Reply-To: 
OK I have been lurking for a while and recently posted a couple of questions
so I guess its about time for the obligotary bio.

Hi

My name is Patrick Colbeck.

I am 32 and live in Westow a small village near York in the north east of
England with SHMBO and my 20 month old son Jake. I am a network engineer
which for you non computer types is kind of like a computer plumber, I
install and configure the boxes that link computers to each other and the
internet or corporate networks, also the stuff that links the bits of the
intenet or corporate networks together which is the same but bigger and
faster.

I have no experience really with woodworking excpet what I did in school
(which I stopped at 13, woodworking not school you understand :)). All the
tools I have have been for motorcycle repair or general DIY shop cheapies
bought to get a specific house repair type job done.

I have always enjoyed flea markets and antiques fairs but kind of wandered
arround with no real aim in mind (SWMBO likes pottery so that why we go).

Recently I was laying a wood laminate floor in our kitchen. I took a look at
the pile of expensive flooring and then at my rusty DIY shop special tenon
saw, and thought no way ! Enter a new Sandvik tenon saw and a Wolfcraft
workbench, not a brilliant saw I now know but a combined with the workmate
to hold the wood reasonably firmly what a revalation. I actually managed
some nice clean straight cuts and whats more I enjoyed it. What had started
out as an onerous task became enjoyable and SWMBO was impressed with the
floor.

It got me thinking that maybe I might like to try some more woodworking so I
bought a couple of magazines and took a look at rec.woodworking. Initial
normite tendancies were soon squashed as 

1. I couldn't afford all those machines.
2. I would have no where to put them.
3. The realistaion that this was a hobby not a way to produce stuff as
   quickly as possible. The pleasure would be in the doing not the finishing.
4. Looking for old tools at flea markets would give me something to focus on
   while SWMBO was deep in "Leeds Creamware" mode.  
   
So I have sorted out the tools that might be usefull in my garage (a couple
of steel rulers etc). I have scored my first flea market tool, a #4 for £8,
and ordered a #5 and a block plane form a dealer. The veritas sharpening
system arrived last night and I am getting a set of Marples chisles (to get
buy untill I find some old ones) at the weekend. First project is to be a
toolbox of some kind to put this stuff in, I will let you know how it turns
out. 

Thanks to all who replied to my dumb newbie questions for throwing some more
grease on the slippery slope. 

Pat