OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

140871 "James DuPrie" <j.duprie@u...> 2005‑01‑20 Bio update
Well the recent ummmmm debate about sigs got me thinking. Its been a =
looong
time since I last updated bio, so I wandered over to the bio section, =
and ,
well, its been a *long* time, so here's an update:

I still live in southern New Hampshire, and I still make furniture and =
other
stuff out of wood. I've got a major back problem, so I'm only up and =
about
for a couple of hours a day. I'm still a user - I do have some =
"collectable"
tools, but they get used on a regular basis.

My shop is a 40x55 foot room with 10' ceilings, lots of nasty electron
killers (I make a good portion of my income at this, and all hand work =
just
doesn't pay....). I try to run a local galoot gathering every year
(galoot-a-thon Northeast), but the past few years it hasn't happened. =
This
year (2005) I'm shooting fro something during the summer, and hopefully =
I'll
be able to keep it an annual event.

I've been working with wood for about 25 years now. I started out making
furniture for around the house with my dad, then we started making =
clocks
(the case, works, etc were all wood). In High school I made and sold a =
few
all wood clocks, and some small casework. In college (college lasted =
about
15 years, I was restricted to a small workshop (my kitchen), and did all
hand work, but still managed to move a few pieces a year. After college, =
I
spent about a decade riding the high tech startup roller coaster, now =
I'm
back in academia (for my day job anyway).

By training I'm a research biologist (developmental neurobiology, if you
care). I spend a lot of time developing and building tools to let me do =
my
research, so I get to do a lot of design and building even for work.

Guess that's about it for now.....

--JD

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153561 gary may <garyallanmay@y...> 2005‑12‑13 Re: Bio Update
Welcome to the Porch Al--
  If I'm any judge, you're just the kind of guy we need around here,
likes Old Tools, has a job---someone will probably move a chair over
and make some room for you.  Not me, probably, but someone.
                Oh, best to all galoots, everywhere; gAM Seattle
                        

--- Alan Perreault  wrote:

> Friends & Lovers of Wood Grain & Iron,
> 
> So, what's knew this side of Wachusett Mountain you ask? Well, the
> big story
> is that I have decided to get rid of all my tools, and I am now
> just going
> to collect anvils, over 100 pounds. This way I'll free up a lot of
> space 
> currently taken up by all those saws and planes.
> 
> Wait, Wait! Hey, Quit That! Owe! I'm just kiddin', Really! Come on,
> get rid
> of tools, that's crazy talk. What would all my Yankee ancestor say?
> My mom
> once had over a hundred ice trays in her basement, cause they were
> all good.
> Why would anyone want to accumulate stuff like that anyway?
> 
> I've been hangin' out heeya for a while now, and I can still say
> that the
> folks here are all top notch. I am very impressed with everyone I
> have
> conversed with off-line, and all the guys I have met at auctions
> and LFOD.
> There is no better group anywhere. The knowledge I have gained by
> just
> sittin' back and listenin' is amazing. I remember once upon a time
> when a
> plane was just a plane, a saw just a saw, all the same. When I had
> no idea
> how to sharpen anything. I thought you bought another saw when
> yours got 
> dull.
> When I used to hang out lookin' at mail order tool
> catalogs, and wincing at the prices, not even knowing that I had a
> gold mine
> of a flea just 10 minutes away. When I used to watch Norm spend an
> hour
> fixin up a jig to guide one of those evil machines and didn't
> question it,
> well, until I saw Brother Underhill do the same thing in 5 minutes
> with a
> chisel and a stair saw. My friend Sweeney was helpin' me 10 years
> ago to put
> up some plastic over a pictya window for the winta, when he asked
> me if I
> had a block plane. I replied, "No, but I got a cheese grater."
> Sweeney
> laughed for a half an hour. It's been a strange trip, from cheese
> graters to
> knowin' what a Stanley #65 looks like, and why you WANT to bring it
> home. 
> Again, thanks to everyone,  to the ListMoms, and to
> those highly skilled craftsman who share their work and knowledge
> with the
> rest of us. I hope that as my GITs get a little older, that I'll
> have more
> time to spend building benches, saw tills (maybe a saw barn),
> making rustic
> furniture, etc.
> 
> I think my path leads down that way, choppin' trees, makin' hewing
> benches
> and shavin' horses. Axes and hatchets, can a man ever have too many
> axes? 
> Why do I find axes so attractive, why do they feel so comfortable?
> I 
> remember visiting Higgins Armory in Worcester, Mass, as a kid, and
> thinkin' 
> that I wanted those big axes.
> 
>  I got most of the iron planes I want, or would ever need or use.
> Lately I
> been thinkin' I need some woodies. All I got is a mixed set of
> beaders. I
> sharpened up a Greenfield round, and was intrigued by it's action.
> Hmmm, is
> that a slope ova heeya? Looks like it drops off right quick. I'm
> still (not 
> often enough) playin' around with drawknife and spokeshave,
> fiddlin' on that 
> Mountain Laurel walking stick. It seems to me that this could also
> be 
> somewhat addictive.
> 
> Well, I wish I could hang out here all day, but I got mouths to
> feed, and a 
> couple-o-packages to wrap.
> 
> Long live the Porch.
> 
> Al Perreault
> Wachusett Galoot
> Westminster, MA
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>
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...save the people from the worst of all tyrants, themselves.  
                           Robert A Heinlein

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Recent Bios FAQ