Got room for one more Neanderthal?

[william scott]

After a few posts and looking around, this is definitely a place I want to hang my hat for quite a while.

I've been a hand tool fan for years. I have asthma, and I can't breath with all that saw dust flying around, and using Respirators is no fun. I'm crowding 50, and I grew up with two uncles who were old school carpenters. The one uncle was like a grandpa that I never had and he grew up in the teens and twenties using those old antique tools. He taught me to use a hand saw, a 'brace and bit' and some of the other tools of the carpenter. I can remember job sites where he and one or two other old carpenters would be working using hand saws, hammers, chisels and planes to build homes or room editions.

Most of my experince is from doing framing and rough carpentry. I grew up working occasionally with a couple of old carpenters (besides my uncle) with whom I replaced roofs using the old shingle hatchets and roofing hammers. Cutting 2x4's with crosscut and rip saws, trimming the edge real quick with a jack plane and then join 'em with a few hard whacks from a framing hammer.

Growing older, I did a couple of small rehabs. That involved drywall and redoing old wood plank floors, and working around lathe and plaster.

It's been a few years since doing that sort of work and the hands grow restless. I have a couple of kids that have lots of talent in their hands and an itch to see what they can make. So, it's time to turn time and talents to other wood projects, like furniture and boxes. Which means that I need to add a few tools to the cabinet. I need a handful of good planes, a good dovetail/panel saw and the rest I'll add as projects show up.

I had a fun time this last week working on teaching my 11 y/o son how to use a saw. It wasn't as easy as he thought it would be! Anyway, I'm a pretty basic sort. A Workmate bench, a couple of sawhorses with adjustable legs, a shady spot to work on a sunny day and I'm happy. I have a lot of learning to do to achieve anything like some of the projects I've seen on this forum, but I figure it'll be an enjoyable journey.

Anyway, that's who I am....

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy William and welcome to the Creek.

Your profile does not indicate your location.

I recall my days with just the Work Mate bench. Made a lot of things, but after awhile, it gets too difficult to do the big stuff. The bench I have now is starting to get too small.

Maybe one of the projects you and the young talent can work on is building a bench.

My fancy has been turning to starting to acquire wood to build a bench. So many other things to do...

have fun,

jim

[Phillip Pattee]

Welcome, you've definitely come to the right place. I learn something new here all the time and its one of the first places I look to find the answer to questions. Searching the forum turns up so much good information.

Keep us posted on your progress.

[william scott]

Thanks Jim for the advice and I think I now have the location in place. I'm out in the sagebrush!

Yeah, the Workmate would be too small for any really big cabinets, but I'm not there yet. I also can run the sawhorses off the end of the Workmate to work on any long stock. A workbench would be good, but I just don't have the room at the moment. I'll have to be creative with the workarounds.

[Matt Ranum]

Welcome! Lots of friendly folks here, enjoy your stay.

[gary Zimmel]

Welcome to the Creek William!