how did you learn to woodwork?

[Bob Riefer]

proposed format for answers:
I'm XYZ level of skill at woodworking
I generally work on ABC types of projects
My shop is (describe it)
I hope to do blah blah in the future
And I learned what I know so far <insert story>


Or something like this.

[Bill Huber]

proposed format for answers:
I'm XYZ level of skill at woodworking
I generally work on ABC types of projects
My shop is (describe it)
I hope to do blah blah in the future
And I learned what I know so far <insert story>


Or something like this.

Well Bob I will give you my answers.

I am still a beginner only been doing woodworking for about 2 or 3 yours.

I normally just make things for the house and the grand kids. I did make a bunch of cutting boards when I started out and sold them.

My shop is little, 12x16 but it is fun to work in for one man.
http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/image/111944699

I want to start working on some furniture in the future, real nice stuff not the plan things I have been making.

The stuff I know I have picked up by doing it, reading books and magazines. Then there is this forum, it has taught me a whole lot and still does.

[Brendan Plavis]

I am a Novice...by far compared to some of these folks.. although I know my way around a shop...

I generally work on anything I need... and dont want particle board crap...

My shop is very small... my only stationary tool that I have is a Band Saw(I have access to a table saw, but, it doesnt cut true, has no guard, and when I get the money, will upgrade to something more useful)

I hope to eventually make a profit...

I have learned most of my skills on my own, although my grandfathers aided(one is an Ex-Submariner, and the other an engineer(civil, although he tested PT boats for the military during Vietnam.) I am generally crafty in how I do things... often will stage an elaborate system of ropes to hoist things into the air that I want to stain/sand.. which I learned on my own...

Started when I was about 5(first projects were using a drill press and a spade bit to make candle stick holders out of logs with my grandfather) and at about 6 I built my first work bench out of some scrap ply. By 10 I had built a picknic table with my grandfather...(he had to cut/dado them on a RAS, which scares me half to death, so I didnt do alot of the cutting...)

Unfortunately since I am only 15, I find that people are always sticking stuff in my workshop/garage... so its constantly a war...

[Eiji Fuller]

I guess the categories are

novice
intermediate
expert
master

I have been woodworking professionally for about 3 1/2 years before that I was a finish carpentry contractor.

Entirely self taught. I find woodworking to be very natural.

I would put myself between intermediate and expert and hope to become a master some day.

I generally work on custom woodworking of doors, stairs, and furniture of my design(I have a contemporary modern design asthetic). I often fill in with cabinet work (not woodworking more like plywoodworking) finish and general carpentry.

My shop is a little over 1000 square ft suite in an industrial building.

I hope to be able to continue woodworking as a living but its tough to make ends meet. I would like to continue to gain in skill in both woodworking and design. I would love to be able to build furniture exclusively and have a long wait list.

[Jim Rimmer]

My Grandfather and Father were carpenters but not woodworkers (or cabinet makers). I took industrial arts in college with a specialty in drafting but really enjoyed the woodworking.

I have made a maple hutch, pecan desk, walnut cedar chest, blanket chest, folding high chairs, and lots of small projects. I got out of serious woodworking for several years while my kids were growing up and have gotten started again the last couple of years and still love it.

Right now I am into boxes and have made a few out of scrounged wood just to practice my skills. I want to make furniture and would love to sell some but my practical side tells me that I won't make a living at it, probably won't even break even. Problem is if I made everything I want to try my house would oveflow.

But, I love the smell of sawdust and BLO.

[Cary Falk]

I'm XYZ level of skill at woodworking
Somewhere between beginner and expert. I have built stuff for money, but mostly a hobbiest.
I generally work on ABC types of projects
Anything that comes up. I build furniture, made a guitar,remodeling type of work, etc..
My shop is
I store my tools in 1/3 of a 3 car garage. When I work the car come out. When I am done the cars go back in.

I hope to do blah blah in the future
I hope to retire someday on some land where I can have a dedicated shop.

And I learned what I know so far
I grew up swinging a hammer. My dabbled in it. I work for my uncle in HS and college who is a woodworker. I took shop classes in HS. I read some, but I have learned the most doing stuff myself.

[Bob Riefer]

Really great answers so far guys, thanks for participating. As you may know, I'm in total newbie stage and trying to set myself on the right course to pickup skills. I seem to constantly meet people that are (at least from their own descriptions) expert woodowrkers. And I'm always surprised by that. That's what got me to thinking about this in the first place. Would love to see some more answers.


edit, and I guess it's only proper for me to post my answers too:

I'm completely novice level with woodworking

So far, I have only done construction work (and lots of it). I built one table during a course that I took.

