The only New Year's Resolution I've made in years is to become 
more involved with oldtools, again. Long hours have prevented 
much participation, and, realizing I've missed oldtools, have 
added it to my list of necessary luxuries. I'm going to keep this 
resolution and started by getting off digest mode last month.

I was well on my way down the "slippery slope" when I stumbled into
oldtools. I think it was 1996 when I tumbled into the virtual land of
Galoots and found many of them immersed in the first group project
of building St James Bay infills. 

Hanging around oldtools was about the only incentive I needed to go
head-long into searching for the bottom of that slippery slope. While
others tried to maintain their balance and resist gravity, I started a
down-hill sprint. It's turned into a race between me trying to reach
the bottom and the graph of my bank account balances trying to find
the bottom. The only thing I've really figured out about this free-fall is
that, if done properly, you and your graphs reach bottom at the same
time so that the collision won't register on the Richter Scale.

It's been an interesting ride. My partner, Bill Clark and I have been
around most of the country at different tool meets with our planes
and are hoping to make the Pacific Northwest Tool Collectors
meeting in Portland next August.

All those years digging for information in Pollak's AWP I never
dreamed we'd be listed in Tom Elliot's fourth addition. Someday
I'll do a thorough search and see what other contemporary plane 
makers listed. We once took planes to Colonial Williamsburg
for input and have now completed the first order of planes for their
use. I find it very flattering they'd consider us an acceptable
alternative to the tools produced by their highly skilled but over-
worked tool makers, George Wilson and Jon Laubach. I'm excited
and energized by the opportunity. Photos of the planes for CWF
are at http://www.planemaker.com/misc/wmsbrg1.jpg and
http://www.planemaker.com/misc/wmsbrg2.jpg .

Other good things are happening. I've been invited to teach a plane
making workshop next October at Arrowmont 
( http://arrowmont.org/index.html ), one of the oldest and most 
reputable craft schools in the US. Those who also hang around
rec.woodworking probably know of my long-time friend Doug Stowe.
He's now a contributing editor of 'Woodwork' and I've worked on an
article with Doug about making a small table--my part is about hand
planing the stock for the top of the table. I enjoyed the opportunity to
work with Doug again and watch his table evolve. That article should
be out in a few months.

Doug is also teaching woodworking at a small local high school. My
daughter is in his class and is really getting into wood working,
especially turning. Doug has normite leanings and I'm trying to
influence him more toward hand tools in the school shop. It's a small
private school and the budget is limited so any tools needing some
TLC that find their way there would, I'm sure, be appreciated. You
can read a little about Doug's program at his web site
http://www.dougstowe.com --just click on "Wisdom of the Hands."
way

My main source of cash vanished a little more than a year ago.
25+ years of architectural wood working, cabinet making and finish
carpentry is over. After a fall during an ice storm,  my orthopedic
surgeon walked into my hospital room and informed me that
reconstructing my elbow was going to take a second operation.
"I'm a cup half-full kind of guy," he said, "but you're going to have
to find another occupation." I held my tongue but wanted to tell him
to get real--that I was on a mission.

For the first few months out of the cast and brace, I was pretty
confident I'd get most of the use of my left arm back. The last
few months, though, have been spent becoming a better machinist
while modifying machines to do some of the things that are now
 a bit more difficult. I'm pretty pleased that Bill has stuck with me
and helped while I try to work through this. We've worked
together since before my daughter was born and I'll be rushing
home from Arrowmont to make her 16th birthday--sometimes I
wonder if it's because I've become a kind of habit.

There are some changes here too. My new e-mail address is
williams@p... and Bill's is bclark@planemaker.com .
Local area codes have changed and the phone number is now
(479) 253-7416. Our web site needs desparately to be up-dated;
 I'm trying to find time and there will be some changes pretty
soon.

Larry Williams
Clark & Williams