I've only been lurking for a few weeks, but I've gone through
a couple months of archives.  I'm having a great time.

I'll be 30 in a couple of weeks, married, no kids yet.
I'm a software geek having moved from Pittsburgh to
central Mass after getting my grad degree a couple of
years ago.  I see two things driving my woodworking
interests.  First, I can't stand to pay a contractor for something
I can do myself.  So I do all my own home and auto repairs.
Having three cars and a 100 yr old Victorian house, that keeps
me pretty busy.  It also requires a lot of varied tools.  The
corollary here is I can't stand to buy a new tool when I
can find a used one.  My friends say I'm just cheap.  My
excuse is that currently quality doesn't come close to that
of older tools (with a few special exceptions of course).

The other thing is that I am a toolaholic.  There. I said it.
I'm a big believer in having the right tool for the job.  When it
comes to working on cars, it can save you an awful lot of
time.  Hence I tend to get buy one of everything as I come
across good deals.  This can get dangerously close to
collecting because there are so many tools that I might
need someday.  ;-)  SWMBO and my friends used to try
and reason with me.  They've given up.  Now they just shake
their head quietly.

I do tend to sell off duplicates to finance my tool habit.
So I'm not a collector (said with straight face), and I'm hanging
onto that story for now.  SWMBO lets me get away with
buying everything in site as long as I keep selling the extras.

My new interest in old handtools comes from wanting to
try my hand at making some nice furniture.  I've never been
happy with sanded finishes, and can't stand the idea of
spending a load of cash on a big assortment of router bits
or shaper cutters that produce a less than ideal finish.  OT
seem to provide so much more with respect to finish quality,
joy of use, and kind of a mother-earth-karma type deal that I
can't quite put into words.

I have a shop full of Normite tools for rough work, a metalworking
lathe, and cabinets full of mechanics and machinist tools.
In fact I've done business both buying and selling these items
with several other members of the OT list on ebay (id = old_iron)

My main goals are to scarf up as much knowledge as possible,
and gather together the rudimentary tools and techniques
necessary to try my hand at some high quality furniture and
see how I like it.

Like a lot of other bios I've read, my dad introduced me to
woodworking and various other do-it-yourself projects.  He sure
did teach me a lot about building/repairing houses.  I also
happen to be a homebrewer, similar to a lot of the rest of you
galoots.  I've got an all-grain setup, but my last batch was a
nut brown done about two years ago.  Been spending too much
(or just the right amount) or time on my tool habit of late.

I just hope I can provide as much sage advice as I get from
reading everyone else's posts.

Cheers,
Dave Shepard

At 7:43 PM 8/12/98, Dave Shepard wrote:
>The other thing is that I am a toolaholic.  There. I said it.
>I'm a big believer in having the right tool for the job.  When it
>comes to working on cars, it can save you an awful lot of
>time.  Hence I tend to get buy one of everything as I come
>across good deals.  This can get dangerously close to
>collecting because there are so many tools that I might
>need someday.  ;-)  SWMBO and my friends used to try
>and reason with me.  They've given up.  Now they just shake
>their head quietly.

This reminds me, the latest (I believe) issue of Fine Homebuilding magazine
features a SWMBO's ode to her toolaholic husband (complete with proposed
revision to wedding vows - she's not just marrying her husband, she's
marrying his tools!). This is the last-page-essay inside the back cover.
ROFLOL funny, or at least worth a good chuckle. Check it out!

Tim "the toolman" Allen
catamount@t...   *    http://top.monad.net/~catamount/

From: Timothy J. Fuss
Dave stepped up to the porch and introduced himself...

Okay, everybody...... HI DAVE!

> The corollary here is I can't stand to buy a new tool
> when I can find a used one.  My friends say I'm just cheap.

NO, no, no,  you're not cheap! You're *frugal*
Frugal is cheap, but with style.
On second thought, make that: frugal is cheap with panache!

> My excuse is that currently quality doesn't come close
> to that of older tools (with a few special exceptions of course).

Ahyup. The sound of another one diving headlong down the slope :-)

> The other thing is that I am a toolaholic.  There. I said it.

You'll fit in just fine around here. we are, after all, the
support group from hell.

> SWMBO and my friends used to try and reason with me.
> They've given up.  Now they just shake their head quietly.

Good, it's not just me!

See ya on the porch...

Welcome to the porch, Dave.

Dave wrote:
> SWMBO lets me get away with
> buying everything in site as long as I keep selling the extras.

So, what century do you finally tell SWMBO there's no such thing as an
extra? As long as she thinks you're selling this will work.

Tom Corey