Originally Posted by
Darcy Forman
My dad was a woodworker and spent hours working in his shop. As a youngster I had no interest in what he was up to most of the time and I never bothered to learn anything from him either. I was young and always had something better to do. Then I left home and got busy with life and career for many years.
Now fast forward to today. I'm fourth six now. My dad passed away twelve years ago. After he died I took up the hobby, and I have been wood working now for ten years. I have had to learn everything from sites like this, reading fine woodworking magazine, and my mom. She is a woodworker herself, although more small scroll saw projects and the like. She doesn't tackle furniture like dad used to, and I do today. As one can imagine. I have regrets about not learning things from my dad, however I do find the hobby as a really great connection to his legacy. I have a few of his old tools as well that I use in my shop. When I am working in the shop it sometimes feels like he is not that far away.
I have two kids of my own. They come out to the shop often while I am working and even have me help with things they want to build. I have no idea how serious they are about the hobby, and I'm not fussed about that too much. They are young, and too young to commit to this type of hobby at this time. I guess what I'm saying is you never know what legacy you are passing on and it may happen long after you are done with the hobby. I bet my dad would have never guessed how into the hobby I got, especially given the little interest I showed in it while he was alive. I invested in tools he never had, but I'm sure he would have loved to operate.
So don't loose hope that what you do today won't continue to exist in your family even years down the road. Hope this different perspective helps.