Woodworking Questionnaire

The biggest issue for me is keeping organized while working on whatever I choose to do in my shop. Talking about it on your survey made me realize how much of a problem it can be. One thing I need to do soon is to literally take all of the scrap out of my shop, sort it and toss anything I'll never use. The problem with that, however, is that I'm using smaller and smaller pieces since I'm doing more turning like pens, stoppers and other small items. So, talk about going in circles!!!

I struggle with that as well Bill, and I'm sure others here do. I currently have 4 barrels full of cut-offs of decent sizes. I need to go through mine as well and at least inventory some of what I'm keeping down to common sizes. Part of my high chair project has been using up what I could of my scraps for it before cutting any new stock. It was at least easy as most of the cherry was at the top of the barrels, otherwise I doubt I would have bothered. Guess I'll need to pickup another shelf for cut-offs now to see what I have. ;)
 
I organized my wood in three catagories:

Long boards over 48" are stacked vertically in the wood area.

Short boards between 12" and 48" are stacked in horizontal shelves in the wood area.

Small pieces are sorted in an old multi-shelf organizer that I picked up for free when the office downsized. Similar to this:

http://www.officedepot.com/a/produc...ssionid=0000Tix17Q8HNPOYjQk7_QywjJf:17h4h7ado

I can organize scraps by species in each bin.

Rob
 
What drives you to do woodworking?

To get away from the rat race. It seems at work, everything needs to be done yesterday, changes are made at the last minute, you can't plan for any task on anyday, and everything has to done perfect. In the shop, if I want to start a project and finish it in a week or finish it in 3 years, there generally are no deadlines. If I make a mistake and can fix it, I do, if I can't fix it, it is accepted. I don't sell anything but give most things away. So if somebody doesn't like the mistake (assuming they can see it), too bad. If I just want to spend the week rooting around the shop and cleaning or make a simple jig,I do. It's my time, my project and my choice and there are no pressures.

What things prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop?

I don't find anything that prevents me from woodworking, except for getting time off from work. There might be certain tasks that I put off, but nothing is critical so it is not a big deal.

Do techniques keep you from enjoying woodworking?

I actually enjoy finding something I do not know how to do, because it motivates me to try it and success or try it and fail and continue practicing. So not knowing how to do something really in fact motivates me and is a plus.

What things do you not enjoy about working in the wood shop?

Very little, I have plenty of space, wood and tools. I have A/C and heat and sound proofing, so I can work day or night without the neighbors complaining. My only pet peeve is: Whacking wolf spiders and waterbugs/roaches. No matter how much I spray for bugs, they just laugh and keep coming in. There is no food in the shop so I don't know why the bugs come in under the overhead door and the spiders come in to take out the roaches.

Reviewing your answers given above about the things that prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop, what steps can you take to overcome some of these?

Short of aerial bombing the neighborhood with agent orange or setting up a chicken roost outside both shop doors for them to take the little buggers out before they reach the door, not much.

Reviewing your answers given above about what you don't enjoy, what steps can be taken to overcome some of your obstacles?

Not a whole lot.

Rob
 
Good info on the sorting Rob! :thumb: We've got a local non-profit office salvage place here where we can usually pickup cabinets like that for $10 - $15, so may have to drop in there. Spiders aren't as much of an issue for me as the field mice are, but I think I finally got the last batch gone with some of the decon bait they crawl in and eat. Though it caused me quite a headache keeping dead mice out of my pool as it makes them thirsty, found 10 of them in my skimmer just before I closed it and a few had been there a while, saw 4 others floating in the fish pond.

BTW All, this isn't a survey, and posting your results is up to you. It's really just for each of you to use if you've been struggling with getting out to the wood shop and haven't been able to pin-point why, and hopefully help you resolve those hurdles. It's been interesting to see some of the challenges others have and thoughts on how they can overcome them. Sometimes it's helpful to just write it down to get you focused on resolving them. I know it can't solve all things and some aren't things that will change quickly. I'll probably do this exercise again and again just to keep me moving, but right now it's helped me get to some next steps. :wave:
 
1. What drives you to do woodworking?

Being able to meet the challenge of creativity

2. What things prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop?

Lack of a shop at this time.

3. Do techniques keep you from enjoying woodworking?

No figuring the technique out may take a bit but that's part of the challenge.

I'll add in here I used to just try & push on through frustration & made many mistakes by

doing so. My answer for that is to shut the shop up & come back to it after I've figured

out the problem.

4. What things do you not enjoy about working in the wood shop?

Finishing partially because I've not had a good place to do it. I've stuck to wipe on

finishes & brush on finishes like lacquer or shellac wipe on poly. I need to learn more

about preparing surfaces for stain so the wood will have a consistent stained finished

color.

5. Reviewing your answers given above about the things that prevent you from working or

getting motivated in the wood shop, what steps can you take to overcome some of these?

Build a new shop.

6. Reviewing your answers given above about what you don't enjoy, what steps can be

taken to overcome some of your obstacles?

