OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

251142 Frank Sronce <dilloworks@s...> 2014‑10‑17 BIO Update
Galoots,

A few things have changed since my 1997 and later Bios, so here is my update. I 
am now within a few months of my 80th birthday, and have finally retired.
Actually,
this is my second
 retirement.  I spent 34 years in the Navy and then went to work for the General
Dynamics
A-12 Program Office in Fort Worth.  I spent 27 years there, and then 
finally required from there on the first of July 2014.  This will be my last
retirement - until I go into the big box.
I started woodworking in '69 when I got
 married and my wife and kids started giving me tools for all occasions - 
birthday, father's day, Xmas, etc. I finally caught the hint and built a 
lot of furniture using those things - benches, tables, a cherry display 
cabinet and blanket chest, desk, bookshelves, hutches, kids' furniture, a 
mesquite dinette table,etc. We couldn't afford to buy furniture, so we would go
into an Ethan
All*n furniture store, and my wife would point out what I needed to 
build. A lot of these items are still in use.

Since we were moving around in the military, all the tools (including 
tailed ones) were small and portable - until I got a Sh*pSmth in '82. 
That was the nearest I ever came to owning a t*ble saw. In the early '80s, I 
started watching St. Roy's program and fell in love with "real" tools. 
Started picking up odds and ends - mortising chisels, transitionals, 
wood and metallic planes, a plethora of miscellaneous tools and 
oddities, many shelves of woodworking and tool related books, etc. I 
swore never to become a collector; I would only buy tools I would 
actually use. I'm sure most of you know how well that works! At least I 
take a few shavings with each new plane as I get it; therefore, all my 
tools are technically users - and you never know when you will need a 
couple of dozen jack planes for some project (right Paddy?). I also 
found that if you leave Bed Rocks laying around the shop, they multiply 
rapidly - which is a good thing.  The same could be said for mini-router 
planes over the last few
 years.

I belong to SWTCA and M-WTCA, although I don't get a chance to attend 
events very often.   Even if you don't buy anything (sacrilege?), it 
is always a pleasure to talk tools with a great group of friendly 
people - including a bunch of galoots. I love flea markets (especially 
the 200+ acres of Canton's First Monday trade days), yard sales, and estate
sales.
You never know when you will find that Stanley #603 for $10 (actually, 
that was at an antique show in Dallas).   In my 1997 bio,
 I mentioned I 
was still looking for my first No. 1. No comment on that now, other than 
to say I am no longer looking, although I would certainly be willing to 
give Walt double his money for his famous $5.00 find. My shop is now so full 
of tools (and stuff), that I have to work under the carport on a 
Workmate - when I actually make any shavings. My last projects of note 
were a mesquite coffee table for one of my sons, a mesquite breakfast 
room table for us, and a bunch of book shelves.

Now that I am finally retired, SWMBO and our daughter are starting to build 
up a fair sized to-do list for me - enough to keep me busy for years if I last
that long.

Frank Sronce (Fort Worth Armadillo works)

Recent Bios FAQ