Head Shots from SEMIWW

Putting a Face to a Name

I’m Sliver, a.k.a. Mike Ward. I’m pictured here with my two children Peter and Rachel. Am I lucky or what? I’m a software enginner who pretends to be a wood worker on the weekends. My job also explains why I’m the webmaster here at SEMIWW. I can say with certainty that I would never have spent as much money on woodworking had it not been for this group. This club has corrupted me totally and for this I am thankful. You can see some of my mistakes at Sliver Me Timbers. Email me anytime at mailto:mike@wardfam.org

I’m jamrine, aka Jamey Amrine. I am a mechanical engineer and my main woodworking interest is lutherie. I have built a couple of openback banjos, and have been slowly working towards completing an electric guitar. I play guitar, harmonia, and banjo and dabble in piano, fiddle and accordion. I have a beautiful wife named Constance and in July 2004 we had a son named James III, or Jed, as we call him. I am fascinated by old tools, so if you come across any low-knob Stanley planes, especially type 11’s, send me a PM. Oh yeah, I am the guy who organizes the monthly raffle too, so feel free to write and moan about this month’s prize. Take a look at my shop and workbench progress over on the sidebar. I can be reached via email at mailto:jamrine@altair.com

I’m Simoli, a.k.a. Jim Young. This is a shot of my Dad and me doing what we do best in Italy. I’m the good looking guy on the right. During the day I am an Automotive Engineer who’s job it is to make vehicles stop. In the after hours I am a Dad to two girls and a husband to a wonderful and understanding wife. I spend my free time biking (mountain and road) flying my RC helicopters, playing volleyball and of course woodworking. I mostly enjoy building funiture. My tools by far outweigh my woodworking skills, I am constantly reminded of that. For now I depend on electrical tools, this is slowly changing as I get older. I have set up a Simoli’s Page on the left bar which has shop photos and in time some projects.

I’m Dick Sowa, aka Sawdust. This is a shot after a friend and I went fishing in my pond, and caught a couple of these slimy suckers. I figure I have a dozen or so of them left in the pond, and they do put up a good fight. I am a recently retired Civil Engineer, and have been woodworking since my kids were little. I was dirt poor, and it was lots cheaper to make stuff, than buy it. In my free time, which I have a lot of now, I like to work in the yard, do home improvement projects, and tinker in my shop. We recently bought a new home, so the shop is in transition, and constantly being improved. So far I have added cable TV, a microwave, refrigerator, a computer and running water. My wife wants to know when I will be putting the cot out there…hehe. But with this being my first real shop, I intend to upgrade my tools, from the cheap junk I lived with for years, to something better.

My name is Steve Ash. Here is a picture of my wife of 25 years, myself, and my “other woman” a 1969 Chevelle Super Sport.I have two sons, one is 24 and the other is 18. I have owned my own business for 16 years this April, I am a liscensed residential building contractor, building peoples dream homes. This keeps me busy year round, but I manage to make the time for hunting and fishing. I have had my hands in woodworking since High School, I took two years of woodshop classes and then some adult woodworking classes while still farming 1600 acres with my dad and brother before leaving the family farm to begin my building business. Even though I have built some furniture for our home and some custom cabinets for some of the homes I have built, I consider myself a beginner and am always looking to learn more.

I’m cna, aka Chuck Cole. My better half’s nickname is “A”, thus the nickname cna (Chuck and A). By day I work as an Engineer developing Hybrid Powertrains for passenger cars. By night I help out at my wife’s bridal/formal/prom shop. I’m the grunt labor there and avoid customers because I would scare the ladies off. Her shop, Jilada Designs is in the same complex as Harbor Freight in Ypsi, just two shops to the left of Busch’s. If you are at Harbor Freight, stop by to say hi and buy yerself a purdy dress or accessorize the shop coat!²The horses in the picture are not ours. I helped a friend with a lot of sweat equity putting up the barn. I’m intermediate ww’er, and have a 12’x19’ shop in the basement. Things are cramped, and working with 4×8 sheet goods is very tricky. I make do in the small space, but it is my dream to have a outdoor 28’x40’ shop.

I’m jhinze, Jim Hinze. My day job is as a systems programmer on contract at Ford Motor Company. I have 2 major hobbies, woodworking being one, the other being powerlifting. I have only been woodworking for about 1.5 years and feel very fortunate to find an incredibly supportive group of individuals as in SEMIWW. My shop is in my basement, size is about 26’x15’ or so…²Attached is a picture from my most recent powerlifiting meet, I’m squatting 750lbs. Unfortunately it’s the only picture I have with me in it

I’m Jim Knapp, a/k/a ‘law_kid’. I recently graduated from U of M Law School (hence the screen name), worked in the state court system for a while, and now work for a law firm in Washington, DC. I started woodworking in the midle of law school (winter of 2002-2003), but I grew up around hobby woodworkers and professional carpenters. Check out my woodworking website at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jimknapp/Wood.html. You can also link from there to my slightly less interesting web page (especially if you have an interest in fainting goats!).

I’m Brad Olson, aka bolson. I am a PhD Biochemistry and Molecular Biology graduate student at Michigan State University. My wife, Val, works at Kelloggs in Battle Creek so we split the difference by living in Charlotte. The above picture was taken on our first aniversary at Castle Rock in the pictured rocks national lakeshore in the UP of Michigan. Beside woodworkiing, my wife and I like to travel.

I’m Dimner, aka Mike Alexander. I picked the dumbest looking photo (and there were plenty) that had anything to do with woodworking. Here, I’m holding a fine specimen of a hand plane that one should avoid buying. I’m a software engineer by day, and a lounge lizard by night. Err, uh I mean self-proclaimed woodworker by night. If you would ask the misses, she would probably agree if woodworker was defined by ‘one who constantly is buying/begging for tools’. Other interesting facts: I have a 2 year old, 2 cats, and my wife is a biochemist and frequently scares the daylight out of me when she explains all of the micro organisms that live in the human body.

I’m jlubeski, also know as Jeff Lubeski. I work for Ford Motor Co. to help fund my woodworking hobby. What ever is left over goes to feed my wife and two kids. I have been falling deeper into this hobby since I got back in during the summer of 2001. Like many I often use power tools but also enjoy hand tools and feel a mix of the two works well. Other hobbies (some get more time than others) are family, running, brewing beer, hunting, golf, and boating.