OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

49779 "Tom O'Neil" <toneil@c...> 1998‑09‑14 BIO
Hi fellow galoots.  One day while going through the OldTools FAQ I happened
upon the bios.  Having too much time on my hands I took a look and much to
my chagrin I discovered that I have been lurking without even knowing it!  I
thought I had posted my bio but maybe not.  So here it goes.

My name is Tom O'Neil and I am a resident of the PIRNY.  I would describe my
approach to woodworking as semi galoot with a steady increase in my
galootness.  I have a collection of the basic hand planes  with one or two
specialty planes.  I mostly use hand tools for surfacing wood, chopping
mortises and fixing mistakes.  I have been practicing dovetails faithfully
watching the Frank Klaus video but I am still making only fancy firewood.
In addition to the hand tools I also use the occasional power tool.  Most
notably the table saw.  I don't see myself hand ripping wood anytime soon.

Most of the tools that I have interest in are ones that are meant for use.
With that in mind I find the porch to be a great source of knowledge.  There
is nothing more annoying than to know what you want to do, have the correct
tool, and have no clue as to how to get there.

Lets see what else can I say.  Oh...I do have two recent semi galoot
projects to brag about.  Both of these projects are for my 20 month old son.
The first is a wooden rocking horse based on one that Norm Abrams made.  Now
before you start dumping garbage on my lawn I did turn a power tool only
project into a semi galoot project.  All of the wood was hand planed and
jointed.  The mortises were hand cut along with the tenons on the saddle.
All in all it came out pretty good.  The other recent project is a wooden
train table based on the one sold for Thomas Trains.  For anyone looking for
a good weekend project that a young child would appreciate you should take a
look at this.  It was an enjoyable project, not too much wood depending upon
what you make the insert out of.  My son is not old enough for the wooden
trains yet but the table is just his height and currently had a 48"x30"
melamine insert in it that he loves to color on.

Anyways that's it for the bio.  On another note does anyone have and
recommendations on a coping saw.  I have a project coming up that calls for
a long sloping curve.  The plans call for a band saw but I would prefer to
use a galoot method if possible.



Recent Bios FAQ