Having shamelessly lurked here for several weeks now, I have decided to
de-lurk and introduce myself to the porch. I gotta say that I've enjoyed
the posts, and have learned a thing or two along the way.

By day I crank out code for a telecommunications company in the Dallas
area. In the evening I spend time with my wife and 4 month old son. I
occasionally get to sneak out to the shop in the evening after my son is
in bed and on the weekends.

I first got interested in old tools about a year ago when I subscribed
to rec.norm and heard about working with hand tools. It sounded
intriguing, but I wasn't quite sure. A short time later while on a
weekend getaway in Jefferson I came across an old Stanley #5 and a
scraper which I bought for about $20. When I got home I clamped down a
board, took a few strokes with the plane, and in a few minutes, much to
my delight I had small pile of curls on the floor (no messy sawdust).
Needless to say, I was hooked.

I am a beginning woodworker, just learning about tools and how to make
wood into something more useful than firewood. I've spent most of my
time so far hitting flea markets and antique stores in pursuit of some
good user quality hand tools. I have a good start toward a basic set
which I am cleaning and sharpening (ala ScarySharp) and hope to put them
to good use to produce boards that are flat and square for my projects.
I am very interested in learning about how to care for the tools and how
to use them effectively. I appreciate all the expertise here on the
porch, and hope to continue learning from you all. Hope you don't mind
pointing me in the right direction when I need some advice on using an
old tool or help with a project.

The type of projects I have in mind to make are a toybox for my son, a
footstool for my wife, and a workbench for my shop. Of course my wife
has a list a mile long of things she would like me to make. You know
how it goes, we stop in an antique store and she'll see a beautiful
mahogany table and turn to me and say "Oh, you could make us one of
those!" I'm really lucky though, she is very supportive of my hobby,
and is actually starting to buy me tools (got a crispy #7 for Father's
Day via the MofA).

Thanks again for the list. Now I'll just take a seat on the far end of
the porch.

Bill Frome