>From: Larry Marshall <larry@w...>

> Some of you have been here for several years.  You guys remember a time
when
> this list was a discussion of tools.  Have you noticed that most of the
> experts about tools aren't here any longer?
I've been thinking about this since I first read it and my first reaction
was, "Yeah, where did they all go?" but then I thought a bit more and my
reaction is quite different. Firstly, as far as the original "experts" are
concerned, many of them still pop up from time to time and I suspect are
lurking, at least via the dailydigest. That being said, Jeff Gorman is
certainly still around and participating. I browsed to Old Tools message #1
in the archives, and wouldn't you know if was from Jeff. He may be the
longest continuously-active member of the list (I resisted saying oldest...)
So, experts, huh? Seems to me that we have a bevy of experts, if not the
original crew - Although O'Deen did pop his head into the daylight last
Spring, at least long enough to deliver a rip-roaring April Fools story.
That being said, I'm pleased to see Ralph Brendler and Chris Swingly both
posting a lot more since the Listmom hat passed from one to the other. We
also now all know that the absence of Richard Wilson (who has been very kind
to me, both on and off the list) is an IT problem, not dissatisfaction with
the list.
Finally, I would like to recognize some of the experts that have joined the
porch in the last few years. Not least would be The Chemist, a.k.a. Mark
Marsay, a.k.a. Gimpy. How about the Rev. Ron sticking his experienced nose
into threads concerning metalwork and plane blades, or Steve Knight in
wooden plane-making threads. Tom Price, Bugbear, Tony Seo, Scott Grandstaff,
Alan Perreault, Kirk Eppler, Sandy Moss, Esther, ALF, Ken Greenburg, Jim E
#1 and #2 from Wisconsin, Jim Thompson the old millrat... The list goes on
and on, and I already have to apologize for those that I've left out.
The long and short of this post (mostly long, sorry) is that even with those
"experts" who have moved on, and I do mourn that loss for I could have
learned much at their feet, we certainly have no lack of experience,
knowledge, and just plain book-learnin here on the porch.
And I, for one, am a better woodworking, Neanderthal, galoot, and, dare I
say, a better man, for having known you all. Someday I even aspire to be
able to speak knowledgably enough on some subject to be considered an
expert.
Gotta go make some shavings,
Rob in Peoria (smack in the middle of Illinois, heart of the MidWest US)

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