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"
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