I've  been  lurking long enough.  Thought I should fess up and post my
   bio.  Not that

   is extensive.  I live in the little town of Round Hill, Va at the base
   of the Blue Ridge

   west of Washington, DC.  For you Hooters, I can see West Virginia from
   my front

   porch.

   I've  been  into  old  tools and traditional industries for the las 20
   years or so, but more

   as  an  observer  than  as a hard core doer.  Call me a latent Galoot.
   Hopefully that will

   change  in  mid-1999  when,  if  the numbers look right, I will retire
   after 30+ years working

   for  Uncle Sam.  That will give me th time time (no more getting up at
   4AM five days

   a week) to try some of the stuff I have been seeing and thinking about
   for years.

   I  collect  a  little, mostly Millers Falls, but have been know to buy
   things that strike my

   fancy.   Like  an  ice  saw (more than five feet tall and where do you
   store it) I got at an auction in

   Vermont.   Living  in Virginia there is not a lot of ice to get in (as
   my long suffering

   SWMBO points out from time to time).  Of course, one also needs an ice
   house, not

   a common thing anymore either.  Most of the old tools have been bought
   with the intention

   if using rather than collecting.  I think there is only one, a Millers
   Falls #85 MIB.  I will

   confess,  however,  that I also have a cordless drill which I consider
   one of God's great

   inventions  (along  with duct tape, paper towels, yellow post-its, and
   the glue gun.

   Are  newbies  allowed a gloat, even one that occurred a few years ago?
   If they are, I

   would tellyou about the Stanley #340 furring plane I got in a box with
   six other planes

   at  a  Vermont country auction.  Didn't know what I had until recently
   when I almost

   off my chair on learning.  Call it a belated gloat.

   I'm  also  into  alphabets,  i.e. PATINA, MWTCA, EAIA.  I spend far to
   much time looking

   at  Ebay's  hand  tool  offerings  and trying to stifle my acquisitive
   impulses.  Within the

   last year I became a volunteer at Aldie Mill, an old overshot two iron
   wheel grist mill

   in  Aldie,  VA.   It  is  still  being  restored,  so it is not yet in
   operation.  Come by for a

   look.

   Thanks for bearing with me,

   Tom Graham

         Replies              Author       Date
   41803 Re: Bio - Tom Graham Tom Holloway Thu  12/31/1998

At 9:16 PM -0500 12/30/98, Thomas Graham wrote:
>I will confess, however, that I also have a cordless drill which I
>consider one of God's great inventions

        Well, of course.  But would that be a Yankee #41, a Millers Falls
#81, or one of the unnumbered Goodell Pratt models?
        Or maybe you were speaking of the egg beater configuration?
        Welcome to the porch.
                Tom Holloway

Original should not have been send HTML.  So says Ken Staggs.  Hope
this does it.

I've been lurking long enough.  Thought I should fess up and post my bio.
Not that it is extensive.  I live in the little town of Round Hill, VA at
the base
of the Blue Ridge west of Wasnington, DC.  For you Hooters, I can see
West Virginia from my from porch.

I've been into old tools and traditional industries for the last 20 years or
so,
but more as an observer than as a hard core doer.  Call me a latent Galoot.
Hoefully that will change in mid-1999 when, if the numbers look right. I
will retire
after 30+ years working for Uncle Sam.  That will give me the time (no more
getting up a 4AM five days a week) to try some of the stuff I have been
seeing
and thinking about for years.

I collect a little, mostly Millers Falls, but have been known to buy things
that
strike my fancy.  Like an ice say (more than five feet long and where dod
you store it) I got at an auction in Vermont.  Living in Virginai there is
not a lot
of ice to get in (as my long suffering SWMBO points out from time to time).
Of course, one also need an ice house, not a common thing anymore either.
Most of the old tools have been bought with the intention of using rather
than collecting.  I think there is only one, a Millers Falls #85 MIB.  I
will confess,
however, that I also have a cordless drill which I consider to be one of
God's
great inventions (along with duct tape, paper towels, yellow post-its, and
the
glue gun).

Are newbies all owed a gloat, even one that occurred a few years ago?  If
they are, I would tell you about the Stanley #340 furring plane I got in a
box
with six other planes at a Vermont Country auction.  Didn't know what I had
until recently when I almost fell off my chair on learning.  Call it a
belated gloat.

I'm also into alphabets, i.e. PATINA, WMTCA, EAIA.  I spend fare too much
time looking at Ebay's hand tool offerings and trying to stifle may
acquisitive
impulses.  Within the last year I became a volunteer at Aldie Mill, an old
overshot two iron wheel grist mill in Aldie, VA.  It is still being
repaired, so
it is not yet in operation.  Come by for a look.

Thanks for bearing with me (again),

Tom Graham
(tmajgraham@e...)

> I
>will confess,
>however, that I also have a cordless drill which I consider to be one of
>God's
>great inventions (along with duct tape, paper towels, yellow post-its, and
>the
>glue gun).
>

I used to hanker for a cordless drill; it seemed that nothing could be as
quick and easy for drilling and driving screws. But when I put my new bench
together (using the 4x4's from 2x4's method discussed a while back) I fould
the assortment of braces, breast drills, push drills and eggbeater drills
to be just fantastic.

With a cordless drill, you only have the one drill (nobody would buy a
half-dozen of them, whereas user braces seem to accumulate in my shop
faster than anything). So you have to change from a drill to a
screwdriver--even if you have some quick-change system, you have to take
the time.

I drilled the pilot holes for screws with my push drill, the screws were
driven with a phillips bit in a brace, holes that needed to be really
straight I did with my breast drill (the handy level makes it really
easy--I haven't seen a cordless drill yet with a built-in level vial!).

If you haven't tried driving screws with a brace, give it a shot. You get
incredibly good torque (and good control over that torque) with a typical
brace, and you can really lean on the handle to keep the bit in the screw
at the same time.

I do agree with you about the duct tape etc!

Anyway, just my .02 worth. Welcome to the porch, Tom!

-Kelly Cox
Madison, WI