OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

124971 jvs-porch@i... 2003‑11‑30 bio and child labor
Well, the stick that was shoved under the porch finally reached my dark
corner with Steve's posting, so here I am.  I have been lurking
real-time for 6 months now, and am back three years or so using the
time-compression archives.

Nothing shocking here; I am firmly in my thirties, live in the
mid-Atlantic region of the US, and yes, work in IT.

I grew up in southern Vermont (the warm, sunny part), and learned
carpentry and framing growing up in a 100+ year old farmhouse.  The
only thing that really counts as pure neander in most of that was
learning to swing a slate hammer and use a ripper.  Both tools (as well
as others, some still mysterious) came from a locker in an outbuilding,
which had a good stock of slate as well.  For economy, nothing beats a
14 year old's labor and rescued tools/materials.  While hanging from a
roof with a hammer and rope was just fine, a chainsaw was apparently
too dangerous, so my part in heating the house was turning big pieces
of wood into smaller ones with a maul.

I did a very satisfying stint with Uncle Sam's Misguided Children
(colonial Marine Corps, Mr. Gorman) before college.  There isn't much
hand tool work in the infantry other than occasional digging and
poking, but I did get to use hand saw skills as an arctic warfare
instructor cutting blocks for igloos with a snow knife.  Now that
Norway is safe from imminent Soviet invasion, the 25th Marines are
probably back to just various other sharp things and digging.

After college, I moved to northern Virginia went to work for a Very
Large Newspaper Company, where I met my wife.  On moving into our
house, we were looking around for furniture.  The quality of the
stuff that was affordable was appalling, and the cost of stuff that
was quality was more than newlyweds could bite off.  Some quick math
showed that a single dining room table that we were looking at would
kit out a decent shop as long as it was heavier on muscle than power.
The cars get wet when it rains, but princess now refers to the garage
as the "workshop," so I am calling that round a win.

I did my decade at the corporate job, and started a consultancy with
three former co-workers a few years ago.  I am still a little puzzled
that consulting pays better than actually doing things, but there you
have it.  While the past two years were a little scary at times, things
are getting back to normal, and the freelance business has kept me in
tools and wood and left me enough time to finish furnishing most of the
house, with only a bedroom to go, as well as delivering a bunch of
pieces for my in-laws and old friends.  Out of everything I have done
so far, my favorite is still the bench; nothing really original or
fancy about it, just a ~quarter ton of oak and maple with two metal
vise screws.  Makes a nice sturdy platform for a wartime #8 (beep?) that
I got recently from another list member.  I also discovered woodies
about a year ago, and am finding that they breed faster than any of my
other tools--literally, since I have watched them being born.

I am awed by the amount of knowledge this place represents, and hope
to be able to contribute at some point.  In the meantime, I would be
happy to help clean the bug zapper when needed, and will go back to
the corner.

I mentioned princess above, and also have a two-year old little
princess that is intensely interested in what I do in the shop.  Wonder
when she will be old enough to start on the roof?

/jvs



Recent Bios FAQ