How did you start to learn woodworking? Continue to learn? What are the necessary skills?

[Henry W]

So how did you start to learn this craft? How do you continue to learn? What are the 'necessary' skills?

I learned a lot from my father who was a high school 'shop' teacher, some by osmosis, some by actually helping him, and some in doing my own projects. I never had the opportunity to actually take a shop class though.

I continue to learn by being willing to make mistakes, choosing projects that force me to learn new skills, and of course learning from NCWW.

We can debate what exactly are the foundational and necessary WWing skills. For example there are a lot of areas of woodworking that I have no experience with: pyrography, intarsia, veneering, epoxy pours, and the list goes on. I still consider myself a woodworker, despite the lack of experience in these areas.

The life skills of planning, adaptation, problem solving, resilience, and even budgeting (time, money, "headspace') have been both been learned, reinforced, and occasionally ignored in this my hobby (and sometimes profession).

All this is leading to an opportunity to give back - or to at least learn more about a organization that does. Bull City Workshop, not surprisingly is in Durham, and is a organization that 'builds woodworkers' - focusing on youth.


From the website:
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The Bull City Woodshop is a non-profit youth-centered organization that guides individual development, fosters community connection, and cultivates creativity through woodworking.
Mentorship. Partnership. Craftsmanship.
WE MAKE WOODWORKERS.
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We can I think agree that the NCWW mission (in my experience and practise, not in examining the NCWW statements) aligns pretty well with BCW!

BCW is having an open house on October 5th from 11-3 at their workshop. It would be great to see NCWW folks there - for shop tours, skills demoes, raffles, food, vendors etc. Drop by to see the place and catch the vibe!
1912 E Pettigrew St, Durham NC 27704

 

[Bullcitywoodshop]

Thanks for the boost!!! Excited to see everyone there!

 

[Bullcitywoodshop]

I hate to say this, but we are not currently ADA accessible. This is in our plans to improve on our building in the near future!

 

[tvrgeek]

I learned by doing at least twice. Then I got onto several forums, got great advice from members, found the few You-Tubes that are safe and helpful, and then practiced a lot. Of course, we learn every day so the title is a bit presumptive as we never fully learn woodworking. Maybe it can be "how did you start learning?"

 

[Henry W]

I learned by doing at least twice. Then I got onto several forums, got great advice from members, found the few You-Tubes that are safe and helpful, and then practiced a lot. Of course, we learn every day so the title is a bit presumptive as we never fully learn woodworking. Maybe it can be "how did you start learning?"

"...doing at least twice, ... practised a lot...., never fully learn woodowrking..."
Couldn't agree more.

 

[Berta]

Painting wooden shapes was a ‘thing’ in the ‘80’s. I wanted to cut my own shapes. I bought a jigsaw and sandpaper. I wanted lawn furniture, I bought a WOOD magazine with how to make lawn furniture, and a tablesaw. And on and on. I have many magazines and many books on how to make things. I have tables and chairs, shelves… I remodeled my bathroom, I built my own cabinets. It’s not perfect, but I did it.
Start small, get detailed instructions. Expect things to not be perfect.

 

[Henry W]

Painting wooden shapes was a ‘thing’ in the ‘80’s. I wanted to cut my own shapes. I bought a jigsaw and sandpaper. I wanted lawn furniture, I bought a WOOD magazine with how to make lawn furniture, and a tablesaw. And on and on. I have many magazines and many books on how to make things. I have tables and chairs, shelves… I remodeled my bathroom, I built my own cabinets. It’s not perfect, but I did it.
Start small, get detailed instructions. Expect things to not be perfect.

Yes WOOD mag was a starter for me too. I believe I saw the first issue in my local library and then subscribed for years.

But that expectation of 'not perfect'? RIGHT - never made something approaching perfect, but I am getting better at this craft (I think).

 

[Rwe2156]

My path started with subscriptions to Woodsmith and Fine Woodworking. I learned to do dovetails from Frank Kauzs on a VHS tape in the mid 80’s.

I started out with a horribly poor quality table saw and band saw. My hand tools were mediocre at best. I struggled with inferior tools for several years until I decided I was dedicated enough to the craft to start buying better.

No question the internet is paramount. Forums, YouTube. Especially the FWW video archive. I think it’s a must for any beginner. What you will learn just watching a master build a project is priceless.

All that said, I’m entirely self taught and 75% of what I know comes from personal experience, trial and error, and plain old practice.

 

[Echd]

I needed some furniture in my basement, so I made some Anna White farmhouse furniture. For the most part, it came out well, especially the console table. Over the years I learned quite a bit about wood movement as a result of those pieces, but they served their purpose... and for a bunch of pieces of glued and screwed construction lumber they didn't look bad.

So after doing a very encouragingly functional that with a kreg jig, Hitachi table saw, and an assortment of harbor freight sanders, I decided to spend tens of thousands of dollars on more tools and tooling for all sorts of niche and ersatz things, and I still know nothing. But I've got a lot of cool toys!

 

[Mike Davis]

I worked for a small sign shop starting around 1974, we made a lot of sign frames, cutout letters, custom displays, and odd jobs besides the thousands of hand lettered signs on anything that would stand still long enough. Then several other craft and furniture businesses. Finally got serious about woodworking when we went toy shopping for our youngsters. We hated the cheap plastic toys and couldn’t afford the really nice European hardwood toys. So, we started making almost all of our gifts for the kids and other family members.

 

[Jim M.]

I was blessed to live a short bike ride away from my grandparents as well as my aunt and uncle. My grandfather was a telephone man by trade and a woodworker as a hobby. There was nothing he couldn't fix or create, he taught me everything. My father was career Marine so when deployed, my grandfather was my everything. Dad gave me the skills to hunt, fish and how to be a man, my uncle taught me farming and my grandfather taught me patients, critical thinking and how to work with my hands. I couldn't have had a better childhood.

 

[JNCarr]

Woodworking is a lot like medicine/doctoring - you don't do it, you practice it.

 

[cyclopentadiene]

My journey started with woodturning classes taught by Jim & Bill Wallace. After taking their classes about a year, I registered for a class to build a Maloof Rocker. I was not qualified for this undertaking as one of my first furniture piece but Michael (Shamrock) and Jeremy were patient classmates and they taught me a lot along with our teacher John. A Maloof rocker as my first major project gave me the confidence to design and build anything I could imagine.
My thought is the best way to learn is to just jump in and take on projects beyond your skill level. Sometimes you make great firewood but you learn from the mistakes and as others indicate, practice improves your skills.

 

[bob vaughan]

My thought is the best way to learn is to just jump in and take on projects beyond your skill level. Sometimes you make great firewood but you learn from the mistakes and as others indicate, practice improves your skills.

This pretty much says it all.
There's better woodworking information out there today than there ever has been.

 

[Canuck]

What I don't believe I have seen it mentioned too much here. But, having a gifted and great woodworking mentor also goes a long way to improving ones skills.

For me. I had the perfect mentor; NCWW's Joe Scharle. RIP Joe. He could do things through his mastery of creating jigs to support his tools that made the close to impossible to truly easy and admirable.

I also got more more serious in pursuing woodworking after retirement. Having four daughters with new homes and families (including 9 grandchildren) has kept me busy. Poring through books, magazines, YouTube videos and advice here has continued t inspire me.