I could do a little more reading about finishing methodology before starting a project &

take notes to refer to in the shop. As well as come up with a place to do finish work

away from the rest of the shop.
 
one thing i do to eliminate the extra shorts is i always go there to look for the one board that wont matter and will work.. after that i find folks looking for short wood and ship it to them.. other than that i cut in kindling size and burn it..
 
one thing i do to eliminate the extra shorts is i always go there to look for the one board that wont matter and will work.. after that i find folks looking for short wood and ship it to them.. other than that i cut in kindling size and burn it..

Cut some of the fancier pieces up into pen blanks and give them away. There's quite a bit of my spalted and curly maple out there, as well as some cherry and walnut.
 
So it's been about 6 weeks since I first posted the questions. For me, I was able to knock out some of my obstacles, find some new ones show up in their place (funny how that happens huh).

The cold is one thing, but not much I can do about that except to plan for it. Small glue-ups are taking place in my heated office as well as laying out drill marks and things that just involve standing around.

I've truly been enjoying my shop time lately, the DC has made a huge difference in the cleanliness of my shop as well as how I feel after a day of stirring up dust. The work bench has once again become cluttered with items that need a home, so that seems to be an on-going battle for me. However, one of the things cluttering it is various hand tools and parts from one of the two projects I currently am working on.

I think my solution will come in the form of a couple of shop carts, one for tools that need to go back to their place and to keep at hand for the current project, and another for project parts to go on and organize. That will allow me to take pieces between tool stations and hopefully keep me from dropping them in transit (DAHIKT). So time to revitalize the group build, even if it's a group of one...stay tuned...
http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?26421-Shop-cart-build-Update-1-4-12

Disclaimer...I do have two (at least) other projects I'm going to finish first, not going to start this until they are done.
 
I've been in the shop more in the past month than I was the prior 6 month combined. Cool weather is the main reason. Being back in there has shown me how I do need to put some thing away and clean up a bunch. I have 1 more show to get ready for on Dec. 6th and then I'm going to take everything out of the garage and blow out all the dust and start from scratch putting things where they belong and making places to put them if needed. Bikes, mower, snow blower and some storage bins are all over the place taking up valuable real estate. If the budget allows I will be putting in sheetrock on the 2 walls of the shop I use to make it easier to keep it clean and brighten it up.

I have 2 projects I hope to tackle this winter and both will require quite a bit of room...starting in a clean shop will help that along quite a bit I think.
 
So I've been doing some exercises lately related to finding what things make one enjoy what they do.

Most were questionnaires that made you think a bit about what you enjoyed about "____" and things you didn't enjoy. The part about what you enjoy usually was there to affirm that you were on the right track, the list about what you didn't enjoy was to get you to put them on paper. The last step was to simply ask you how you can overcome the things you didn't enjoy.

So here is my questionnaire for you. Don't feel obligated to take it or feel like you need to post your answers, it's really just for your own use to perhaps get you to some enlightenment if you're struggling with any of these. If you find at the end that you really hate woodworking, please don't blame me. :D


What drives you to do woodworking?

There are a lot of things I like about working with wood.
I like the smells from most woods - wood is warm to the touch - when sanding the wood - I love the smoothness.
The grain and color it terrific.
Wood it easy to cut shape and form.


What things prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop?

Well - age and stamina has a lot to do with that, but not everything.

I always say - time is my biggest enemy - there is just not enough of it to be had.


Do techniques keep you from enjoying woodworking?

NO - techniques motivate me.

You gotta keep in mind that I am just as likely to try my hand at hand cut dovetails, hand carving, machine jig dovetails - table saw - scroll saw.

I also see a CNC router as no different than my Jet Drill Press or a gents dovetail saw.

I use CAD and CAM - as well as a Ray Iles mortise Chisel


What things do you not enjoy about working in the wood shop?

Not much.
I spend a lot of years and a lot of dollars to build my dream shop. Mine is NOT as nice or elaborate as a LOT of shops I have seen. Mine is to me a really great shop. I grew up on welfare and in a single mom home with 4 sisters(2 surviving) - a totally non motivated family with a father that was a really severe alcoholic, among other things. If we were a young family in this day and age - he would be in prison. So - compared to the life I grew up in - I live a ROYAL life of the rich and famous.

What I tend to not enjoy is a project or commission that has a time frame on it and I need to get it finished and out of the shop. I also don't really like warranty work.


Reviewing your answers given above about the things that prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop, what steps can you take to overcome some of these?

I can Retire from the day job -- 2020 - not that I am counting



Reviewing your answers given above about what you don't enjoy, what steps can be taken to overcome some of your obstacles?

Answering this is to me a little narrow about my shop. NOT - to say that woodworking is narrow - but more to the point - my shop is not just about woodworking. Yes wood is the primary material in my shop - but I love to explore the varieties of "other" materials and "other" processes.

I am just as likely to make a sign out of HDU and be totally painted as I am to make a series of band saw boxes out of Cherry and walnut or to make a Oval Picture frame on the CNC machine.


