Hi all,

I've posted a couple of times without introducing myself, so I 
figured I should do that before posting again...  If you're easily
bored, quit now because this is too long.

Without further ado, I'm a hydraulic engineer by training, but mainly
work as a computer nerd in a research lab.  I have a wonderful wife 
who allows me to buy tools, two sons (6 & 7) and two daughters (1 & 5).
I'm probably in the lower end of the porch age distribution.  We
live near Port Angeles, WA, where an old tools are things like a 1960s 
circular saw, or maybe a rusted falling axe.

My folks have a small farm, and I grew up helping with animals,
car & tractor repair, firewood splitting, fencepost splitting,
and other miscellaneous things. Using axe, hammer, hand saw, brace
and other tools was typical, although the only time we used a 
two-man saw was the day the chainsaw died.  This all came in handy
in grad school, as I had the run of the shop in the hydraulics lab 
after our technician retired, since I needed to build or modify 
physical models.  The tools were older and fun to use, (e.g., [1]) 
but were mostly 3-phase and thus off-topic.

I started getting into woodworking to build stuff for my wife (read:
have an excuse to buy power tools), but also ended up with a couple 
of hand planes that had belonged to a family friend's father 
(a Stanley type 11 #4 smoother and a Millers Falls bullnose).  
The #4 seemed useful for cleaning up the marks left by my jointer, 
although first I had to learn how to sharpen it.  Two years ago, 
I picked up an old toolbox full of hand saws that had 
belonged to my grandpa and great-grandpa.  That included an Atkins 
401, Atkins 70, a Millers Falls (Disston) mitre saw, and a DCH rip
saw.  I naturally started trying to figure out how to sharpen the
saws, mainly out of curiosity, which led me to Pete Taran's site
and the purchase of a few files.  From there it was a short step to
my first fleabay purchase, a Stearns No. 3 saw vise for $10.
Trying to find out more about that "DCH" saw led me to the porch
archives [2], and subsequently lurking here to pick up tips.
I've since swiped most of my dad's old hand tools and fixed them
for my own use, although he still has a few timber framing chisels 
with badly beaten sockets.

A few projects I've completed in the last year or so:

http://gallery.me.com/amaxwell/100071

The stool & saw till (both Borg white pine) and bookshelf 
(Eastern hard maple) were hand tool projects, except for the rip
cuts to get rid of the rough edge on the maple boards.  None of it
is show quality, but the pieces are functional and I learned a lot.
Thanks to Derek Cohen for his sliding dovetail tutorial!

http://gallery.me.com/amaxwell/100079

As usual, each project provides motivation to get more tools, some
from internet auction, some from old tool merchants, and others
just purchased new when I need to get something done (or want to
support one of our smaller toolmakers).  The current
project is a chest in bubinga, patterned after Roy Underhill's tool
chest.  It's for my wife to put fabric stuff in, and is coming along
slowly because of a) lack of time and b) pushing my skill limits. So
far it's all been done with hand tools except for the rip cuts on
the rough-cut edges.  Plowing a 3/4" groove in bubinga with a #45
combination plane is no joke, and it's a good thing those will be
hidden.  I'm currently doing half-blind dovetails to join the ends.

Anyway, if you made it this far, you obviously have too much time on 
your hands, and should be out in the shop!

[1] http://www.olivermachinery.com/ReferencePhotos/MachinePics/34.jpg
[2] http://tinyurl.com/2dvcrym

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome! And, great work thus far. Impressive.

