I've crawled out from under porch once or twice in the past couple years,
but never posted a bio. As you can tell, I spent the remainder of my time
writing this epic. (G)

Born Jan 4, 1962, started growing up and in the middle of it, little bit,
and then joined the Air Force at 17. Fixed weapons systems for Uncle Sam
for four years. My last tour of duty brought me to Tucson, Arizona, and
I've been here ever since. I love the blue sky! We see sunshine about 350
days a year. After I left the military, I did a 9-year stint with the
Hughes Aircraft Company Missile Systems Group, which was later bought by
Raytheon. There, I engineered missile test equipment and software. More
importantly, I met the love of my life, Mary Middleton, at Hughes in 1986.
We married three years later. I have four children: Andrew (1978), Lisa
(1980), Jessica (1982), and Tyler (1991). The first three are from my
first marriage. I've got two grandkids on the way, so I'm trying to grow
some gray hair, but it's been slow coming!

In 1992, I left Hughes and started a market analysis software company. We
switched to producing geographic data after a year, and sold in 1998. I
did freelance software development for a few more years, and then
essentially retired. Mary and I started a home-renovation [ad]venture.
That's been about a year and a half now.

A lot of my "free" time is spent in the shop, and woodworking has long
been a cherished pastime. Most of my projects have been pretty simple:
shelves, bookcases, cabinets, stools, puzzles, and whatnot. Does carpentry
count as woodworking?

I love making things -- anything, really -- but my favorite things to make
are tools. I have deep admiration for tools that perform well, that are
simple, solid, and dependable. Time and again, I have found that the tools
with these virtues are most often older ones. Unsurprisingly, these
comprise the majority of my most prized and coveted tools. It was this
passion that first drew me to the oldtools list, but it was the porch that
set the hook.

Besides making tools for others, I spend a fair bit of shop time
restoring, repairing and improving woodworking and machine tools, and
building jigs, fixtures, tooling and accessories for various odd jobs.

Toolmaking also gives me the excuse to engage in another favorite pastime,
metalworking. My dad is a blacksmith and he recently gave me an old Mouse
Hole anvil, which is now the shop geezer. I haven't dated it yet, but it
is certainly pre-1850, and probably much older. Amazingly, it is still in
decent, though not fine (G), condition. Before getting that anvil, I had
spent a good portion of a couple of years beating red hot steel on the
back of a bench vise. Incidentally, I discovered that doing so doesn't
make it a better anvil -- or a better bench vise. My first firebrick forge
has nearly fallen apart and I'm currently building it's replacement. I
also do a little welding and machine work here and there.

I really have too many interests. There are, of course, my beautiful wife
and children, and the considerable time spent in the shop, metalworking,
woodworking, or exploring electronics or astronomy. Out of the shop, I
love chess, and have been quite active in local chess organizations. When
I can, I also dabble in music (piano and guitar), radio control airplanes,
and sometimes (rarely) a little oil painting.

Things I am not: I am not a collector, and I know nothing of obscure
tools. I don't frequent garage sales, flea markets or auctions, so I
always end up paying "too much." Consequently, the bottom feeders that
hang out here on porch have imparted to me, besides sheer envy, a sincere
appreciation for their particular styles and skills -- things I hope to
one day emulate. But I doubt I'll ever buy a tool just to have it. Unless
I can put a tool to good use, I just don't have a need for it.

I am not a neander, either, or at least not strictly one. I like my tailed
apprentices as well as my hand saws, chisels, planes, and scrapers.
Generally, I turn first to the tool that will get the job done best, then
fastest. Still, even though my shop is pretty well equipped, I figure the
electrons win only about half the time.

Jim