OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

14589 Galoot P. Johns <gpjohns@o...> 1997‑03‑05 Bio of a "Tool Psychologist".
Way, way back in the Halcyon days of the Oldtools listserv youth I posted my 
bio. Now we have a Bio bibliography of which I am not a participant. This 
is only to bring my Bio online. 

*************************Delete now if not interested!***********************

Use to I would have to walk to school, barefoot, in the snow, uphill, 
BOTH ways. But now I.......er, wrong story.

Ok, I'm 44, married and have 3 women in my cave. SWMBO, SWMBO Jr., and 
the dog. All three manage to keep me busy most of the time. The rest is 
spent in my shop dreaming about when I'll be making money building 
handcrafted furniture for the rich and famous.

My day job is at Educational Television Services at Oklahoma State Univ. 
I am the Senior Producer/Director there (fancy title, but really means 
I've just outlasted everyone else). By day we produce distance learning 
programs for High Schools around the nation. By night and weekends, we're 
producing Coaches shows and working freelance on sporting events. It's a 
living.

I have always lusted in my heart for the "Old Ways". The antique 
furniture, toys, you name it, I've always found them to be much more 
fascinating than *most* modern conveinences. So becoming a Galoot was 
natural for me. One part of my shop has the usual magically powered 
apprentices, but the bulk of the shop is given over to the deification of 
Handtools. My shop was my first serious woodworking project. With the 
help of a friend we built a 10'x16'x12' barn with loft doors in both 
ends. Makes it very easy to store lumber in the loft and helps keep the 
shop cool in the summer. Course the HUGE elm tree we built it under 
dosen't hurt either!
I was caught up in the sweeping tide of handtools with my 
first plane (MF #8, a Stanley #3 counterpart) acquired as a gift from a 
long dead friend. I have since acumulated numerous bench and block 
planes along with the other assorted and sundry items one needs to doink 
with wood.

I have many hobbys, but the funnest by far is working in the shop with my 
oldtools. Nothing relaxes me better. And I'm even helping to continue the 
tradition of apprenticeship by teaching my daughter how to use my tools. 
She already has her own block plane and smoother, and I'm working on her 
bench. Of course she's only 2 yrs. old, but she loves to go to the 
shop with daddy and mess around. And I can't think of a better way to teach 
her about life than to let her learn how things were done long ago. It 
helps to keep one's feet firmly grounded and one's head somewhere between 
the clouds and terra firma. But not always! ;-)

Gary Johns                
"Talks to Tools"



Recent Bios FAQ