OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

83476 Steve Harding sharding@h... 2000‑09‑13 Bio
Greetings, Galooterati.  My name is Steve Harding and I hail from Seattle,
Washington.  I'm a self-employed mechanical engineer with two nearly grown
up daughters, two less grown up cats, and a SWMBO who, ... well, more of her
later.  

I have no formal training in woodworking but a fair amount of experience
gained through low-intensity fooling around over about twenty years.  My
preference for hand tools is not due to any neo-Luddite philosophical bent,
but because I do woodworking for pleasure and listening to the dentist-drill
whine of p*wer tools and vacuum dust collection through eye, ear, and lung
protection isn't my idea of pleasure.  One of my brothers earned his
journeyman's papers as a cabinetmaker in Germany and now works here in
Seattle.  When he tells me that he hasn't hand cut a dovetail since his
apprenticeship days, I feel sorry for him.

I will probably never be in a position to gloat about a tool find, because
I'm hopelessly incompetent when it comes to wheeling and dealing, as some
members of this list can attest since they've sold to and bought from me.
They must be rubbing their palms together whenever they see me coming now.

 The only gloat I can claim is that nine years ago, I found a SWMBO who
never (well, almost never) raises so much as an eyebrow when a new tool
shows up.  Just the other day, as I got home she called to me, "Honey, look
what came in the mail.  Looks like something good for you!"  And that when
she knows how many I already have.  What a find!

I look forward to learning from all of you,

Steve



Recent Bios FAQ