General questions

I came to woodworking from knocking about house with dad doing house projects. He passed on what he knew but it was mostly improvised.
It’s in my genes though as Great Grandfather built and maintained water driven mills in Bury St Edmund in UK back in the day.
But he was a bit of an inventor too.
Then I got lucky (I say lucky because I think the saddest day that society is going to rue in the long run is when they canned shop class at school, we called it Industrial Arts, consisted of formal draughting, metal work and woodwork) and shop clad was still around for me. I did 5 years of it and was very fortunate to have shop teachers that passed on some lessons and we worked with good hardwood.
Made many great projects from hand cut dovetails on a telephone table and draw through to turning a lamp.
Dad had a decent workshop at home with a all in one Austrian import hobby machine called Emco star.
He let me loose on that with zero instruction. I shudder today when I think I could have lost all my digits.
But I also believe that’s when you learn and take responsibility something I think we rob kids of today in the name of keeping them safe.
In SA even though I had my own business and a good career machines like we can buy here from Grizzly etc were very expensive so I never really continued after leaving home.
One of the bonuses of coming to Canada was being able to setup a workshop and kit it out at a reasonable price.
Like Bill I have had comments about all my tools. It was upsetting in the beginning (I don’t think I have come near 3 seasons of golf costs in total in my shop, that a friend of mine incurs each year forever more.
But it’s my place of sanity and like Darren I like to tinker with more than just wood, which is why I added a welder and now cnc and 3D printing.

Sadly I don’t think my sons (even though both experienced shop class in Canada for several years) will follow in my footsteps. But they still young. I do see a great many young people doing the maker thing now which is encouraging to me. But how many do it for You Tube versus the quality of work guys here put out, well I think the battle is the instant gratification thing.
I still marvel at being able to buy the basic hardwoods like oak, maple , cherry etc. Walnut is like gold to me.
I am not a big fan of exotic woods I worry too much demand for it has too big an environmental damage effect taking place in countries without much forest management. So I am more than happy to get by on the local hardwoods and even 2x4’s

I have done my travelling so in retirement I have to work given cost of moving countries and my shop will be my place of peace.


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wow,

That's NOT an easy question.

I am 64 and it started when I was maybe 8 or 10?

My dad had a small metal cutting machine shop and ran a small metal business. Mostly he was designing a hi pressure / hi vacuum coupling for use in the industrial world. He had a drafting board, metal lathe, metal cutoff saw, milling machine, drill press.

In the neighborhood (middle class) there were friends parents that the dad's had hobby shops in the cellar of the houses. I remember hand planes and hand saws. At my friends house we built "forts" in his back yard.

I remember a couple of small shop businesses that had their doors open in the summer. There was a cobbler, a (i think) a sign maker and another that had had some stuffing material (I think cotton). I used to talk with them a little but not a lot. I was just curious. It was long ago and I have forgotten a lot since.

In my teens my dad was into boats and we helped him paint and get them ready for water. In the late 60's early 70's they were wooden boats. We live in Southeastern Mass along the water front so the boats were salt water boats.

In early 70's he bought a 40 foot Novi that was sunk at the dock. We raised it and fixed it up. Lot of electrical, engine work. We did some wood repair and built a cabin on the boat. In that same era we formed Leo's Marine Repair and earned money doing all sorts of repairs to boats. Mostly engine rebuilding, but also electrical as well as some wood repairs like replacing planks and making engine beds. In the boat yards I met "Soupy". At that time Soupy was an old timer. He was a finish carpenter, and REALLY good at it. He would replace the stern of the old wood boats and do the finish. Someone else did the lettering.

My aunt owned the apartment house we lived in. There were 10 apartments in an old converted Whaling mansion that my grandparents bought in 1937 and converted. With no money and a dead economy they used what was available and did what was needed. To say the least, there was a lot of repair needed. I learned plumbing, electrical, woodworking, painting and more. My dad and extremely bad alcoholic, my parents divorced, I dropped out of High school, I lived with my aunt, basically in poverty - NOT a good time to be alive.

In the late 70's and newly married and living in an apartment - NO money honey - I build a K-Mart wood kit night stand. I also god some scrap pine, bought a Black and decker jig saw, borrowed a sander and build a book shelf. Still have those items today.

