Biography
I was born in Minnesota, elementary education in Kansas, a high school graduate in Alabama and attended college in South Dakota. I entered the retail management field in 1970 and have semi-retired from the retail auto industry in 2001 and have recently taken a position in civil service.
I married in 1971 to a wonderful woman born and raised in Alabama and have one son who is married. Both my LOML and my son and his wife are very supportive of my endeavorers to continue and expand my woodworking with frequent encouragement and praise.
In my early years I was always encourage by my parents to pursue the liberal arts and I have always been imaginative and creative. I am an accomplished pianist with formal education in Wichita, Kansas along as a symphony orchestra participant for 5 years.
Given my first power tool ( A small scroll saw ) at the age of eight, I took an interest in woodworking and have designed quite a few of my own pieces. My main interest is in period furniture and strive to accomplish it's complex joinery and magnificent finishes.
I hope you enjoy your tour thru my site and hopefully I can entice your creativeness to pursue the beauty in this craft.
Smitty
The page is an overview of my woodworking shop with pictures of some of the equipment I use on a daily basis.
The page is filled with articles concerning experiences and procedures in the field of woodworking.
Added Interests
Some of my other interests along with woodworking include fly fishing, an occasional golf game, model railroading and especially history. I think history is important to us not only as individuals and American's but also to those who carry on the craft of woodworking.
With the decline in our education system of the special craft training classes, other than specialized vocational schools, it seems more apparent and important to pass on any knowledge we have acquired or have studied in our education to our children or those who will listen. I don't know how many times I've been told 'How talented I am' or 'How fortunate I am to have the gift of being creative' which brings us back to the two things I firmly believe and have mentioned in my opening statement and that is 'creative' and 'heritage'. As you will notice throughout this site I have placed a few pictures of my Grandfather and Great Grandfather in their shops with the purpose of not only showing some of my heritage but to help promote the history of woodworking on to those who might be interested in passing this along to their generation.
As new settlers arrived in this country to forge a new independence, they came from all walks of life and their talents were abundant. Blacksmith's, candle-makers, farmers, seamstresses, carpenters, bakers and many other skilled craftsman were arriving and the talent pool was endless. Remember, Jesus was a carpenter.
In this site you will find accumulated woodworking information with links on the lumber and logging industry, period furniture and our ancestry who have brought us down the path of woodworking.
Feel free to browse through the
of a collection of some of my work
. Although my collection of works over the years varies in nature, each has increased my degree of accomplishment to the level I have achieved today. With each project comes a new challenge.
The Favorite is a list of favorite sites I've compiled to help you locate the supplies, plans, equipment, publications or forums.
