, that's my birthday); married for 15  
years as
of Sept. 22; two lovely daughters, currently ages 7 and 11.

Born and raised in northwestern NJ, but don't hold that against me; I
managed to get over it.  Moved to Central Virginia (about 12 miles north  
of
Richmond) in July 2002 to faciliate a major change in life and career -  
law
school.  Attended the T. C. Williams School of Law at the University of
Richmond with a bunch of KIDS!! GEEZ, the average age of my class first  
year
was 24!!  I was 36.  

Everything's better in VA!!  I'll never live in NJ again as long as I  
have
something to say about it.

Oldtool history: 

Started doing general carpentry-type projects at about 16 years of age.
I've been through what seems to be pretty much the standard Galoot
progression: bought a `lectric drill for various home projects; bought a
jigsaw and circular saw; watched This Old House & New Yankee Workshop;
became convinced I needed every `lectrickal thingie in existence for  
every
specific task from milling lumber to pulling splinters.  Bought an old
ShopSmith 10ER, managed not to hurt myself too badly.

Got interested in old ways of working wood because I attended a craft  
show
where a guy was making Windsor chairs with a froe, drawknife and  
spokeshave.
WOW.

Found a nice old Stanley #5 (jack plane, Jeff) at a barn sale, for $10  
and
was hooked.  Researching the plane led to Jay's Plane Dating page (which
apparently is no longer, sadly) and to the Oldtools Front Porch.  That  
were
in 1996.  

Became highly addicted to the Oldtools list and rust hunting - to the  
point
of SWMBO exasperation chronicled in List Prose Master Laureate Tom  
Price's
website at http://homepage.mac.com/galoot_9/words_of_advice.html.

Because my former employment prior to law school involved lots and lots  
of
travel all over the U.S., I got to meet a lot of Galoots and visit their
shops - I don't miss that old job or all the travel, but I do miss  
meeting
Galoots face-to-face - every one I met was without exception good  
company
and quite gracious (I should say that I was fortunate enough to have a  
visit
from new Galoot Michael Winget-Hernandez yesterday!).  I still have and  
wear
my Dennis Heyza Type 1 Galoot T-shirt, and the Galoot bumper sticker is
sitting right here next to my computer.

Dropped off the Porch about two years ago because believe it or not, law
school just doesn't leave a whole lot of free time!

I've been through the stages of "wow, these old tools are pretty cool"  
to
"must buy every old tool I come across" to "have no money because going  
to
law school" and "have way more tools that I'll ever get to restoring and
tuning, let alone using and have no space or money, must get rid of some
tools."

My current philosophy towards old tools: 

I use both hand tools and power tools - each have their place in my  
shop,
depending on the specific task and hand and the conditions under which I  
am
working.  Workshop is crammed into a one-car garage that I very loosely
refer to as a "workshop" - it looks more like someone backed up a  
dumpster
full of lumber, benches, machinery and tools and tipped it all in.   
Simply
not enough room for everything I have.

I have concluded that I am really not a collector.  I do have maybe 2-3
tools that I would say are of collector quality; I might sell one of  
them,
since it makes no sense to me for it to sit in a cabinet in my workshop,  
nor
to lock the money up in a pretty tool that I'll never use or do anything
with other than have it occupy space in my workshop.  I have several
smoothing planes, many saws, etc. - most of which I will simply never  
use.
I've decided to simplify a bit and sell duplicates, keeping only a few
good-quality tools that I actually do and will use.  Or sell duplicates  
and
use the cash to upgrade to better quality users (e.g., Lie-Nielsen).  I  
do
have a few interesting items that I got so cheaply that I'll just keep  
them
because they're cool, but I can't afford the space (or $$) to "collect"
tools.

I'll continue to scour garage sales, estate sales, flea markets and old  
tool
meets, looking for anything interesting or simply too cheap to pass up,
always with a mind towards finding the mythical and ever-elusive Stanley  
#1
(tiny smoother, Jeff), or just some decent tools cheap enough to resell  
on
the `bay at a profit.

Current status: 

Finished law school May 2005 (Summa Cum Laude, thankee very much!) ;-),  
took
the bar exam July 26-27, 2005, now awaiting results, which are due
approximately Oct. 13.  I will be working with the large Richmond firm  
of
Hunton & Williams in their Tax & ERISA team, starting Sept. 19.

Starting to look around the area for our next home - I want (and have  
been
wanting for many years now) an old farmhouse-type residence on as much  
land
as I can afford, plus a couple of barns/outbuildings.

Don't know how much time I'll have to hang around the Porch once I start
working again in about a week, but it's sure been good to be back up  
here
for the past couple of weeks after a long absence.

Check out my cheezy website at http://home.comcast.net/~ilikerust

That's it!

-----------------------------------------
Bill Taggart
-----------------------------------------

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Recent Bios FAQ