We managed to buy a house in early 80's still no money - I did ALL repair work out of necessity. A little bit at a time I build up some tools and a small workshop in the cellar of my 960 sq/ft house. I finished off half the cellar, built a shed, decks and maintained the house. I made book shelves, bird houses, watched New Yankee workshop. Heck Norm inspired a LOT of us after all. From 1983 to present - TONS of repairs

As time progressed I earned my High School, Associated Degree, Bachelors degree and my income increased.

I remember at about 2001 at work talking to a coworker about woodworking and telling him that I was going to drop woodworking because I just could NOT get any quality out of what I was doing. He said that with the precision I work to in my job that he just did not believe that "I" was not capable, but that my tools perhaps were not capable. That hour long conversation re-inspired me.

In 2002 I added on my addition to be my house. I always had a dream of a really nice workshop and this was the time to do it. At first is was my dream to make a mechanics dream workshop, but by the time I did it in 2002 it was to be a wood shop. Voila just like that it came to be.

From 2002 - present I have learned a LOT and gotten much better at what I do.

I was at the peak of my earning potential throughout 2002-2005 and I added to my shop in very large increments. I could NOT do it again today, though I have added some large investments, mostly paid by additional income from small side jobs.

In 2005 I bought a Mr. Handyman franchise that I operated until 2007.

Though the question was not asked - I have also had very specific interest in art, that runs in my family.

Today, my interests are evolving. With internet, forums, and a new wealth of technology and information I am finding new and exciting things to do. I like colors, textures, creativity, different materials and new things. The quest continues. For me, it's wood, but also it's a lot of other materials as well. I land on woodworking forums because I started on woodworking forums and stayed. There are not a lot of multi forums, though this one is as close as it gets.

Sorry for the long read. This is more about me than about what inspired me, but really this IS how I came to woodworking. I like to create.

Brent Dowell said:

This is such a great thread. There's more to woodworking, than meets the eye I think. So many different reasons, histories, experiences.

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I couldn't agree more.

Rob Keeble said:

...I am not a big fan of exotic woods I worry too much demand for it has too big an environmental damage effect taking place in countries without much forest management...

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Apologies for the quick threadjack Rob, but if you have a chance, search around the web for some posts by (the late) Jim King. I "met" Jim over at Sawmill Creek, and he had some very interesting insights into the exotic wood harvesting and marketing world. He lived in Iquitos, Peru, and was in the business of gathering and exporting exotic woods. In short, it isn't necessarily the hardwood trade that's doing the deforestation (at least in Peru). It's the regulations that are forcing the locals to clear-cut and burn forests in order to build sustenance farming plots to survive. We've been fed a pack of lies to a large extent, IMO.

/threadjack

My start in woodworking was when I received a Handy Andy tool kit. I must have been 7 or 8 years old. It had hammer, screwdriver, 12” ruler, square, pencil, chisel and saw. I can’t remember if I had asked for it or not. My first project was to build a bench. The only problem was that the wood that I was given was an orange crate from the grocery store. This wood was quite hard and difficult to cut. Especially since the saw was not sharp, probably couldn’t cut through melted butter, and the teeth had no set. So at least I learned perseverance. At the time my mother and I rented 2 roooms on the secound floor of my great uncle’s house and I built it in the basement workshop. The bench must have come with us when we moved in with my grandfather, because some years later I found it hanging on the wall in the driving shed. My mother used to use it when gardening.
Yes on the farms there was always something that needed repairing. During my teen years I worked as a carpenter framing houses and also for a plasterer/bricklayer.
I’ve built things as needed: cupboards, drawers, bookshelves, bike racks, decks, chairs.... they were all utilitarian, not fine furniture.
My favourite course in school was metal shop. Unfortunately it was only one year and I never got the woodworking shop.

The project that I was most fond of was a trailer for my son’s bike. It was quite substantial, and the first night after he got it, he brought a pillow and blanket downstairs and slept in it.

Carol,
Would you please share your class syllabus with us after you have written it?

Sure, but I don't know how helpful that will be to someone else. At least my syllabuses are sort of cryptic to other teachers.

That said, I am considering developing it into a book. So we will see....

No history in the family. I think my dad maybe owned two tools - a claw hammer and a pair of pincers. He was a soldier - we moved around and lived in houses you couldnt work on.

I like to make stuff. Wood is a bit more accessible to a beginning amateur than is metal so wood it was. At school I did a bit of woodwork, bit of metalwork, bit of sewing and textiles - liked wood best. Said I wanted to be a carpenter when I left school.