I do also like COLOR - and texture. That will also drive me into tecniques of paintong and paint glazes.

I will also use PVC to make letters and apply that to a Alupanel backing.

I also use aluminum and brass and corian.

I have also been known to CNC cut into white marble.
 
What drives you to do woodworking? // I want the end result and the effort seems worth it.

What things prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop? // Too cold, or too hot, socalizing with others.

Do techniques keep you from enjoying woodworking? // Nope, if somone else can do it, it can be duplicated.

What things do you not enjoy about working in the wood shop? // Standing on my feet, and carrying very heavy or bulky things such as big ply panels.
 
What drives you to do woodworking?

I want to learn to make nice things. I also have the illusion? that it's cheaper to make than to buy, but that's debatable. I have no doubt that tricked out cabinets are cheaper to make, but A LOT OF WORK.

What things prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop?

My shop is not that comfortable (yet). So it's often cold, and I don't have a dust collection system yet, and that keeps me from woodworking sometimes.

Do techniques keep you from enjoying woodworking?

Sure, techniques that I don't understand or am struggling with. It's hard to teach yourself everything.

What things do you not enjoy about working in the wood shop?

Noise and dust. I'd like to migrate to more hand tools, and I HAVE to figure out a dust solution.

Reviewing your answers given above about the things that prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop, what steps can you take to overcome some of these?

Figuring out a dust collection system is my next priority after the current project is done. Then I want to spend some time feeling more comfortable with planes and chisels and sharpening them.

Reviewing your answers given above about what you don't enjoy, what steps can be taken to overcome some of your obstacles?

I'm going to try to find someone local who could mentor me and give me some lessons in the things I really don't understand or feel comfortable with. Not sure how I'll do that yet.....I would even be willing to take classes if there was something near me. I haven't found anything yet other than a 4-month course that's several hours away.
 
I'm going to try to find someone local who could mentor me and give me some lessons in the things I really don't understand or feel comfortable with. Not sure how I'll do that yet.....I would even be willing to take classes if there was something near me. I haven't found anything yet other than a 4-month course that's several hours away.

Try a wood carving class for learning to sharpen, that is where I learned what sharp was.
 
Cynthia, ask around at your wood suppliers about any woodworking type clubs around. Any specialty will be helpful. Many woodworkers who have settle into one genre came from a more general application. You may well find a local mentor there. Fair game would be carvers, scrollers, turners, even furniture. They also would know of any classes that are local. Sometimes its hard for a newbie to break into the local knowledge trust.

Good luck. Have fun!
 
Time for me to revisit these questions...

What drives you to do woodworking?

  • Lately its been that I am getting things done that we need, but can't find or at least find the quality of product I want.
  • I've been able to turn out a few gifts for others lately, which I haven't done in a while and finding it enjoyable.


What things prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop?


  • Lately it's been the cold, but mainly just a lot on my plate as far as getting ready for the holidays
  • Also feel like I took on more projects than I need to, need to finish with ones that are in progress before starting more. The chaos created by the clutter gets to be overwhelming



Do techniques keep you from enjoying woodworking?

  • I'm finding that getting the time to learn new techniques is a bigger issue. I'd like to learn to use my ibox jig properly, but just don't have a current need and project that is requiring it.



What things do you not enjoy about working in the wood shop?

  • Clutter currently, seems like I have scraps or project pieces from other projects cluttering my work bench and table saw.



Reviewing your answers given above about the things that prevent you from working or getting motivated in the wood shop, what steps can you take to overcome some of these?

  • [FONT=tahoma, Verdana]Need to finish with current projects, plan out next projects, and try to stick to the schedule.
  • [FONT=tahoma, Verdana]I think scheduling time/creating to-do's to learn for the purpose of learning techniques without a project in mind may be key.[/FONT]
[/FONT]



Reviewing your answers given above about what you don't enjoy, what steps can be taken to overcome some of your obstacles?

  • The clutter, a shop cart or two is on my project list, but I have some shelving I've purchased for another purpose which I'm going to setup close to the workbench for storing project pieces and keeping them off the bench until needed.
  • Luckily it's been getting into the 50's and 60's over the weekend here lately, so shop time is a little more enjoyable for finishing up what I currently have going.
 
These questions are real good.
I find i start a project without all the material or get part way through then change my plan and then require more material. While i wait i come up with something else. And so the snowball gets going.

Then i have to ger back into the original project and thats when time has run out.

It all boils down to planning. But i dont particularly want to be that rigid in my hobby.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 
... i dont particularly want to be that rigid in my hobby. ...

Amen!!! When I finally decided a number of years ago that I could actually design and build furniture for our home and a few others, I was excited! HOWEVER...after doing many nice projects, I began to view it more as work than a hobby. There was a point that I could see myself building good stuff that other people would pay me for and, in fact, I made a nice sum on a couple of commissions. But, the farther I got into my retirement years, the more important it became to enjoy a balance of making sawdust, relaxation, and having fun. So, now I do what I want when I want and that's that! :)
 
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