OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

45431 Mark McAniff <markmc2@m...> 1998‑06‑26 Bio: kinda roundabout (and long)
Hello all,

I'm 46 and live in Highland NY with SWMBO and a psychotic cat. The 5 kids
are out of the house now, one of em is threatening to return.

I've always been interested in woodwork and loved tools even though I was
an academic student and almost flunked shop in Jr.Hi. Dad is a retired shop
teacher who claims to have no mechanical ability. (Alas he may be right)
But I do remember him teaching me how to use a hand saw and to "respect the
grain", he's a good teacher. There was a little used bench in the basement
and some tools. I'd fiddle with the brace and bits and try to make shavings
with the plain, musta been nine or ten.

Years later after dropping out of engineering school I somehow became a
leather worker to pay the bills . At first I did mostly hand work, learned
the basics from saddlers and sandle makers in Florida while living in a
truck. I was in that business for ten years in varying capacities,
eventually became a pattern/sample maker in NYC. I used to think I would
like cabinetmaking but it seemed inaccessible, too many tools, too much I
didn't know. I'd build work benches with hammer and nails slightly better
than my old tree houses.

About 20 years ago I did a small job for a fellow who was in "modelmaking
and special effects"  soon following a brief stint in design school, a
divorce, and restless feet I ended up working as a modelmaker.

Over the yrs. I got to make lots of strange things from lots of materials.
An awful lot of it was with plastics, but we'd work in whatever however we
had to. Professional modelmaking is mostly with powah tools but there's a
surprising variety of hand work when needed. I got to meet a lot of
talented and varied craftspeople, learned a lot.

Even though we had a complete FWW, woodwork usually meant sheet goods,
occasionally carving, or a base for some model . Got a little more serious
about ten years ago.  I went into business on my own in NYC, rented a tiny
shop and it needed a bench. A local cabinetmaker had discarded some maple
and poplar. I went to Garret Wade and bought a Record #5c and a mortise
chisel.  Caliper in hand guided by the Garrett Wade catalogue, I resawed
and thicknessed the wood for a bench base, chopped a few mortises and cut
parts for a tool cabinet. Still have the bench but the cabinet parts sat
for ten years.

Every now and again I'd find a reason to get something from Garrett Wade.
Got a few more planes, some saws, coupla chisels,  a mess of files, overall
just enough to manage. Still not much serious woodwork but for a few years
I made a lot of prototype doll furniture and accessories.

So last fall I had some health problems and had to slow down. I started
reorganizing the shop and revived the tool cabinet. The parts had warped
after 10yrs. Decided to learn dovetails, did normie thru dovetails on the
TS and half blinds by hand.

Meanwhile I'd started to spend time at the computer and stumbled into wreck
norm, EN, and some wood web. Wow! Used hand tools! on the web!!! I'd check
the oldtools archive every now and then too... but didn't think I'd quite
fit in, I had worked with way to much plastic and powah. Anyway back at the
tool cabinet, after 30 drawers I managed to convince that nasty little
mental auditor that my chisels were inadequate and I NEEDED some others.
Picked up a few spiffy 720's and 750's from Don Boyer (who patiently held
my hand :).

Around then I got hired by the Electric Launch Company, Elco, a boat
building co. partly to do woodwork (of all things :). I immediately fired
the mental auditor and started to find myself coming home with piles of
rust on Saturday morning. But then I was moved over to "drives" at Elco
cause one fella hurt his back and I was the most likely candidate. At first
I was dissapointed but now it's not so bad. I can look forward to going out
to the garage when I get home to do what I want to do, might not feel that
way if I was working wood all day. There are fringe benefits too, lately a
pile of shorts from Elco has been growing in a corner while I try to decide
what to do with all that mahogany, ash and white oak :)

Like I said a while back i didn't think I'd be joinin yall. Not sure what
it was that tipped the scales, either the transitionals or realizing that I
didn't NEED 4-#4's and 2 woody smoothers, but I surrendered and signed up a
few weeks ago.

I'm not ready to fire all the apprentices, but there sure aren't any on the
" want list". Looking for chair tools right now, promised SWMBO a dining
table and chairs in the fall (didn't say which year though). Been doin some
drawings and found a pile of walnut at a local tree guy. Almost done
finishing the tool cabinet, I get  distracted cleaning rust, sharpening or
surfacing the top of another maple bench instead.

I'd still say that woodwork is NOT my strong suit, I may know some weird
little thing every now and again but mostly I hope to find a comfy little
outta the way spot on to listen and learn. Still seems a lot to learn, just
seems accessible now... partly thanks to the porch.

Mark McAniff
markmc2@m...



Recent Bios FAQ