With all the talk about what NCWW was, is, and will be, I thought this might be a good time to piece together the 'official' history of NCWW. I've heard the stories a few times, but with every telling new details crop up. In part that's because good stories get better due to embellishments, but it's also because the eh....what's that thing that helps you remember stuff...not those tablets...oh yeah, MEMORY of certain individuals has started to erode from sniffing too much CA glue. Another reason not to take up turning! But I digress.
After spending a few hours in the archive (no dust collection there!), I think I can sum up how we all ended up here: Model ships.
Yes, that's right. Model ships. Those funny little boats in bottles that once contained liquor.
As the legend goes, Steve wanted to build a workbench in his garage after moving here from California, so he could build model ships. (BTW, sometimes I wonder if people take up model ship building just so they have an excuse to have lots of liquor bottles lying around without people asking questions. But I digress again...). As we all know, every project requires a new tool, and shop projects require two new tools! So before too long Steve succumbed to an early strain of WGD (this was before it was officially named!) and started bugging the folks on woodnet.net on how to do stuff.
One of the frustrating things about the Internet is finding stuff locally. It's great that Denise Hoyt sells orthopedic shoes in Boston, but that doesn't mean squat if you live in Raleigh. So Steve floated the idea on Woodnet on starting a forum focused on woodworking in North Carolina, mainly to locate supplies. The original link is dead, and I haven't been able to find it in any of the archives. Here is a summary from DaveO:
Nobody was really able to predict where NCWW would go. Steve wrote in August of 2007:
Many of the original nay-sayers are still around. A few of them seem to still post here now and then too!
First 5 users (that still are registered on the site):
First 3 people to reach 1000 postS:
This used to be a big deal, you'd get a custom picture if you achieved that milestone. Now there are plenty of weird yahoos that have over 1,000 posts...
I would appreciate it if you 'old-timers' (in NCWW membership years that is!) could reply with interesting facts and juicy details. For example, I haven't been able to find DaveO's post about the first picnic, but maybe because those threads were cleaned up. I'm also curious on when the first lumber run was held. and when the discount program was started, and what inspired Roger (sapwood) to make his tin foil hat....
So get crackin' y'all! :XXcompute
After spending a few hours in the archive (no dust collection there!), I think I can sum up how we all ended up here: Model ships.
Yes, that's right. Model ships. Those funny little boats in bottles that once contained liquor.
As the legend goes, Steve wanted to build a workbench in his garage after moving here from California, so he could build model ships. (BTW, sometimes I wonder if people take up model ship building just so they have an excuse to have lots of liquor bottles lying around without people asking questions. But I digress again...). As we all know, every project requires a new tool, and shop projects require two new tools! So before too long Steve succumbed to an early strain of WGD (this was before it was officially named!) and started bugging the folks on woodnet.net on how to do stuff.
One of the frustrating things about the Internet is finding stuff locally. It's great that Denise Hoyt sells orthopedic shoes in Boston, but that doesn't mean squat if you live in Raleigh. So Steve floated the idea on Woodnet on starting a forum focused on woodworking in North Carolina, mainly to locate supplies. The original link is dead, and I haven't been able to find it in any of the archives. Here is a summary from DaveO:
Steve inquired about any interest in the starting of a site for NC woodworkers, there was a few serious reply made but the the topic got hijacked and turned into a very long conversation about the different types of BBQ in NC. Many people have posted questions on that site that never get answered because they may have misspelled a word, or phrased their question in a way that some found to be stupid, or just generally asked a simple question and were met with ridicule and insults.
In addition to Steve's interest in this site being a place to local information on where to obtain woodworking supplies, I think he also meant it to be a place that was always friendly, and willing to offer assistance to any member regardless of how simple their question is or poor their spelling or wording is.
I'm not sure what the original "go live" date was, it appears to have been sometime in July of 2005. The oldest post I can find (#2) was an ad for a bandsaw Monty was selling.In addition to Steve's interest in this site being a place to local information on where to obtain woodworking supplies, I think he also meant it to be a place that was always friendly, and willing to offer assistance to any member regardless of how simple their question is or poor their spelling or wording is.
Nobody was really able to predict where NCWW would go. Steve wrote in August of 2007:
I definitely did not think of this site as primarily a discussion forum. It was meant to be a place for NC woodworkers to both find out about local services and a place for members to announce things.
[snip]
Just notice that there are no woodworking help forums or topics. This was purposeful. There are other sites that will get you more and faster results, Woodnet, SawMillCreek, etc. That doesn't mean, you can't ask, just that I am not dedicating a forum to it. For me, if I had a question and didn't need it fast, I would PM someone with the question.
As much as I appreciate the classifieds and local supplier info, the woodworking discussions are the bulk of NCWW activity today. [snip]
Just notice that there are no woodworking help forums or topics. This was purposeful. There are other sites that will get you more and faster results, Woodnet, SawMillCreek, etc. That doesn't mean, you can't ask, just that I am not dedicating a forum to it. For me, if I had a question and didn't need it fast, I would PM someone with the question.
Many of the original nay-sayers are still around. A few of them seem to still post here now and then too!
First 5 users (that still are registered on the site):
- SteveColes (surprise!)
- Gator
- Monty
- DaveO
- Toolferone
First 3 people to reach 1000 postS:
- DaveO (surprise!)
- D L Ames
- Insomniac
This used to be a big deal, you'd get a custom picture if you achieved that milestone. Now there are plenty of weird yahoos that have over 1,000 posts...
I would appreciate it if you 'old-timers' (in NCWW membership years that is!) could reply with interesting facts and juicy details. For example, I haven't been able to find DaveO's post about the first picnic, but maybe because those threads were cleaned up. I'm also curious on when the first lumber run was held. and when the discount program was started, and what inspired Roger (sapwood) to make his tin foil hat....
So get crackin' y'all! :XXcompute
). Of course, no guarantee this is actually correct....