My shop is the two story barn in my signature. Although, we're selling our house, so this one is up in the air right now. I have a nice cabinet table saw, and plan to start with that and a hand held plunge router as my staples for early work.

I hope to equip our house with all the furniture we need as practice. I'm interested in simple lines and functionality, so I think that will shape what I build. I would love to sell pieces at some point, and if I can develop into a career, we'll cross that bridge as needed.

And I learned what I know so far by taking a week long woodworking course with Jeffry Lohr. And by reading and doing construction work.

[John Coloccia]

Skill Level:
Typical Project:
My Shop:
Future Plans:
How did I learn/get started:

...if anyone is interested in a template


Skill Level: intermediate

Typical Project: I enjoy building guitars but am starting to move into furniture as well

My Shop: I have to say that I'm probably spoiled as far as a home shop goes. SawStop, Cleavue, 12" Jointer/Planer, 19" Bandsaw, 22" drum sander, small mini-lathe, a nice bench, and a bunch of hand tools. It sits in my "garage", which is no longer a garage. We knocked down the doors, insulated and re-drywalled, brought in heating/cooling/humidity control, etc. It's a full fledged shop now, and my little hideaway.

Future Plans: Nothing too dramatic. We decided we really really like the Morris chair after trying one at my friend's house, so I'll probably build one of those next month.

How did I learn/get started: Easy. I botched up a lot of wood! I didn't have a mentor or any formal training so I just had to do a lot of reading and figure it all out. I wish SMC was around 20 years ago!

[David Nelson1]

Skill Level: -2. I'm less than a wog. (Navy term for someone that hasn't been over the equator on a ship)
Typical Project: Currently I'm working on in-feed and out-feed tables for the T/S and a crosscut sled. Only projects I have completed is an adjustable saw horse for the cross cut sled and 5 foot screw together work bench.
My Shop: 16X34 block construction detached shop. No insulation or drywall the eaves are open and the place is very much like a large shed.
Future Plans: For the past five year I have been reading and drawing plans to renovate the house to include building the cabinets for the kitchen and bathroom.
How did I learn/get started: I'm still learning, I'm just thankful that I have to ability to read and apply the knowledge. This how I have taught myself most things in life. Do it till ya get it right. The one thing that I have learned is that "close enough" still pertains to horse shoes, hand grenades and atom bombs, it has no place in fine wood working. I thought I would be moving from a close tolerance environment in the machine trade to something a bit more forgiving. Not !!!! It's OK though, I like challenges.

[John Thompson]

Advanced 39 year hobbiest..

I mainly design and build A & C.. art noveau.. country.. etc. at this point.

My shop is around 1200 sq. ft. in a 24 x 35 garage under one end of the house (no cars will ever see it) and the same size 1/2 basement in the rear with poured concrete walls. I have use of full 800 square feet of the forward and about 400 sq. ft. of the rear.

I do solid wood.. large carcass work now.. then and intend to in the future.

I took HS shop in 1963-64 and got started building furniture in 1972 3 yrs. after returning from VN. Mostly trial and error then as there were few books.. no magazines and definitely no inter-net. Highland Hardware came along in the late 70's in Atlanta and FWW mag came out. Seminars at Highland and a little course from Ian Kirby when he had a school about 15 miles up the road from me local. Still learning as there are areas I am not proficient at as in-lay.. carving.. curved lamination.. etc.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I'm an intermediate to doofus hobbyist, depending upon which mistake I repeated last.

I became interested in wood working in High school, which was about 37 years ago.

My Father in Law (John) is a retired English cabinet maker with trade certifications, apparently in England after the war, cabinet making was actually a regulated trade.

John has been most helpful with instruction, generally after the fact such as " what exactly were you thinking when you made that like ABC instead of like ACB?"

Oh well, expert instruction is still expert instruction, and his knowledge of wood species and joinery is encyclopedic.

I live in a townhouse in Canada's largest city, so my shop is small, about 16' X 12'.

Dust collection is key, and I've had an Oneida cyclone for over 8 years now, and the shop and house are really clean. The key is to capture as much as possible at the source, which requires lots of airflow and overarm collection on the saw.

I've replaced my cabinet saw, jointer, planer and shaper with a Hammer A3-31 jointer/Planer and a Hammer B3 Winner saw/shaper. Couldn't be happier, I have much more shop room and far more capable machines than the General stuff they replaced.

Most of my furniture projects are Arts and Crafts style, with some Shaker and modern stuff thrown in.

