Thanks to Steve and a couple of others on Woodnet, I was able to finally get things sorted out and here I am.
I have been a long time member of Woodnet back to the days when it was a dial up BBS system. While much of my time is spent on Woodnet, I am also active on Wood Magazine's forums, WoodCentral and a couple of others.
I have never been a true professional woodworker but I have been very close to commercial shops. My grandfather got me started sweeping up his basement shop when I was about five. The grammer school I attended had a woodshop as did the junior high school. My college interests were mechanical engineering and, strange as it may seem, economics. For a couple of summers I worked in a marine service yard as a finisher on yachts. I had a small RAS based shop and a bunch of tools from my father. The shop was located in my father in law's basement. He was an oldtime machinest who always said the " if it can't be fixed with sledge hammer and/or a welding torch, throw it out". He and I made quite a pair. Since then I have added to the RAS with the expected full shop machinery.
My best friend and sailboat racing partner had a small five to six man cabinet shop in the days of formica kitchen cabinets. He wanted to expand and I put up some financing on the condition that I could mess around in the shop. The shop grew to over 30 people. At its height, we had 10-12 woodworkers, 3 "master" woodworkers, 10 or so in the upholtery shop, two full time finishers and a couple of installers. We developed a partnership with a high end interior and furniture designer and manufactured both a line of semi-custom furniture and custom furniture aimed at a high end clientele. I was sort of a silent partner and continued to work full time for a major computer company. I spent a lot of time in the shop however, and learned from everyone, particularly the finishers. The shop was finally sold to the designer's company in the early 1990's. We made a lot of neat stuff for a lot of neat folks.
Off and on I taught woodworking and ran classes for folks who purchased stationary woodworking machines. I also belonged to, and wrote articles for, a small, local woodworking club. Finishing tends to get most of my on-line time.
After retiring for the first time in 1992 I was persuaded to run a company located in Asheville. I did that for five years sort of commuting to NYC every weekend. I retired again in 1998.
I moved from outside NYC--not far from David Gillie's home area--in 2003 and built a house in a new community outside Southport. Southport is at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, down river from Wilmington. My shop is somewhat smaller now as I share the garage. All my stuff is on wheels so I can move it to get the cars under cover. My biggest problem is that the NYC area has lots of places to purchase all sorts of lumber, but the Wilmington/Myrtle Beach area doesn't.
Looking forward to participating here as my time allows.
I have been a long time member of Woodnet back to the days when it was a dial up BBS system. While much of my time is spent on Woodnet, I am also active on Wood Magazine's forums, WoodCentral and a couple of others.
I have never been a true professional woodworker but I have been very close to commercial shops. My grandfather got me started sweeping up his basement shop when I was about five. The grammer school I attended had a woodshop as did the junior high school. My college interests were mechanical engineering and, strange as it may seem, economics. For a couple of summers I worked in a marine service yard as a finisher on yachts. I had a small RAS based shop and a bunch of tools from my father. The shop was located in my father in law's basement. He was an oldtime machinest who always said the " if it can't be fixed with sledge hammer and/or a welding torch, throw it out". He and I made quite a pair. Since then I have added to the RAS with the expected full shop machinery.
My best friend and sailboat racing partner had a small five to six man cabinet shop in the days of formica kitchen cabinets. He wanted to expand and I put up some financing on the condition that I could mess around in the shop. The shop grew to over 30 people. At its height, we had 10-12 woodworkers, 3 "master" woodworkers, 10 or so in the upholtery shop, two full time finishers and a couple of installers. We developed a partnership with a high end interior and furniture designer and manufactured both a line of semi-custom furniture and custom furniture aimed at a high end clientele. I was sort of a silent partner and continued to work full time for a major computer company. I spent a lot of time in the shop however, and learned from everyone, particularly the finishers. The shop was finally sold to the designer's company in the early 1990's. We made a lot of neat stuff for a lot of neat folks.
Off and on I taught woodworking and ran classes for folks who purchased stationary woodworking machines. I also belonged to, and wrote articles for, a small, local woodworking club. Finishing tends to get most of my on-line time.
After retiring for the first time in 1992 I was persuaded to run a company located in Asheville. I did that for five years sort of commuting to NYC every weekend. I retired again in 1998.
I moved from outside NYC--not far from David Gillie's home area--in 2003 and built a house in a new community outside Southport. Southport is at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, down river from Wilmington. My shop is somewhat smaller now as I share the garage. All my stuff is on wheels so I can move it to get the cars under cover. My biggest problem is that the NYC area has lots of places to purchase all sorts of lumber, but the Wilmington/Myrtle Beach area doesn't.
Looking forward to participating here as my time allows.
