East Bay, RI
East Bay Newspapers
Friday, September 23, 2005
Teacher of sharks is handy with old tools
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Sanford "Sandy" Moss was lured to Westport in 1967 by the prospect of teaching marine biology, his favorite subject, in a small New England school. As the first order of business, Mr. Moss and his wife Barbara, whom he met while they were graduate students at Cornell University, bought a house on River Road.
During his 34 year teaching career there, Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute evolved into UMass Dartmouth. While his three children were growing up, he was active in Little League and Cub Scouts. He participated in civic life, having been a member of the Lion's Club and the Westport Land Conservation Trust. A life long builder and tinkerer, Since he retired in 2004, Mr. Moss has built an active second career finding, buying, and selling hand tools to a growing number of collectors across the country. He and his wife now live on Ivy Meadows Lane. The Moss family has now grown to include two grandchildren.
FIRST JOB: "My wife and I lived in New Haven and taught at Yale for two years after graduating from Cornell University."
COMING TO WESTPORT: "I wanted to go to a small school that had a marine education program and Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute was just developing a pretty strong one here. "
ACADEMIC COURSES: "I taught graduate courses in animal behavior and ichthyology (study of fish). My specialty is the biology of sharks. I received my doctorate on the subject of shark feeding mechanisms."
WHY SHARKS: "My mentor knew a professor at Cornell who wanted a graduate student to study the feeding mechanisms of sharks. I'd always been interested in fish so that sounded good. We dissected sharks in the lab and did field studies of them in Bimini during vacations."
SHARKS AROUND WESTPORT: "There are dog fish, often called sand sharks. At this time of year, there are tiger sharks, hammerhead, and mako sharks offshore. In spring, there are basking sharks. There's not much to worry about since the last fatal shark attack around here was in Mattappoisett in 1936."
WHY HAND TOOLS:"I've always enjoyed woodworking and built myself a nice shop of power tools. One day in 1997 I was using the table saw and it bit me in the finger. That scared the heck out of me and I thought it might be fun to do things with hand tools rather than power tools."
LOVE OF OLD TOOLS: "Finding hand saws and chisels proved to be seductive. I found it interesting to learn how to use them and learn their history. Many tools are marked by the maker or patented. I wanted to find something out about the men who made them and the conditions they were made under. I spent more time reading about them than using them."
MARKETING HAND TOOLS: "I set up a web site. I write a description of the tool, take a photo, say what condition it's in and price it. I have to do lots of research. Many collectors use the site as a resource to find information. The more I sell, the more I buy. The whole thing took on a life of its own."
FINDING TOOLS: "I visit flea markets, auctions and go to tool meets where people swap and buy tools. Lots of collectors call me and want to sell me things, too. I buy and sell block planes, wood planes, draw knives, braces (boring tools), bits, drills, screw drivers, chisels, gages, rules, levels, squares, books, machinist tools, saws, plumb bobs, and tool handles."
MAINE CABIN: "When Barbara and I were first married and living in New Haven we decided to buy some land in Maine. After a week looking, we ended up buying 100 acres. In 1992, we cut down pine trees, sawed up the lumber and built a cabin. It's a heck of a lot more comfortable living in that cabin than camping in a tent."
By Paul Tamburello
http://www.eastbayri.com/print/303594469367442.php
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