OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

27867 Paul F Gillespie <Paul_F_Gillespie@r...> 1997‑10‑07 Bio Re[2]: The voices within...
Paddy requests:
     
>First off, I'd like as many people to respond to this as possible, 
>especially the nearly 200 of you out there....
     
>WHO HAVE NEVER POSTED A BIO!!

        Well, I'm pretty sure I posted a bio quite a while ago, but in case 
there was a clerical error and I'm one of the 200, here goes.  

        In order to support my tool habit, I work as an engineer for a 
chemical company manufacturing coatings.  (Yes, some of these coatings even 
go on wood.)  I've been married to my wife for 8 years and we have 2 lovely 
children, a son(5) and a daughter(3).  We live just outside of Philadelphia 
which I am slowly finding out is almost as rich as New England when it 
comes to old tools.  (Our old tools don't grow in the wild like N.E., we 
actually have to cultivate them. :))  

        I didn't really get into hand tools until about 10 years ago.  And, 
even then, it was quite by accident.  You see, when I was a young lad, my 
Dad worked for the Bell System.  Yeah, he had a full set of all those tools 
that some of us now drool all over.  No planes, but all the stuff you would 
need to install phones.  He would use these around the house for all the 
various upkeep chores.  So, you could probably say, I grew up chewing on 
the end of a Stanley brace and R-J bit.  

        A few years ago, I needed a small entertainment center (more like a 
fancy TV stand) to hold all my electronics stuff.  So I says to myself:  
"Self, you can build this.  You've seen Norm do it."  So, I designed the 
cabinet not knowing anything about furniture design, nor joints, nor 
construction methods.  Went to the local lumber yard and bought some cheap 
pine and started building.  The tools I had at the time were a cross-cut 
saw, Craftsman smoother and a few clamps.  Yes, I'll admit to borrowing my 
Dad's *l*ctr*c*l router to make some molding.  Alot of sweat went into that 
fancy TV stand.  And, alot of knowledge came out of it.  It ain't never 
gonna make the cover of FWW, but it's still holding the TV and all the 
other electronics.  

        Of course, my immediate reaction on completing this project was to 
start buying all kinds of tailed apprentices thinking that I could make 
stuff twice as fast if I had the same tools Norm did.  But, guess what?  My 
output never really increased, but my enjoyment decreased.  I didn't really 
feel like a craftsman, if I ever was one to begin with.  

        It was about this time that I got married and the kids came along.  
The marriage didn't change my woodworking ways too much, but the kids sure 
have.  You haven't really lived on the edge until you're in the middle of 
ripping a board on a RAS when your daughter falls on the cement, with your 
son falling on top of her, both of them screaming in pain and you're trying 
to keep your fingers out of that screaming demon until you can turn it off 
and also keep the board from kicking back at your stomach.  After that, I 
swore off power tools whenever they're in the shop.  And for the most part, 
even when they're not there.

        Believe it or not, I latched onto Oldtools when I noticed that alot 
of the people with knowledge about the various construction techniques of 
old furniture had left rec.the.wood.  At the time, I didn't really care too 
much about the tools side of things.  But, Patrick fixed that when I bought 
my first Stanley #4.  After that I just had to have more.  A coupla' more 
items from Patrick.  A couple from Tom Bruce.  And the next thing you know, 
I'm going to flea markets and tool auctions looking for iron.  No, I don't 
think I'll ever be a dealer or collector, but if I need a tool to complete 
my next project, don't be standing between me and the dealer table the tool 
is sitting on unless your insurance is paid up.

        Well, who would've thought I could be this long-winded.  It's not 
Lamantian, but this oughta suffice as a bio.  Ahh yeah, I almost forgot to 
work my gloat in.  My next project (right behind the 2 honey-do's) will be 
a workbench made from some 4x6 oak timbers I just got from a guy who's 
ripping down an old barn near me.  I only took 250 bd ft at 50 cents per.  
I think tonight I'll give the guy a call and see if I can save him some 
disposal costs by hauling some away for free. ;)

Paul Gillespie

        



Recent Bios FAQ