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Dear Galoots,
I have been lurking for a rather short time and, frankly, I do not know e=
nough to be of much service=E2=80=94other than for cracking wise, though =
it seems I=E2=80=99m scarcely a patch to some of the obvious professional=
s on OT. :-)
I am a mathematician at the University of North Texas; a school of roughl=
y 27,000 students located in Denton which lies 35 miles NNW of Dallas.  B=
orn and raised in San Diego, schooled in Ohio (Ohio State) now raising a =
family here in Texas.  =20
I have been woodworking for only 5 years or so. I began by collecting the=
 usual set of  power tools and building nursery stuff, end tables, booksh=
elves, picture frames, toys, small boxes and such.  About a year or so af=
ter I began my father-in-law gave me a small load of traditional hand too=
ls that belonged to his father: files, a nice brace with a good collectio=
n of bits, a MF (model 98 ?) hand drill, a nice #4 smoothing (soothing!) =
plane, and a small collection of paring and firmer chisels.  Anyhow, I fo=
und that despite my Normieism, I was always trying (and needing) to incor=
porate the use of these tools in my projects.  Once I had learned to prop=
erly sharpen the chisels and plane irons, I found their attraction increa=
sed (imagine that! :-) ).  I found that the hiss of the plane as it produ=
ced long and nearly transparent cuttings brought an irresistible sense of=
 joy=E2=80=94and the glass-like finish was glorious. =20
However, I crossed the line (left the darkness?) when I purchased a felli=
ng axe and single beveled broad hatchet (this is probably a term suitable=
 for the =E2=80=9Cdepartment of redundancy department=E2=80=9D ) from a m=
achinist friend who got the on the yard-sale circuit. That was 1 year ago=
.  Since then, I have purchased several planes and spokeshaves, built a s=
having horse (which I love to use!) and a bungee lathe (my father in law =
gave me an old copy of AWW from the mid 90=E2=80=99s=E2=80=94to which I m=
ade modest modifications)=E2=80=94which is a blast to use as well!  =20
I am, strictly speaking, not a fully formed Neanderthal=E2=80=94I am curr=
ently in transition=E2=80=A6sort of a Neandranormie (a mockery to all?). =
 I somehow doubt that I will ever cease to use P-tools--and if someone de=
cided to give me a gigantic horizontal belt sander--along with a bigger s=
hop to house it--well I wouldn't say no! :-)  =20
Despite that, I continue to progress towards the stone-age, as I rework t=
he bowsaw (here the OT Archive has been of great help) that I recently ma=
de, build/modify some hand tools, and learn to use the handsaws that I in=
herited from my wife=E2=80=99s grandfather.  =20
Doug Brozovic, Denton Texas
 =20
 =20
 Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn=
.com

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