WW Book, second question

my dad worked in a lumber yard and as a kid i always wanted to be a carpenter, had some old guys back then that i looked up to and wanted to be like them, after i got into grade school i was given the first taste of the real deal and it progressed from there. had two very good shop teachers and the summers i helped dad at work till iwas old enough to actually be hired there at 14 and worked 72 hrs a week during the summer and any day i had off school i was there. got to meet alot of the builders and some cabinet and window makers..
 
Ever since I was raised on a farm & had to be a self-reliant DIY, I've preferred to employ my own skills rather than those of others, thinking i could do at least as well, if not better than most. Plus, the satisfaction & cost has always been better, except when I blunder. :rofl:
 
This was a gradual progression. I have had a keen interest in learning wood working for a long time, but with a family, two kids and (at least) two jobs, wood working was relegated to the day dreaming time slots. Since retiring from one of my jobs I have a little more time available.

Home owners are continually needing to build or fix something (at least I hope that I am not the only one!) In that regard you have several options:
Pay someone else to do it
Do it yourself
Do it yourself with help

Having done it all three ways I prefer versions 2 or 3. While versions 2 or 3 are frequently less expensive (but not always!) I usually find them more satisfying.

The majority of my home fixing jobs have been smallish (tile a room or two, fix a book shelf…) This last year I would up having a 30 x 40 pole barn built by a local company, which I then finished the inside by myself (with some occasional help from friends) This project was more substantial and took 4 months. Once this was completed I had access to my garage. I had been teaching martial arts and fitness from my garage for the last 10 years. Once I had my pole barn built I was able to move all of my mats and equipment into the new building leaving my garage available for cars and a small shop! This was the first time in 54 years that I have been on the planet when I was able to park my vehicle in my garage!

In the process of putting together a small workshop in my garage, one of my students wound up trading an inherited table saw for some private lessons. Another student loaned me an extra lathe. So now I found myself with a imbalance of tools vs skills!

So of late I have been scouring the internet for skill building projects and look forward to all of the new skills that I intend to pick up here!
 
I always respected and was in awe of my Dad. He was a very talented jack of all trades and master of most. There just seemed to me there was nothing he couldn't do and do very well if he put his mind to it. He gave us kids free run of the garage and to tools he had and encouraged us to build things, often working right beside us on project. Back when I was a kid you played outside, built things and worked with you hands. We were very fortunate to have the experience. Most kids don't get introduced to such things these days. Anyway, I always loved the wood working and he always encouraged it. I was a lucky boy to have such a Dad.
 
I always enjoyed working with my hands and when I was young I did a little woodworking but never had the time for it in my adult life. I am retired now and my spinal arthritis has gotten so bad I can't play golf anymore, so I decided it was time to get into back woodworking. I bought some machines and I am now in the learning process and enjoying every minute of it. I enjoy making things and it's something I feel I will still be able do even as my arthritis gets worse.
 
Passed down from father to son. I was Dad's conscript labor and gopher during the building of three boats, and two houses. At the time I'd rather been off playing, but the skills learned have come in handy, so no regrets. As a newlywed, necessity dictated making my own furniture and it's been that way ever since. If it's wood related, I'd rather do it myself than pay someone else to do it.
 
My father had an assortment of tools around the garage, but mostly did a few carpentry type projects around home. When I was about 8, I remember him building a small table for a record player and doing quite a nice finish on it. When I got to 9th grade, the junior high school offered a woodshop class that dad encouraged me to take and it sounded interesting to me, also. I completed a couple of flatwork projects and one turned bowl - got good grades on all of them. After that, I didn't do very much until later in life.

From time to time, I'd hack together items for the kids but not anything I'd brag about today! I remained interested in building things and graduated to doing a pergola over a patio at one house, then a deck and swing/climbing set at another house. Like a lot of people, I began to watch NYW on a regular basis and saw several things I thought I'd like to try some day. Finally, around 1998 I took the plunge and started buying better tools.

Between reading woodworking magazines and watching TV programs like NYW and other DIY stuff, I saw there was no reason I shouldn't be 'brave' enough to use something besides cheap pine to make things. My first venture into 'real' wood was getting some cherry from a local supplier to build a quilt rack to mount on a wall. Although I had seen and heard about how nice cherry was to work with, I couldn't believe just how nice it really was until I starting milling it. Then, when I got the the finish stage, I was even more impressed! Needless to say, I was hooked!!!

