OldTools Archive

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85528 "tom volpe" tomvolpe@i... 2000‑10‑28 BIO : Thin Wood and Old Tools
I have been gladly intoduced to the OLDTOOLS list by Jim Thompson. After
lurking for a few days I decided to add my bio.

I live in Louisville, Ky. and work as a network janitor for a large
hospital.
My interest in tools and woodworking began 11 years ago. I wanted to use the
profits from my woodworking to purchase more stamps and coins that I have
been collecting since I was 8yrs old. I settled on 'Barbie' size dollhouses
because they were easy to make and sale. I enhanced my houses by covering
the roof with Mahogany shingles and the outside walls with cherry veneer.
When I started I had not one tool so I purchased all the tailed tools at
local estate auctions (before wife). One box of sandpaper I won ($15)had
after I got it home a complete Stanley 55 minus screwdriver in the bottom. I
had no idea what it was or what it was worth. Two weeks later I stumbled on
a Stanley 2C at auction for again $15.00.

After a few years of making the houses and picking up the odd woodworking
tool I found out about Ebay. I was browsing the tool catagory and saw
someone selling Veneer in the tool catagory. By this time I had lots of
veneer left over from my dollhouses. I decided to try my hand at auctioning
veneer and some of the tools I had picked up. I have relised that selling
the tools and veneer is far more profitable than selling the houses. In fact
I have not made any sawdust for nearly three years now. Besides finding
collectable tools is a whole lot easier than getting collectable stamps and
coins.

My wife of 6 years is very understanding (she tolerates it) about the rust
hunting every week. I don't really collect anything special but I do like
the metal handplanes. 108 on hand now and have sold 310 on ebay over the
years. I have managed to win at auction the Stanley bench planes 1 to 8 at
local auctions.

I mainly concentrate on selling burl veneers on and off of Ebay. I have
recently tailgated at the MWTCA in Cincinatti. I was the one selling all
that veneer and some tools. Drop me a message perhaps we can trade tools for
veneer.

I look forward to talking tools with you and will be working on recruiting a
few of my computer phobic collector buddies on joining the list. I'm also
very interested in purchasing wooden planes made by Epperson in Louisville,
Ky.

Tom





Recent Bios FAQ