So..What's your story?

[John Hart]

I run a Do-It-Myself blog that runs along side my craft website, and I thought that an interesting category would be "how I got started in woodworking". I expect there are a lot of interesting tales out there. I would love to hear from you and I'm sure everyone else would too..I think. If you prefer I don't use your story in my blog, just say so and I'll honor your wishes.


When I was stationed on the Aleutian Islands back in the early 80's, there was nothing to do because of the weather and the isolation. On the Navy base, they had all different types of activity centers to allow people to work on their hobbies. The woodshop was phenomenal with all the best equipment and it was usually empty. Since my grandfather was a woodworker, I figured that I might have a couple of stray genes and decided to give it a go. The people that ran the shop were great craftsmen and eager to help. They had a store room filled with every kind of wood you can think of and you just had to go in and pick out what you wanted. My first project was a maple and walnut chess board. As hard as the guys tried, they couldn't get me to have the patience to measure right, cut right, glue right. The result was a chess board that I had to cut several times to get square and belt sand forever to get flat. By the time I was done...it couldn't be a chess board. I got mad and cut it half on the table saw and threw it in the scrap bin. The next day, I went back and framed the two pieces in walnut and used them as doors for a dart cabinet. I still have that cabinet today. It is my reminder of those beginnings and I'll never throw it away again. Since then, I found a special love for making unique pieces of anything that strikes me at the time. My woodshop is the place I go to get away from technology and relieve the stress of the day. I have so much yet to learn and I learn something new every day.

It's dirty...but I found it

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Here's my first project, recently refinished. It was a Walnut and Ash plaque I made my father in 1970 in woodshop....the class that started it all in Odessa, Texas at Nimitz Jr High. I also made a Banak coffee table I also still have today.

Since that class I have been involved in woodworking in one form or another. I'll never forget the first time I saw all the woodworking machines in that class....one day I hope to have a shop that nice for myself.

[Dave Falkenstein]

I am a home-shop woodworker, and enjoy building furniture and cabinets, designing and installing storage systems, and building decks. Prefer Jet, Porter Cable, Dewalt, Festool and Bosch tools. I'm mostly self-taught. I'm fortunate that I can learn quickly from reading books and manuals. I can also read mechanical drawings/plans, as a result of my educational background in engineering. I took some wood shop classes in high school. Then, many years later, I took a woodworking class at a vocational arts school at night. That piqued my interest, and I started woodworking as a hobby about 25 years ago. I have been involved in the construction of a decent sized log cabin. Another "big" project was the major remodeling of a friend's home, involving the addition of several new rooms. I now do deck rebuilding and additions in the summer, and focus on shop woodworking and cabinetry in the winter months. I have done a lot of storage systems, including closets, garages and utility rooms. I like building furniture and cabinets, but find that "market" difficult because the projects are few and far between. Woodworking has become a hobby that generates enough pocket change to keep me in new tools. I think one of the more enjoyable aspects is collecting well-made tools. Festool is my latest addiction.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

My first exposure to woodworking was middle school shop class and then high school shop class. I made some nice things during those classes. However, they teach plywood construction, not fine woodworking.

Out of high school I didn't woodworking much at all. I would build a shelf here and there. I had a bandsaw and a scroll saw to cut out wood for my mom's crafts.

What got me started in woodworking is when we bought our house. Kelly and I wanted log furniture for the rec room, but I couldn't see paying those prices for something I could easily make. I made all but one peice of furniture that is in our rec room, including one of the shelves. I also made a bunch of peices for out bathroom. After I was done with that I bought a craftsman jobsite table saw and that started it all. My first "real" woodworking project was a cedar lined, cherry blanket chest. My current list of projects is about 20 long. Someday every peice of furniture in our house will be made by myself.

Currently I am working on re-outfitting my shop with higher quality tools. I hope to have all high quality, long lasting tools by the time I am 30 and my shop by the time I am 40.

