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140909 Gary Curtis <extiger@c...> 2005‑01‑21 Bio of New Galoot in Training
Two months ago, I saw in Fine Woodworking Magazine a handmade plane
fabricated by Scott Grandstaff. It was a work of art. The caption to the
picture listed his residence as Happy Camp, California, so I looked up
his name in the local phone directory since I will be his neighbor
before long. Scott began educating me on the subject of old tools and
told me about this Internet community.

Name =AD Gary Curtis. Retired. Foreign correspondent =AD 24 years.
Mostly in Tokyo. Aviation technical writer =AD 12 years. Pilot training
on the DC-8 and
747. Worked for Flying Tigers, then FedEx. No, I don=B9t know where your
     package is! Lived in New York, Tokyo, Honolulu, Dominican Republic.
     Own a Charles Roberts steel road bicycle and covered 4000 miles
     last year. Steel is the best, in my opinion.

Tools. My father was a machinist and was proud that he fabricated
airplane props in our hometown, Milwaukee, during WW-II. Worked for a
company named
A.O. Smith. He taught me how to read a micrometer at age 7. Moved to
     California, where dad worked for Hughes Aircraft. In about 1953, he
     told me about seeing his boss, the richest man in America, as he
     walked through the hangars in a suit with white tennis shoes. (go
     see the Aviator, at a theatr= e near you.) The Spruce Goose was
     long gone at that point, but dad machined parts of the Surveyor
     Spacecraft which made a landing (soft/hard?) on the Moon. Or did it
     merely orbit?

I want to work in wood, and have no training or experience. Nor tools. I
worked metal. Have a full top and bottom box of Snap On equipment.
Restore= d 8 old cars, mostly late =8C30s Buicks and a 47 Lincoln
Continental. In particular, I love doing the metal work. While lacquer
was an option, I would classify myself as a B+ quality painter. An old
Mercedes I sprayed wa= s parked on a Beverly Hills street and it drew a
small crowd of admirers. I used an old Cadillac color with metallic,
Burn Sienna, and though unconventional on a Mercedes, it had a certain
magic to it.

Now, to wood. My friend who owns a high end cabinet shop in Santa
Monica, accepted my proposal to accept me as an apprentice (for no pay)
in his 3-ma= n business. This spring, My wife and I are building a
1700=B9 home in Trinity County, and I will construct an 800 ft/sq shop.
I=B9ll build the cabinets and the shelving in our library. If I do well,
I might sell cabinets to others. Bear in mind there are not many
=8Cothers=B9 in Trinity. Area =AD 2 million acres (100 miles x 50
miles), populaton 13,600. Somebody must need cabinets.

To kick the fossil fuel habit, I am installing a Geothermal Heat Pump
for heating & cooling. I=B9ve installed 2 Hydronic radiant systems in
homes in Lo= s Angeles and saw a 40% fuel savings, besides the wonderful
qualities of radiant. The geothermal uses 25% of the energy of
conventional systems. Geothermal is the rage in Europe, where fuel oil
sells at $6 per gallon.

I just acquired my first three tools. A #6 Stanley jackplane from an old
galoot. And a Bridgeport Vertical Mill and un-named clunky drill press
from the =8C50s. I wanted the mill because of possible machining work on
a small plane.

So I want to work with wood, and ended up with my first tools being
machining. At least I found the supply channels, just need to tailor
my purchases. Got the mill and drill from a defunct aviation
mechanic school.

Now I need to fill a shop with wood tools. The power tools scare the
poop out of me, and I have begun taking notice of the missing fingers on
woodworkers I meet. But, doing cabinet work, I know I am going to need a
table saw and jointer. Neanderthal lifestyle might be a luxury for me.

I=B9ve read your emails here for 3 weeks and expect to find the array of
tool= s I need for sale here. And I hope to get many lessons, online.
Oh, my dad=B9s last job at Hughes was manager of the tool crib. He left
me his wooden machinist=B9s tool chest full of micrometers, etc. And,
about 5 tool boxes full of things like countersinks, end mills,
broaches, star cutters .... An= d little shiny gadgets I can=B9t
identify. But, I treasure them all.

Gary Curtis Los Angeles

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