Fellow Galoots,
My name is Rex Dailey. I was born and raised in Fort Wayne, IN. Girls,
golf, rifle club, car and paper route (required for me to afford the
aforementioned 4 activities) are all that mattered in my teenage life.
Married my High School sweetheart (after dating 4 years) when she turned
19 - I was 20. At this point I thought my life was complete. Bought a
house, we were both working, playing lots of tennis - HA, this is easy!
Started a family eight years later, buy another house and I turn around
twice and I'm 44 years old and now have two teenage daughters. Where
did the time go??? Both my daughters enjoyed their wood shop classes in
Middle School and made some very nice projects. My youngest daughter is
a GIT as we just finished building a bird feeder together. We live in
Naperville, IL. where I work for Lucent Technologies as a software test
engineer.
I've been working wood as a hobbiest for about 20 years in some form or
another and have completed a few projects I am proud of. Three drawer
Red Oak file cabinet, Cherry quilt stand and 12" Cherry fruit bowl for
SWMBO. Cherry hand mirrors, quilted Cherry and crotch Walnut bowls
w/lids, Walnut doll chest (first semi-galoot project - finished w/hand
planes) and bedroom bulletin boards for the girls. My current project
is a traditional twin pedestal desk built from a White Oak tree I cut
down and has been drying the last six years.
My earliest tool training began helping my father around the house. Dad
wasn't a galoot, he just wanted to get the job completed with whatever
tools were needed. Helped him with things like enclosing the roof eaves,
reshingling the house, remodeling the bathroom with this funky looking
hardboard stuff, and other misc. projects. My first true woodworking
exposure was in school where I made a Shaker looking grain scoop in Jr. Hi.
and a set of Walnut salt and pepper shakers & 6 Walnut wine glasses in
High School. I was hooked but it took a few years to get back to cutting
wood - I was to busy dating my future SWMBO to get serious about this
woodworking thing.
Like many other lemmings, I started at home with a few Sears tools. I
quickly discovered the errors of my ways and moved on to the contractor
grade machines. After getting a few projects under my belt, I was
beginning to wonder just how I could get my work to look as good as "store
bought". One way of being enlightened quite a bit on the subject was by
reading FWW mags./books and checking out many books from our local library.
I am very lucky to have my shop in ~400 sq. ft. of basement. I'm blessed
with a SWMBO that has sanctioned the purchase of a few Big Iron machines
along with something to suck the dust. However, the more time I spend down
in my cave, the more I come to realize that there are less noisy and more
pleasurable ways of working wood. Don't misunderstand, I still use my p*w*r
t**ls, but have found that they can't achieve the precise fit and finish
that a hand tool will give me. I continually remind myself of just how a
(preferably old) hand tool can be tuned to allow the removal of just the
right amount of material (if you read the grain correctly) without gnawing
up your project. And how about those scrapers! Those who insist on using
sandpaper to finish a table top after planing just doesn't have a clue how
efficient a hand tool can be! A good friend at work introduced me to the
MWTCA and I have been a member now for a little over two years. I have
acquired my own Shelf Of Planes (TM) and am amazed at how easily it is to
buy a reasonably priced user plane and tune it to do just wonderful work.
My first true exposure (or appreciation) of what could be accomplished
with hand tools occurred while visiting Williamsburg on summer vacation
20 years ago. While walking around the village, we came across a few
cabinetmakers in a small demonstration area set off the side of the road.
They had on display some very fine furniture - including a few highboys.
I ran my hand across the top of a table and ask how they got the top so
flat and smooth. Well, this fellow came over and told us a little history
about the piece and then went on to explain that it was built on-site in
the local woodworking shop at which time he answered my question - HAND
PLANE!
Bottom line is that "the old hand ways" are just a wonder the more I
learn about them. We just recently (Christmas '97) toured the Biltmore
mansion in Asheville, TN. and The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, KY.
I was in a state of wonderment as I roamed the halls and rooms of these
two places knowing that all this exquisite woodwork was accomplished in
the very early 1800s (Pleasant Hill) and 1895 (Biltmore) with hand tools
alone. In the Biltmore Mansion there were linenfold White Oak Panels
*everywhere*!!! Today we are so accustomed to plugging in our tools that
we forget (or in some cases have no idea) what can be accomplished without
all the noise and cloud of dust in the shop.
While I call woodworking my hobby, it's tools (both old and new - but
mostly old) that are quickly becoming my obsession - I uh mean interest.
A close 2nd is squirrelling away "free" wood I pick up at garage sales
or in logs. Over the years, I have had the pleasure and good fortune
to know a few guys at work that enjoy doing some logging. We are lucky
to have a bandsaw mill about 20 miles west of town and when the opportunity
arises we can stack our green wood at home for some very reasonable prices.
We have taken everything from Basswood to Walnut (my personal favorite!)
and quite a bit of Red and White Oak to the mill. While the old muscles
can't do as much of this as I'd like anymore, I've had quite a bit of fun
over the years hauling logs to the mill. I even once put a 20" X 6' walnut
log in the back of my '81 Toyota Celica liftback (by myself thank you very
much) and toted it across town. Anyway, I have stashed quite a bit of this
away that will probably last me into retirement! There is an 8' X 12' shed
full of neatly stickered Walnut and Cherry in the back yard, and I have a
friend who has a barn which is where all my White Oak is quietly waiting.
I built his kitchen cabinet doors, he stores my Oak - a good trade I think!
I suppose I should end this - excuse me for being long winded but it is an
inherited thing, something I picked up from my Dad! And for those of you
that have made it this far, I'll go ahead and list my biggest tool blunder
(easy - it still hurts!) and a few gloats.
Biggest mistake: Very early in my Galoot training, I passed on
two boxes of Stanley 45 cutters for $5 a box at
a garage sale. Besides, when would I be lucky
enough to find a reasonably priced Stanley 45?
I STILL kick myself for this!!!
Tool Gloat: Powermatic 45 Lathe - $150 at a High School Auction.
After $200 for missing parts and replaced bearings,
runs like new.
Wood Gloat: 13 green walnut 10" X 7' X 8/4 planks for $45.
Friend at work knew a supervisor that had a VERY
large walnut tree fall in his yard. This baby
was 32" dia. at eye level - we got 3 eight foot
logs and 2 seven foot logs out of it! The tree
owner drove off with his Suburban full, my friend
had his pickup full, I got what was left. Love
that Sawmill!!!
Best buy of '97: Picked up a Good+ Stanley Bedrock 605 for $10 at
a garage sale. Asked them if they'd take $8, but
they said it was worth $10 - I didn't argue. Like
my Dad always says, "Doesn't hurt to ask!"
Best buy of '98: Brother-in-law flew into Indy on business and drove
back to Ossian where I was visiting with the folks.
Brought me back a hand plane he picked up at a
garage sale. Turns out to be a Stanley Bedrock 604
that has great wood, almost unused iron, and just a
hint of surface rust. When asked if I was interested,
told him it was worth between $125 to $150 but was
only worth $75 to me. He only wanted what he had
invested in it so I have another Bedrock for an
unbelievable $20 - oh lucky me!
Rex Dailey
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