Friends,
This is my first post and I wanted to say hello. My name is Mark Taylor, I live in
West Virginia, and I am just getting back into woodworking after a forty-year break.
I look forward to talking to all of you in the coming years.
Best regards,
Mark in WBGV
Replies
Permission granted. Welcome aboard!
Uh...news guys sweep up the shop and buy the beer...for a while. B-)
Where at in WBGV? My grand father was from their and I travel into the state once or twice a year to chance the old C&O railroad. I have thought of moving into the state if I could figure out how to make a living down their!.
The New River is one of the prettiest place on this planet (now anyway, not so much back in the coal days of the first half of the 20th century)
Doug
Permission to come aboard?
None needed.. Just show your tools at the inspection station! :>)
Welcome and nothing formal here unless you ask questions about hand made planes!
OR Mel about his wood chopper!
Edited 12/21/2007 2:04 am by WillGeorge
Also, do not raise questions about whether shellac is a good surfacing agent.
Also, do not raise questions about whether shellac is a good surfacing agent.Or if women are a distraction in a wood working shop!
That reminds me of my sex education class in high school back in the dark ages. The boys and girls had separate classes and there were many words and concepts never mentioned. Someone in my class asked if it was possible to get a venereal disease from a toilet seat. The response from the teacher who was also the football coach was that you could but there were more comfortable places to take a girl.
DH
That's good.
Also, do not raise questions about whether shellac is a good surfacing agent.
You mean it's not??? Does that mean I have to use something else on my driveway??
Wait a minute....is this Breaktime?
charlie -- "Count your blessings....it could always be worse!"
Edited 12/23/2007 2:51 am by charlie4444
Sometimes you gotta watch out for who is on the quarterdeck around here, but it’s a fun place. Any special interest like turning or carving?
Mark,
Welcome but a word to the wise.
Watch out for that Mel character (9619). Your jaw will ache from laughing and your inspiration level will get up there in the stratosphere!
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Sometimes you gotta watch out for who is on the quarterdeck..
I'm on duty today and welcome aboard.. Are you ready for inspection?
I will check the bags for really good tools and may have to keep a few years for closer inspection!
But, but, but Will,
I just got these new chisels! Haven't even broke 'em in yet. Oh no, not my new Wayne Barton chip carving knife too!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
just got these new chisels! Haven't even broke 'em in yet. I may even ship my Tormec to him if he pays fer the shipping!EDIT: I just got re-asseted? by Cook County... Damn.. I could not afford the taxes before that!
Edited 12/21/2007 1:26 pm by WillGeorge
Will,
I just got re-asseted? by Cook County
Yikes! I hope it didn't hurt too much. For Gawds sake don't let them grab your adze.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
grab your adze.. Only a tall brunrrt can do that!Edit:brunrrt I an not spells ery goods.. She has dark brown hair!
Edited 12/21/2007 1:36 pm by WillGeorge
Hi,
Were most of the 40 years spent "haze grey and under way"?
Thos S (former QM2SW)
Gittercritter,
A wise guess, but my father was career Navy, I was career Army (sons can be
a disappointment) and as a kid I was constantly using port and starboard instead
of left and right. The Army changed that, but my last ten years was inter-service,
Ft. Meade, and the Navy lingo I learned as a youngster came in handy. My dad is
still puttering along at age 87, still uses the terms deck and head, and because he
was born and raised in Boston, has always had a love for the sea. I admire him
greatly.Mark in WBGV
I am just getting back into woodworking after a forty-year break.
Wow, I thought that being away from woodworking for about twenty-three years was a long time. Welcome back. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Forty years:
Let me give a brief history. My grandfather was a house builder, a cross between
an architect and a civil engineer. Most summers, my sisters and I were farmed out to
my grandparents so my mother could spend time with my father. My grandfather was
a civil engineering instructor at West Point in the 'teens, and I was convinced he
knew everything about anything. He got me started in woodworking early.
But he was born and raised in Maine, and didn't believe in wasting words. His
longest lectures to me, or anyone else, were not much more than a sentence. Most
questions were answered with a 'yep' or 'nope' or just a head shake. So I learned
by watching and then practicing on scrap material, which was hard to come by be-
cause my grandfather didn't believe in the concept of 'scrap.' He was 'frugal.'
In high school, I took four years of wood-shop, my first introduction to serious
power-tools. Though I became semi-skilled, my grandfather likened it to working in
a 'furniture factory.' A real carpenter should be able to do any job with the propper
hand tools, and do it better. Then, almost overnight, I lost interest in woodworking.
School, then the Army took almost all my time. I thought about working with
wood and did occasional home repairs, but I had lost the fire. After retiring, I spent
a lot of time skeet shooting and just walking in the woods. A hiking friend told me
he had a woodshop in his basement and invited me over to see it. Most of his tools
were familiar, but different from the ones I had used in high school. My breakthrough
came when I decided to build a simple workbench for my basement. I still have my
grandfather's hand tools and am slowly building a collection of power-tools. I still
don't have the fire or skills I had, but I am enjoying my little shop more and more as
the months go by.
Best regards, Mark in WBGV
"I still have my grandfather's hand tools and am slowly building a collection of power-tools." That's really neat -- I envy folks who had dads or grandads who were woodworkers. Welcome aboard, Mark, enjoy your time here. One thing about fire ["I still don't have the fire or skills I had"] -- as we get "up there" in age, I think our fire burns a little less intensely, but still motivates and inspires, just in a calmer way.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Mark,
don't have the fire or skills I had, but I am enjoying my little shop more and more as the months go by.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, is that a puff of smoke I see o'er yonder in WBGV? As they say, where there's smoke, there's fire!
Wait till Will and Mel get 'hold of ya. They'll fan the embers. Me too, and I'm only 61.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Howdy Mark...
Whether you do it with hand tools or power tools... just do it! You can never completely wean off hand tools. Well.. I say that but there is a certain company that keeps coming up with power things to replace simple task as accomplished with a flush saw for cutting dowels flush, etc. It will go un-named.
And it will cost a million or so... but with the exclusive built on vacuum system that cost a little extra, some will try to convince you that it is "must have" before any more time can be spent in the shop on any project that at one time could be done with hand-tools alone. :>)
And for sure don't show or tell your friends.. relatives if a wooden piece shows up new at your home that you made it in your shop. It came from a yard sale. Keep the shop a well guarded secret as you will regret it deeply if they find out you can build something at home.
Mine being below the main house is referred to affectionately as the "hole" or "bunker". Having a military back-ground.. you can probably related to that.
Regards and have fun...
Sarge..
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled