Where to start?  My main interests are bluegrass and old-time music (both
very
galootish), colonial taverns, and woodworking (obviously).
SWMBO and I recently bought our first house (built in 1886) in lovely
Worcester,
MA,--lots of "character" (crooked walls, crooked ceilings, crooked maple
floors,
etc.--at least the furniture I am starting to make fits in with the
surroundings!).  The house also has a beautiful basement.  Some may not
consider a
basement with dirt floors and 6 1/2 ft. ceilings beautiful, but it came
with a
functional enough "bench" and it is my first workshop, so it is gorgeous to
me.

I come from a long line of blacksmiths and carpenters and there were always
a few
old tools around (although the p*w*r tools were/are the main ones used by
my father
and grandfather).  I have always wanted to make furniture, but never had
the space.
As soon as we bought the house, I started searching the internet for
information
about tools, stumbled onto a few galoot webpages, and became hooked.  I am
a history
buff with luddite tendencies and not so much money, so old hand tools
seemed like the
way to go.  Now that I've started, I know I'll never look back.  SWMBO is
also
convinced that I would cut a finger off with a t*ble s*w, so I have
encouragement
from her to buy as many hand tools as I need (and from what I've heard on
the porch,
you ALWAYS need more!).

My first galoot acquisition was a type 12(?) Stanley #5, which I bought
from
Clarence Blanchard while on vacation in Maine.  I've found a few things at
garage
sales, a nice old Starrett combination square and Stanley level (need to
find out
more about this one) for $1, a bow saw which I didn't buy because I was a
moron and
didn't know what I was doing, and a vise for 50 cents, which works very
well on my
bench.  For Christmas I received a Sargent 1080, some chisels, and some
Christmas
cash, most of which went to various members of this list.  Yesterday was my
birthday,
so I'm ready to start shopping again.

The biggest tool gold mine turned out to be in my wife's great aunt's
basement in New
Hampshire (no--I'm not going to tell you where, because it's all still
there).  My
wife's great uncle (who died a few years back) inherited a lot of old tools
from his
uncle, who was a carpenter.  These tools have been sitting in the basement,
mostly
unused, for a long time.  We visited this aunt soon after I started lurking
under
the porch.  She lives in an old farmhouse, so naturally I asked if she had
any old
tools around.  She didn't really know, just some old rusty things.  I
should just go
look.  Holy cow!  6 or 7 Disston saws (including a beautiful giant mitre
saw), a
Stanley #7, at least 6 braces and tons of bits, eggbeater drills, chisels,
and lots
of other stuff.  I didn't know everything I was looking at, but I was in
galoot
heaven.  I told her that if she was ever ready to get rid of them, and her
sons
didn't want them, give me a call!  Well, her sons aren't interested, but
she is not
ready to part with her husband's things, so for now I have to wait.  She
did give me
the #7, which I just tuned up.  The next time we visit, I am going to try
to
photograph and catalogue what is there, just to let her know what she has
and how
much it might be worth.  Since I am new to this, I know I'll need some help
identifying some things.

I would love to meet some Massachusetts Galoots.  I work in Cambridge at a
somewhat
old institution (founded in 1636), but head back to central Mass. as
quickly as the
train to Worcester will take me.

Thank you all for reading.  I have already learned so much from this
esteemed
group and I hope I can contribute in the future.

Brian Welch
brian_welch@h...