OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

178304 "John Erhardt" <johnlikesbooks@g...> 2008‑03‑18 New-ish member bio
(Apologies if this is copy #2 of my bio; that's not a sign that I want you to
really, really pay attention to me.)

So in scanning list archives and the list FAQ (looking for a reason people
make clarifying asides to someone named Jeff, honestly) I discovered that
it's customary to post a bio as an official introduction/announcement. That's
not usually my style with discussion lists, but here goes ("A man said to
the Old Tools list, 'List! I exist!'" etc).

I'm not a hand tool user (or Old Hand Tool User) for any philosophical
reason involving wood. I've been a guitar player (classical and steel
string fingerstyle) for 18 of my 30 years, and while I can imagine my
life without woodworking, I can't imagine it without guitar. Hence:
anything that can bite my fingers off is not allowed in my shop. I'm
also suffering from slight hearing loss, and so I'm not terribly
welcoming of any tool that encourages that to continue. I'm not militant
about brand or age of my hand tool, so long as it's a hand tool that
sits still and behaves; I have both famous-ish brand name and no-name
older chisels that I use quite happily alongside newer tools.

This is, quite likely, one of the few times you'll hear a peep out of me, as
I'm a bit underqualified to respond to some of the specific questions posted
here on tool history, finishing, troubleshooting mistakes, and so forth. But
I've learned a great deal so far, and there's a decided lack of "should I buy
Lie-Nielsen or old Stanley" threads here, which I find a bit tiresome when I
read other sites. Feels pretty comfortable so far.

So my name's John, I live outside Rochester, NY, I sit in a cubicle all
day and write XML, I play guitar, I love beer, I moonlight for a baseball
publication, and my wife makes fun of me because I stare at the tool photos
in Garrett Hack's books before I go to bed. And every once in a while
I even build something.

Thanks for reading,

J
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Recent Bios FAQ