Careers teacher said "Don't be silly. Boys like you don't do that sort of thing. Get a job in a bank." At sixteen I didn't know that he was an idiot and got a job in a bank. Banking, finance, IT, tech for the next 20+ years. Making things - badly in no space with poor tools but making stuff like bookcases / storage out of home store materials in my free time.

Then I built a deck. This was before decks were a thing in the UK. No special deck boards or fittings. Father in Law told me I was stupid becaue it wouldn't last. At that point It became essential to build the deck (which is still going strong after 20 years). I did. Enjoyed it. Decided I wanted to build 2 Adirondack Chairs (a rarity in the UK at that time). Hired a Dewalt planer and found a timber yard that sold me some Western Red Cedar. Looked at some photos and spent 6 weeks jigging around with clamps to get the angles rightish. This was pre internet really. Had it happened a couple of years later I would prolly have found somebody sellng chairs and brought from them.

Made my chairs. Friends liked them and asked me to make for them. Made a few out of the garage at home. Enjoyed it and built up my tool catalogue via that. Hit 40 y.o.. Realised we were never going to have kids so lost the need to do a job I didn't like and decided to see if I could make a living making adirondack chairs. 17 years later it looks like one day I might.

I am an, at best, average woodworker but a very good Adirondack chair maker. Doing something 10,000 times will get you good at it. I have learned a bunch about a bunch and feel like in the last 17 years I have spent about 20 days at work and the rest of the time have been doing exactly what I want to do - and that never feels like work. I have learned about CNC, laser engraving and now am embarking on 3d printing basically as adjuncts to my wood work business. For me it is mostly about the process of bringing into creation a practical thing that didn't exist and will last for a longer duration than a meal. Wood just happens to be the most accessible end of that scale.

Carol - I think you could make an interesting book from these sort of stories. I quite like "Shopwork as Soulcraft" but it is basically one point of view. I hated "Why we make things and why it matters" because it is basically an ego massage exercise. Good writing , a diverse subject grop and the absence of cod psychology and I'll buy a copy anytime.

Exactly, Ian. Woodworking from lots of folks' point of view is my premise for a book. Some will find its way into the class I am preparing for. I will be doing some interviewing of a select group of ordinary woodworkers as I go along. First real interview will be with our own Glenn Bradley. He is 'local' to me, so it seemed like a good place to start.

Ian Barley said:

Carol - I think you could make an interesting book from these sort of stories. I quite like "Shopwork as Soulcraft" but it is basically one point of view.

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I agree with Ian that these stories would make for a good book. I've also been reading the "Shopwork as Soulcraft" book, am finding it to be a good read.

I started in 1971, in my early 20's by buying a 12" Craftsman RAS and running a 14-2 wire (240 V) from the stove in an upstairs apt to the single garage I rented out back of the 2 story house. Had some shop class in Woodworking in gr 10, having to make a bookcase with sliding doors that was for classrooms in our brand new school.
A few years later moved to a rental house and had a shop in the single garage under the house. Bought a Craftsman 12" contractor saw, large shop vac and a router. Made a desk for the wife and a vanity for mom's cottage and dovetailed the drawers in pine that a sawmill planed to 1/2". By 1974 had bought my 1st house and had a shop in a 12x22 room in the basement. Added a few tools, drill press and 6" jointer, all Craftsman. Sears was the only place I knew of that had woodworking tools. Frustrated with simple projects, mostly plywoods, particle board, covering them with woodgrain Arborite. Not being able to plane wood (no planer available for a hobbyist back then ), I sold off all big tools and got into cameras and darkroom work. Five years went by and I needed to repair the metal handrail going up several steps in our 3 level back split that pulled out of the drywall. Dug out the skill saw, router and in the driveway cut and shaped a luan shelving board to use as a backer for the railing. Having fun making that backer board, I just had to have a workshop. In 1980 I built a 22x40 garage with workshop and been expanding the tool collection ever since! Several moves, life changes, the shop was always in the garage. Seems like every move my working space has shrunk. I would say I'm self-taught, learning from mistakes. Magazines such as Wood, Canadian Workshop, FWW helped hone skills and provide plans. My dad was not a handy person so don't think I got anything from him, but mom worked a lathe in a machine shop during WW2 making parts, so maybe she passed some genes to me.