Hello, my name is Charlie and I've been a lurker for about one year.
I finally hit rock bottom and am now on the path to righteousness. I owe a
debt of thanks to my first mentor, Larry Poffenberger, who sold me my first
tool on the net, a #604c. He was kind enough and honorable enough to replace
what I felt was a mahogany tote with a rosewood one. Thanks Larry. Then of
course there is The MofA who continued my delight with the honesty and
integrity of old toolers by supplying me with a few items as well as his
abundant knowledge. All the guys I've bought from are great and I've even
had good luck on Ebay. Thanks also to Nathan Lindsey for electrolysis
advice. Nathan I still owe you a Bergman saw set. SO who am I?
My name is Charlie Nunemaker, 47 years old I live in Wilmette, Illinois
(suburb of Chicago). My dad was a medical administrator who hated doctors.
So every night he came home and went down to the basement cursing about his
crazy boss. (The boss finally did kill himself) Dad was a better than the
average home shop guy with all the Normite tailed apprentices. I remember
his thrill when we got him that first Dewault radial arm. But that gave me
my appreciation for woodworking. His specialty was making gavels with wood
from trees that were cut down to make room for buildings at hospitals and
medical schools. Dad knew all the administrators and I think it was a neat
idea as a keepsake for the big shots. A lot of these men told me how fond
they were of my father's gavels. That instills pride in a young lad. I now
have his 50 year old Shopmaster 36" lathe and I cherish it deeply.
So Out of college, I went to Montana and became a carpenter. Turned into
a contractor and had fun building log cabins, houses and condos. I was very
good with a chain saw and large chisels. I quickly surpassed my father's
skills having made cabinets, windows, doors, spiral helix staircases all from
scratch and of course lots of power tools.
I moved back to Chicago to find a wife and ended up marrying a girl from
Montana many years later. (It figures) I am now a computer geek who has
gotten of course the bug to work with wood by using hand tools. I don't
forsake the power but do enjoy it by hand. I have made some Windsors and
boxes and bookcases and such.
I joined M-WTCA a couple of years ago at the prodding of Jim at the local
Woodcraft store. I've made a couple local meets got a spiffy #8, #20, #91/2
that I needed. I hit flea markets and garage sales bottom feeding for fun.
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