Hi, my name is Jim but I go by "jimithy".
I have a lot of experience in most everything and not enough experience for most anything.
I grew up in the Big Thicket in E. TX (now a National Park). My Dad was a forester for the Kirby Lumber Company and a woodworker on the side. I was an only son so I started working with him before I started school. Our tools are now called "Vintage Tools". We could not afford power tools; ours required elbow grease instead. I still primarily use tools that require strong arms and a gentle touch.
There are unusual species in that rain forest/swamp so Dad experimented a lot. His greatest success (and failure) was a large gun cabinet made entirely of Black Magnolia. The wood is stunning but expands & contracts more than most. Within months of us moving out of the swamp to a dryer climate... the back of the gun cabinet split in half. Dad made a desperate attempt to repair it with clamps and glue. Of course it did not work.
My Dad died when I was 13 and my family moved to AZ. I kept at woodworking but I did a lot of reading about better design methods to avoid problems that plagued my Dad.
I am now a nearly 55yo disabled Vietnam Era Vet. My wife and I just bought a 1931 "Country Gothic" home on the Greenbrier river at Alderson, WV. The White Oak woodworking inside is beautiful... except for about 150 sq ft of fire damage in the back of the entry hall and kitchen.
We made a kiln and I am slowly drying/seasoning enough White Oak to restore the home. We are trying to match everything with the original finishes in the house (actually we are trying to match finishes that have aged three-quarters of a century).
We are 7 weeks into the restoration and hope we'll have it mostly done before my kids inherit it :icon_thum
I'll jump in to discussions with ideas/experience but please remember I am an avid hobbyist... not an expert.
Thanks again for letting me participate!
jimithy
I have a lot of experience in most everything and not enough experience for most anything.
I grew up in the Big Thicket in E. TX (now a National Park). My Dad was a forester for the Kirby Lumber Company and a woodworker on the side. I was an only son so I started working with him before I started school. Our tools are now called "Vintage Tools". We could not afford power tools; ours required elbow grease instead. I still primarily use tools that require strong arms and a gentle touch.
There are unusual species in that rain forest/swamp so Dad experimented a lot. His greatest success (and failure) was a large gun cabinet made entirely of Black Magnolia. The wood is stunning but expands & contracts more than most. Within months of us moving out of the swamp to a dryer climate... the back of the gun cabinet split in half. Dad made a desperate attempt to repair it with clamps and glue. Of course it did not work.
My Dad died when I was 13 and my family moved to AZ. I kept at woodworking but I did a lot of reading about better design methods to avoid problems that plagued my Dad.
I am now a nearly 55yo disabled Vietnam Era Vet. My wife and I just bought a 1931 "Country Gothic" home on the Greenbrier river at Alderson, WV. The White Oak woodworking inside is beautiful... except for about 150 sq ft of fire damage in the back of the entry hall and kitchen.
We made a kiln and I am slowly drying/seasoning enough White Oak to restore the home. We are trying to match everything with the original finishes in the house (actually we are trying to match finishes that have aged three-quarters of a century).
We are 7 weeks into the restoration and hope we'll have it mostly done before my kids inherit it :icon_thum
I'll jump in to discussions with ideas/experience but please remember I am an avid hobbyist... not an expert.
Thanks again for letting me participate!
jimithy
