esteemed galoots,

please pardon me for not introducing myself around to porch sooner. my
tardiness is due to my part time status @ work (the only place i can access
this group) while i recover from some medical problems. but all is going well
and i hope to become more active now that i'm back full time.

got started with tools when i bought my first house. we were too poor to
afford contractors so swmbo and self did all remodelling and repairs
ourselves. in fact, trained swmbo early on that purchasing tools does not fall
into the expenditure catagory, but rather the investment catagory.

naturally, first tools tended toward tailed variety, but i chalk that up to
youth and ignorance. as house took shape, it was time to fill it with
furniture. flush with confidence from rehabbing an older home, i decided i
could make the bulk of the furniture myself, especially since she who was to
become a swmbo in training was on the way. ended up making a changing table,
some drawers, and shelves. not bad for a first effort.

about the time i really started getting into woodworking, i found out about
the internet & usenet and ran into rec.norm, where i followed with glee the
meanderings of many of you. there i was also introduced to the zen of
handtoolery. tested the waters by making a few minor purchases from the mofa,
honed some sharpening skills, and started substituting muscle for electron
power whenever feasable. as my inclinations shifted from p*w*r t**ls to hand
t ools, i found i was wandering over to the porch more often.

overall, i'm a user, not a collector. my current project is building a sofa
table with a purty piece of curly maple as the top (boy i sure could use a
good infill). thank you all for letting me up on the porch, i promise i won't
take much room.

kevin