OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

117545 "Bob French" <bfrench@a...> 2003‑05‑14 belated bio and Phillips head screws
I've been a spectator on the Old Tools list for about four months now, so
I suppose it's time I posted something.  I am a research agronomist
working for the government of Western Australia, and specialize in grain
legumes. Most of my work is with lupins, but also with field peas and
chickpeas.  About 75% of the world's lupins are grown in Western
Australia, so I'm in the thick of it here. I've been interested in hand
tools ever since I can remember.  I spring from at least three generations
of carpenters and builders, and I have a number of tools that belonged to
my great-grandfather and grandfather.  All very well used: a Disston 8 pt
handsaw, for example, that, according to family tradition dates from about
1890, is only about an inch and a half wide at the toe from repeated
sharpening.  I learnt woodworking with hand tools (it was taught this way
in Australian high schools as recently as the 1970s) and have continued to
work this way by preference, however I'm not a purist and sometimes use
power tools to avoid drudgery.  I often cut mortises in hard Australian
timbers like jarrah and wandoo with an electric router, but cut dovetails
by hand, and stick mouldings by hand.  If working in pine (which I do
occasionally) I cut mortises by hand too. Until about 6 or 7 years ago I
had only a rudimentary (so it seems now) kit of hand tools, and if I ever
thought about tool collectors it was to think why waste good tools by
tying them up in a collection where they will never be used?  Then I
bought a second hand Stanley no. 5 1/2 (late twenties, I don't know what
type no.), closely followed by a no. 8 (turn-of-the-century) and realised
that old tools were much better quality than new ones, and I've been
acquiring them whenever possible ever since (I still think it's a shame
not to use old tools). There's an active old tool community in Western
Australia (see http://www.handtoolswa.iinet.net.au/index.html) but I
interact with them on an infrequent basis since I live in a country town
of around 3000 people that is 260 km east of the state capital, Perth.
Tools other than cheap handsaws and chisels are not commonly found at
garage sales etc.  Either people value their old tools too highly, or
there never were very many in the area.  But occasionally I find something
interesting locally. I was prompted into action by the discussion of
Phillips head cabinet screwdrivers.  I have always hated Phillips head
screws, both because they look incongruous on the type of woodwork I do,
and I often seem to strip the sockets, perhaps from using the wrong size
screwdriver.  But it's becoming very difficult to get slotted drive screws
in Australia: my local hardware store has tried to pretend to me that
no-one makes them anymore (they also tried pretending that screws smaller
than 4 g are not made either), and specialist woodworking suppliers in
Australia have only a limited selection.  If any of my fellow-Australian
list members know a good source of supply of slotted drive screws, I would
be very keen to hear about it.

Dr Bob French
Senior Grain Legume Agronomist

Department of Agriculture 
Dryland Research Institute
PO Box 432
Merredin, Western Australia
6415

Telephone: 	(08) 9081 3126 		(International +618 9081 3126)
Facsimile:	(08) 9041 1138		(International +618 9041 1138)
e-mail:		bfrench@a...



Recent Bios FAQ