This weeks project is some obsolete exterior moldings for my Moms house, that will keep the shaper occupied for a bit.

Regards, Rod.

P.S. Actually the project in the shop this month is my daughter's desk. She is out of school for the summer and has re-started work on the oak desk she's making. It's an Arts and Crafts style, large square legs, plain stretchers and a plain 1" thick top.

Michelle will be dyeing it black to match her furniture from that famed Swede, Herr IKEA.

[Greg Carr]

I am somewhere between a novice to intermediate level woodworker.

I primarily build small furniture projects and do furniture repair.

I work out a 2 car garage that is also used for storage and has a freezer, refrigerator, washer and dryer sharing space.

I hope to start a kitchen remodel project soon, build a home office wall unit and an entertainment center.

I got started woodworking when we wanted to buy a large unfinished toy box many years ago. Being young, broke and just starting a family it was out of our budget so I decided to build one. I built one using frame and panel construction. I purchased dimensional popular at the local home center. I used 1/4" plywood for the panels. I had a drill and a jigsaw, borrowed a circular saw and bought a cheap doweling jig. It turned out great.

[Rick Markham]

Skill Level: Intermediate, (working hard for expert, want to be a master one day but doubt I would ever consider myself a master, too much to learn in one lifetime)

Typical Project: I generally build furniture (Retro 50's Art Deco style, whatever seeps out of my brain and passions at the time), been building boxes right now and loving it. Right now I am working on getting my shop set up for what I want, so it has been a whole lot of building jigs/ working on a whole shop dust collector etc. (tiresome, since there is no artistic influence in those things, at least not in mine LOL)

My Shop: Very small (Y'all are gonna chuckle at this) it's L shaped, the main part is 7.5ft wide x 25ft Long, with a 8'x7' little leg added on. (roughly 243.5 sq.ft!) Not much space! But I love every square inch of it! It has really forced me to be creative about my space usuage, and organized. I have a Sojobergs bench, a Floor drill press, a hybrid Table saw with router wing, a Lunch box planer, and a Laguna Lt16 3000 band saw (my baby) I have a space saved for a lathe, not enough cash right now

Future Plans: To keep learning this art form, I desperately want to expand my creativity into turning. Hopefully soon I will get a nice lathe. I would love to have a bigger shop, but mine works really really well for what I do in it. It actually is a very efficient workspace for me, the shape actually lends itself to the small size. (a mobile table saw, in the middle of the L turn is a must though ) Maybe one day when I buy another house, or build a dedicated shop in my backyard that dream will come true. Until then I have to love my little space. I want to expand my furniture to include some Krenov influenced work, that is my goal right now. I have a couple projects lined up that are Krenov inspired.

How did I learn/get started: I am entirely self taught, I have been woodworking off and on for 8 years, I have become exceptionally focused in the last year. I am lucky... God has given me a gift for this, and though it is unpolished right now, I am working hard to hone my skills. It's hard for me to consider myself truly "self taught" since I found this forum, y'all have helped me tremendously with my current learning curve. Something I am eternally grateful for, Y'all through your experiences/experience have taken my knowledge to an exponential level... I am an addict (and a sponge) for knowledge right now. One of my future goals is to take some fine woodworking classes! I want some expert instruction.

[Keith Christopher]

I'm XYZ level of skill at woodworking: I guess you could say professional since people pay me for my work.

I generally work on ABC types of projects: All special request projects, but get requests for ALOT of mirror frames. It's really kinda weird.

My shop is (describe it): always going to be too small no matter how much space I have.

I hope to do blah blah in the future: More veneer work.

And I learned what I know so far: Initially from years helping my grandfather in his shop, I learned the use of hand tools and the importance of them in making something (just right). He had me do this before I could ever use a power tool that performed the same function. Then later it came from me reading/trying and of course the fine folks here with their advice and examples.

[Cody Colston]

I'm an intermediate woodworker...been attempting to learn the craft for about 10 years now and hope to achieve expert status before I start pushing up daisies. Although I sell a piece now and then to supplement my tool budget I'm still an amateur and work full-time in a non-woodworking job.

I build whatever suits my fancy in whatever style interests me at the moment. I also like to turn, specifically faceplate turnings and sorta switch back and forth between that and flat work.

My shop is a 600 SF dedicated building and I have most of the important tools, both power and hand operated. I prefer separate, stand-alone machinery to multi-purpose tools. I just like the convenience of not having to change set-ups any more than is necessary.

I'm self-taught, learning what I know from magazines, TV shows, the internet and trial & error. The learning is perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the hobby for me.