Archie

--- On Fri, 7/2/10, Adam R. Maxwell  wrote:

> From: Adam R. Maxwell  Subject: [OldTools] bio To:
> "porch"  Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 12:09 AM Hi all,
>
> I've posted a couple of times without introducing myself, so I figured
> I should do that before posting again...=A0 If you're easily bored,
> quit now because this is too long.
>
> Without further ado, I'm a hydraulic engineer by training, but mainly
> work as a computer nerd in a research lab.=A0 I have a wonderful wife
> who allows me to buy tools, two sons (6 & 7) and two daughters (1 &
> 5). I'm probably in the lower end of the porch age distribution.=A0 We
> live near Port Angeles, WA, where an old tools are things like a 1960s
> circular saw, or maybe a rusted falling axe.
>
> My folks have a small farm, and I grew up helping with animals, car &
> tractor repair, firewood splitting, fencepost splitting, and other
> miscellaneous things. Using axe, hammer, hand saw, brace and other
> tools was typical, although the only time we used a two-man saw was
> the day the chainsaw died.=A0 This all came in handy in grad school,
> as I had the run of the shop in the hydraulics lab after our
> technician retired, since I needed to build or modify physical
> models.=A0 The tools were older and fun to use, (e.g., [1]) but were
> mostly 3-phase and thus off-topic.
>
> I started getting into woodworking to build stuff for my wife (read:
> have an excuse to buy power tools), but also ended up with a couple of
> hand planes that had belonged to a family friend's father (a Stanley
> type 11 #4 smoother and a Millers Falls bullnose).=A0 The #4 seemed
> useful for cleaning up the marks left by my jointer, although first I
> had to learn how to sharpen it.=A0 Two years ago, I picked up an old
> toolbox full of hand saws that had belonged to my grandpa and great-
> grandpa.=A0 That included an Atkins 401, Atkins 70, a Millers Falls
> (Disston) mitre saw, and a DCH rip saw.=A0 I naturally started trying
> to figure out how to sharpen the saws, mainly out of curiosity, which
> led me to Pete Taran's site and the purchase of a few files.=A0 From
> there it was a short step to my first fleabay purchase, a Stearns No.
> 3 saw vise for $10. Trying to find out more about that "DCH" saw led
> me to the porch archives [2], and subsequently lurking here to pick up
> tips. I've since swiped most of my dad's old hand tools and fixed them
> for my own use, although he still has a few timber framing chisels
> with badly beaten sockets.
>
> A few projects I've completed in the last year or so:
>
> http://gallery.me.com/amaxwell/100071
>
> The stool & saw till (both Borg white pine) and bookshelf (Eastern
> hard maple) were hand tool projects, except for the rip cuts to get
> rid of the rough edge on the maple boards.=A0 None of it is show
> quality, but the pieces are functional and I learned a lot. Thanks to
> Derek Cohen for his sliding dovetail tutorial!
>
> http://gallery.me.com/amaxwell/100079
>
> As usual, each project provides motivation to get more tools, some
> from internet auction, some from old tool merchants, and others just
> purchased new when I need to get something done (or want to support
> one of our smaller toolmakers).=A0 The current project is a chest in
> bubinga, patterned after Roy Underhill's tool chest.=A0 It's for my
> wife to put fabric stuff in, and is coming along slowly because of a)
> lack of time and b) pushing my skill limits. So far it's all been done
> with hand tools except for the rip cuts on the rough-cut edges.=A0
> Plowing a 3/4" groove in bubinga with a #45 combination plane is no
> joke, and it's a good thing those will be hidden.=A0 I'm currently
> doing half-blind dovetails to join the ends.
>
> Anyway, if you made it this far, you obviously have too much time on
> your hands, and should be out in the shop!
>
> [1] http://www.olivermachinery.com/ReferencePhotos/MachinePics/34.jpg
> [2] http://tinyurl.com/2dvcrym
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
>
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>
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>
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>



------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Adam,

Welcome to Pacific Northwest corner of The Porch! Pete Leenhouts is just down th
e road from you in Port Ludlow, and I'm a ferry ride away in Everett. 

I, for one, would like to hear the story behind that dovetail plane:

http://gallery.me.com/amaxwell#100071/IMG_3366&bgcolor=black

It looks to be a mix of old and new. Did it begin life as a dovetail plane, or w
as it modified and re-purposed?

Cheers,
Chuck Taylor
Everett, WA, USA

      
------------------------------------------------------------------------