OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

264062 Mike DeLong <mpdelong@g...> 2017‑11‑26 Bio v3.0
Hi there fellow Galoots,

I'm participating in Galootaclaus this year after an absence of several
years. This spurred me to find out how much my bio was out-of-date. Wow, it
has been over 20 years since I posted an update. I was then 49 year old and
it seems like it wasn't very long ago. Oh well, a lot has certainly changed
in that time.



I've been sitting here on the porch since Paddy O'Dean invited me in
December of 1995, so my rocker there in the corner is showing its age. A
lot of names have come and gone from the porch, but I'm still here reading
the emails every day, though my interaction has been infrequent for the
last few years.



I am now retired after 23 wonderful years working for Southern Methodist
University. I'm still married to the same wonderful woman and we are just a
few months short of 50 years together. Both kids are married and livving in
other states. I've moved from the Dallas, TX, area to a small private lake
in far East Texas. My new shop is a separate building of about 600 square
feet, includes a large wooden deck that looks out over the lake. Since
retiring in 2007 I have completed several projects, ranging from Shaker
Oval Boxes to a Windsor Chair; all built with hand tools (except for
turning the chair's legs on an electric apprentice). I was lucky to be
taught how to make the Shaker Boxes, without electricity, by List Mom
Emeritus Ralph Brendler when he visited this area a few years back. I still
make two or three sets a year and give them away to new friends and
charities. I am not a hand-tool purist, but I use them a lot. I've pared my
tool arsenal down to only user-grade hand tools except for a couple of
sentimental items. I still have a fondness for craftsman-made tools, and I
have several from previous Galootaclaus swaps. And according to my wife, I
have a chisel addiction, but she just doesn't understand a man's need to
rehabilitate chisels. I'm also fond of old woodworking related advertising
signs.



Well, that should do it for another 20 years or so.



Mike DeLong

Recent Bios FAQ