Hi fellow Galloots, This has been a stellar year for me in the tool
department. Unlike some of you in tool hell, here things still have a
way of rising to the surface. At the beginning of the year I wanted a
Stanley #8. I paid full price for one while on vacation in Raleigh NC.
Of course one back in Iowa I was able to find A #8 with a damaged frog
for much less. Of course I bought it. We had a nice trip hitting the
various antique malls and junk shops. It gave a nice break on a long
drive from Iowa to NC. My Lotm was able to find an appreciation for
antique malls and junk shop not so much up her alley. She did however
find a very nice ring that turned out to be white gold her 25.00 gloat.

Ok back to the BIO. I had the standard Midwest growing up child hood my
dad was a carpenter on the side from his regular job so I was exposed
to a lot of tools at an early age. My family had the usual divorce and
I was bounced to a different school with a much better wood shop. My
friends and I made various side tables and even made the flint locks
and six shooters for a couple of the plays I was in. Lately there has
been a lot of talk about school shop class. Mine was quite nice of
course there were the idiots in the class that tried to spoil things
but looking back I think it was a decent education. I fondly remember
the aluminum casting with sand molds. My class was pretty much stay
busy making some thing. We did have the basic name tool flash cards and
yes there were people who couldn't answer and yes the girls in the
class who had the instructor we called him Bob build her a nice hope
chest. We had access to every thing from a band saw to a table saw,
jointer and planer, sanders but I don=92t remember any hand tools i.e.
planes and chisels. I feel bad for people who had the safety blanket
class thrown on to the mix.

>From school I spent 7 yrs in the Army I worked with M1 Tanks
>both on the
East German Boarder and the 1st Gulf war. The time I spent at Fort hood
had the best wood shop and the mechanic shops all the tools you ever
needed rented to you by the hour. I remember a 1st Sergeant who was
making a German shrunk ( big entertainment covers a whole wall) out of
Army wooden bunk beds frames. He bought them through the post auction in
bulk. It was very nice work and a judicious use of materials. Though my
unit spent a lot of time in the field I did manage to get some speaker
cabinets made and spent a lot of time building and working on my car.
What a great way to kill time and burn income. After the army I went to
college and trained in appliance repair witch is where I met my first
wife. We left college and moved to Des Moines Iowa. It was this job is
where I learned how to navigate the greater Des Moines area. I used to
get lost, so my then wife and I used to hit all the yard sales just to
learn the town. I started to notice that there were a lot of tools being
sold for pennies. I started my collection of planes but failed to be
able to make them work. I could clean them but just couldn't get the
iron sharp or user friendly. Several years later and after a divorce
from a mentally unstable woman I met my now Fianc=E9 and she found a
class at the local Living History farms. It was in this class that I was
finally able to get a plane to not only work but work better than these
plane had probably ever worked since the factory produced them. After
taking this class I have had a strong desire to acquire various Stanley
planes and I have a new appreciation for Miller Falls as well. I have
been known to buy a few and sell them on t he Bay. I have tried every
thing to speed up sharpening and I find that my Jet water sharpener is
about the best method I have tried. Recently I was able to purchase from
our nice friend Craig (list) a Foley Bellsaw sharp all. For a gloat able
price of 200.00 US. I haven't had time to play with it yet. am still
trying to figure out if it will sharpen hand saw blades, or what
adapters are needed. I would like to finish my Krenov inspired smoother
but some time starting something just keeps the creative juices flowing.
If it turns out as well as I have it in my head. Well world peace can't
be to far off...

About this same time I took the class I started my then new job.
Regional Mngr for GRX. It is a job that requires me to travel the entire
state of Iowa and a 3rd of Nebraska. There are times when on my way home
I can stop at various antique malls and junk shops. This gives me time
and access to a great many tools. I have a great love of chisels and
have a few nice ones still waiting for me to turn some handles on my
tailed demon the Shop Smith. I have the usual Witherbys and some
Stanley's and Butcher Bros. I started to collect the James Cam I just
received my third James Cam the other day from the Bay.

 I have been slowly collecting info on saw sharpening, and picked up a
 Fulton saw sharpening jig as well as a saw jointer. I have some files
 that I have picked up along the way but have been hesitant to use them
 on my Disston hand saws.I have a couple with the never mention in a
 post (nib). I also have a couple of nice Disston Back saws. I keep
 reading that the steel used in the makeup of these saws to be to hard
 for a cheap or used file. An then there is the witch file to use
 question. If there is one thing I have learned about tools it is that I
 have a lot to learn. I teach when I can but am always ready to learn or
 at least remain open minded. Even if I don=92t agree I can still get
 something out of any conversation. This past 7 months have been spent
 on building goat sheds and chicken coops. My LOTM and I have been
 living the farm life with goats chickens and now Llamas and now
 Icelandic sheep. We purchased a nice house in the country with a 30 x
 60 Wick building. I used half of it for my shop and the other half will
 house the tractor when I find what I want as well as a chicken brooder
 and various gardening items. We have plans to build a chicken coop in
 the middle of our garden plot and rotate the chicken area with the
 garden every year for a more organic and fertile soil. I read a lot
 about living off the grid, but I think that one is a ways off but a
 goal none the less.

If Gallootaclause were to ask me what I wanted I would have to say
The older the better. Old is both a physical characteristic as well
as a technical process. I see many old tools at various places. I
tend to covet the tools once used and owned by the Amish. True some
of their tools are a bit beat and warn but they were used by people
who knew their craft and understood what the craft meant to put food
on the table.

I find with every passing year a new appreciation for some form of tool.
I have been finding some interesting hammers lately maybe it has
something to do with my 20.00 forge. Ok its missing the fan but it has
the main base just needs the part that blows air. Either way what ever
Gallootaclause sends me will remain under the tree until Christmas eve.
Where it will then be opened studied and appreciated for years to come.
Well like the commercial says "life come at you fast" grab all the rust
you can. Kelly in Van Meter Iowa.

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