Dean Throckmorton was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1932.  He moved to Orlando in 1971. He worked for Harper Plumbing and S I Goldman as a pipe fitter and plumber. Dean lost his wife in 1994 and he and Etta Reed have been together since 1996. He has a son, 56, living in Ga; and a daughter,54, living in Orlando..  He has 5 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.  Prior to getting into woodworking he did stained glass, including lamps, clocks, etc. for about 5 yrs (however, he just made a lamp about a yr ago).  He started in woodworking just a short while before he retired in 1994.  He has done all types of woodworking but very little furniture. He just took a carving class about 3 weeks ago.  His best pieces were a Parlor Cabinet and a large dome clock.  He couldn’t think of his worst project.  His advice to any wood worker is”No matter what you do to be good at it you need to take the time to practice and have patience”.g  If you make a mistake the wood is always good for the fireplace.  He also stressed practicing safety. His only bad accident was trying to router a small piece by hand. He got part of his finger trimmed off.  He feels the safest tool is the Scroll Saw.

Dean has been mostly self-taught, only taking two classes.  One was a one day class on making a papermill on a lathe. The other the carving class mentioned earlier.  Dean also belongs to the Woodturners’ Club.  Between the two organizations he gets plenty of ideas and keeps busy.  He has always participated in sports. He is a member of an Orlando Horseshoe league which meets Tuesdays in Oviedo. He goes to tournaments around the state.

Dean is a true Woodworker in that he has offered to help anyone who needs helps.  He works in his shop 4-5 hours per day, 4-5 days per week.  I’ve played horseshoes with Dean and seen his work and he is proficient at both.  Thanks Dean for your time.