OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

155096 Peter Robinson <pjrc@b...> 2006‑01‑10 Bio
Esteemed Galoots, thankou for the warm welcome onto the porch.  My 
name's Peter and I'm pleased to meet you all.  I think I'll be 
comfortable enough to sit here for quite a while.

I'm married and have two daughters (15 and 8).  For Aussies, I'm from 
Lismore in Northern NSW originally and, except for a couple of years in 
Canberra (not long enough, we loved it), have lived in Brisbane since 1983.

For a bit of history, my father and his brothers owned a furniture 
factory and some outlets but sold that in the mid 1970s when I was about 
10.  After that he was in the antique trade and did a lot of restoration 
work.  As kids, we were always around nice old tools and nice old 
furniture.  I moved from home to go to University and left that all 
behind.  I now work for IBM and specialise in computer system 
performance work, which is really playing with big tools and toys.

Over the years I have built a few things, fixed a few, remodelled a few, 
but other priorities have always been in the way of really developing 
the skills to do some decent work with wood.  I came of age (turned 40) 
mid last year and it's time to have some fun.

Through the year Norm was on each Saturday morning - just the right time 
to sit over a coffee and watch the show.  Norm re-kindled my interest in 
tools and wood, but I have no desire for, or convenient/secure storage 
for tens of thousands of dollars worth of monster tools.  Then I found 
'Classic Hand Tools' by Garrett Hack, and memories of fiddling with 
drawnives, planes, spokeshaves, and chisels came back from my youth - 
ah, a revelation  :-)

I have travelled a lot with work, and done a lot of reading (each flight 
requires a new book), so I have a collection/library underway.  I think 
I've also read just about every wood and tool related book in our local 
libraries (some more than once and some I wish I hadn't bothered).  Now 
it's time to put some of that into practice....

First off I need to build myself a workbench.  This is a seriously 
difficult thing.  Having read so many bench related books & magazine 
articles and looked at so many sites; I'm now not quite sure what I need 
or want.  I have read (and read and read) The Workbench Book by Scott 
Landis, which is inspiring, but has oh so many options.  I'm trying to 
work out what I actually need from a bench - maybe I actually need two 
benches, hmm, no, maybe three.

The next real jobs I must do are build a tv/entertainment cabinet, then 
a library downstairs, then build in my home office.  In between, there 
will be any number of smaller projects - I'm currently rebuilding the 
entry to our cellar/store room and thinking about a sofa table or narrow 
hall table.

As LOML knows, each of these tasks will likely require some more 
reference books and several new tools added to the non-tailed assortment 
which is sorely lacking.  Since I have a Stanley #4 1/2, I think I need 
a smoother plane like a Stanley #7 or maybe #8 next, and with those, I 
might be able to get started on things, though I have been eye-ing a HNT 
Gordon Trying Plane for a while.  Oh, and I think I'm going to need a 
mortice chisel (or 5) and a Brace and set of bits, and .....

One last thing - I also need to finish off my kayak and will make a 
cedar strip canoe or two.  Canoeing/Kayaking with my older daughter is 
the other fun that takes up my spare time - and soon (I hope) the whole 
family.

regards to all, and again, many thanks for such a community

Peter Robinson in Brisbane, Australia

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Recent Bios FAQ