As they say, the rest is history.
 
Started out on the Ranch, if you wanted something you built it. Dad built a log house from scratch cutting them with an axe and hauling them off of the mountain two at a time with a team of horses. One of my earlier memories was mom yelling at me for standing the log pile (I was probably around 2 and change or so based on what I know of when he finished the cabin). Sometime later Dads Cousin built a set of cabinets for us (looking back on them they were nice but no great shakes but as an impressionable youngster they seemed like the most amazing thing ever), he also made a couple of those animatronic windmill things (one was a cowboy riding a bucking horse which was a source of endless fascination). So we built a lot of fences, fancy gates, etc.. (not that I was really helpful at most of that, but getting in the way you absorb some stuff).

Later I took shop in school and got introduced to a less primitive set of tools (we did a lot of hand work on the ranch by necessity) and made some relatively decent stuff (and a few stinkers) which proved to me that it was possible :D This sort of provided a grounding in basic concepts. In the first couple of years we did some trivial projects including a small milking stool, a small wall vanity cabinet (I think those may have been both first year? don't know anymore) and then graduated to doing more complex stuff like a free form coffee table (it was an interesting piece made out of a 5' tall piece of upside down juniper with a lamp on top and three natural legs with a glass filled triangle table inside of them, I think dad still has it in the back of the barn), a captains desk, etc... Having some other people around who knew how to do stuff was nice and gave a let up.

During and after college I was broke broke broke and couldn't afford .. well anything really. But I needed some furniture (bookshelves mainly as books were my main expense at the time past rent :D - no gas because no car and not much food) and made due with not much for tools or workspace or materials or.. well. yeah. So I did a lot of stuff on the floor or with a sawhorse out on the patio. This state of affairs persisted for waay to long (through 4 major moves, over 10 years and multiple houses). About 3 or so years ago I got tired of trying to do things and having it take to long and not be accurate enough and.. not safe (I had some rather sketchy tin can tools) so I did a big upgrade of most of them. And here we are... years wasted!
 
I grew up with 2 creative parents. My father could fix and build anything, he worked for the state doing just that for most of his life. My mother always had a project going and anything she couldn't build my Dad helped her with. Mom's projects were usually craft related, she painted and built her own picture frames. When she wanted the beaded ceiling out of their house my dad and I stripped the paneling and built new cabinets for her craft supplies. I didn't get to do much because "girls" didn't do that kind of work. But I was the only one out of 9 kids that was interested. I ended up being the first girl to take woodworking in high school and got the highest grades, but the teacher didn't like having a girl in his class and encouraged the boys to get rid of me. They definitely convinced me to quit after a little "talk" in the tool room. After that I learned from books and making a lot of mistakes, but I learned. After leaving NC and moving to Michigan I finally had the freedom to try anything. To this day when my other half hears me say "I've got an idea" he gets really nervous. :bonkers:
 
I am just curious about almost everything. Probably why I'm not really a woodworker but one who plays with wood. And metal and computers and really wants a saw mill but spend most of my time reading which gets in the way of getting really proficient at any one thing. The appeal of wood is it is so pretty if not hid under paint.

Had woodworking in Jr High.. Interest never really died still have a couple of the projects around..

I am opposite of many of the people as I love the technology involved in the new stuff. I don't find the swish of a plane relaxing I find it a lot of work. I can sit and watch a computer spin motors all day long. I can also watch a master craftsman all day long. My actual work is often more along the fix it line than the artistic side of things. Which may be why i can be so impressed with those that can do the artistic side..

I just hate to throw things away....
 
Oh that's a big question :D

I like the way things work. I like seeing how stuff goes together. I've always been that way and always curious about the way stuff is made. Couple that with wanting to leave this world at least a little better than I found it and a small bit of wanting to be remembered long after I'm gone. Those things inspire me to make long-lasting projects that people will enjoy and get value from long after I'm gone. I'm a journey-minded person more than a product-minded person, too, so I enjoy the process of building more than the end product. In fact, I even get a little down when the project's done because I can no longer work on it anymore... weird, huh?
 
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