[Mark Singer]

My grandfather was a crafstman trained in the Old World and came to Brooklyn, he bought old buildings and fixed them up. My father worked along with him and for many years as a kid...I helped., We were very poor and it was a struggle to get by when I was growing up...both my parents worked all their lives. I held the dumb end of the board while I watched and learned. My parents insisted that I get an education,to enjoy a better life, studing architecture bridged my love of building things , design and my parents insistence on school. After school, I went to work for a developer in Newport Beach for 3 years. I was designing and building large office and industrial projects...I learned a lot . We employed a highly skilled German finish carpenter and here I really learned the trade....I was interested and he was a good teacher. He was a master of stair building , door hanging and even rough framing. I began building furniture and built-ins for the home my wife and I bought. Soon I left and went on my own, designing and building homes and small buildings. In the first few homes, I tried to do it all! I layed the concrete foundation , the rough framing, installed the siding, shingled the roof, layed the floors and the tile, installed the windows, and hung the doors and built the cabinets, even the landscaping. I did not attempt plumbing or electrical. I learned a great deal from these challenging projects. This continued for many years until my architectural practice started to become more successful. Then I started just building furniture and woodwork for my own home. I have built 3 homes for my family over the years. It has been 30 years since I went on my own and I recently built all the doors and many cabinets in my present home along with almost all the furniture..... why?...I still love it!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

After getting out of the Navy in 1976, I got hired by a company and moved to Bend OR. My sole purpose in corporate life was to maintain a single CT scanner. My neighbor was a building contractor. One day I stopped by his construction site and began helping him and his crew put shiplap siding on a new house he was building. The next day he hired me to run the crew with the provision that if my pager went off...I was gone. I helped him build one house, remodel one house and build a playground. A year later when I got promoted to management and transferred to a suburb of Chicago, I bought a fixer-upper. I finished the basement. 4 1/2 years later when I transferred to Idaho, I began the usual gut and remodel on the kitchen 2 bathrooms and carport header. 4 years ago while recovering from a broken back, I designed an octagon gazebo for my wife and followed that by building my first piece of furniture. Since then and after joining SMC, I've been in the business of trying to build and finish my new shop. By the way.....I rent the sheetrock jack in about an hour and the ceiling goes up. This week I managed to get the plywood on the lower 8' of the walls. When the shop is finally finished, I've got a list of furniture to make for various family members.

[scott spencer]

Good idea John! My Dad got me started post-humously. Back when I had a speaker company I hired out the cabinet making and always admired their work and shops. Never really figured I could justify the cash outlay for a shop. In November 2000, my Dad gave up his 2 year battle with cancer and left his three kids a small insurance policy. The first $500 check I wrote from that account to cover the cost of brakes on the van really hit hard. I thought over what would be a better use of that money before we piddled it all away. I talked to my wife about getting some modest tools....the rest is happy history....just wish I had bought my second TS first!

My shop is about 1/3 of a 2 car garage and gets shared with 8 bikes, outdoor toys, garden tools, folding chairs, camping gear, sleds, snowblower, etc. I build maybe 3-6 projects a year.

It's just a hobby, but I know Dad would approve. Even though he wasn't a wwer, he was a tinkerer and was always trying to fix stuff. He'd approve of the shop where I can spend some free time. He'd approve of good tools that can be handed down to my kids. He'd approve of the heirlooms that are made from that shop, and he'd approve of the great time I'm having with his money!

[Ernie Hobbs]

My Dad is a self-taught furniture maker. When I was in the third grade, he began repairing antiques and building 18th century reproductions full-time. So, needless to say, it was a big part of my family life. There wasn't much else to do out there in the country so, my two brothers and I were recruited to work in the shop. Dad taught me basic skills and I helped out where I was able. Unfortunately, I didn't appreciate the opportunity I had in front of me so I didn't learn nearly what I should have. I really wasn't interested in learning any more than absolutely necessary. When I got old enough to drive, my jobs were not in the shop- grocery store, mowing grass, etc.

After I got married, my wife and I quickly bought a fixer-upper house. I began asking my Dad for advice/ help with the remodel project (he restored about a dozen pre-Civil War buildings when we were growing up). Also, I wanted furniture for my house. If I learned anything from my Dad, it was to appreciate quality furniture construction. I basically was ruined from liking anything in a store- it's all junk in comparison. "Real" furniture was much too expensive for my meager $23,000 a year job. So, the best option was to learn to build stuff myself.

I have managed to build a few things over the last ten years and have lately gotton much more serious about it. I moved halfway across the country to Alabama and had to get a shop of my own. Since then, I have focused on learning the skills to do things on my own and not constantly rely on my Dad for help. I'm sure my adventure in woodworking is just beginning.

I have attached a picture of the first piece of furniture that I remember making. It is a table that I made when I was 12 years old and still is in my house today.

[Michael Stafford]

A very interesting thread. I have enjoyed reading all the beginning stories.

My father was a big time do-it-yourselfer and contractor. He built our house and worked on it almost the whole time I lived there. He built a couple of houses a year.

We lived out in the country and when I wanted something I just built it from scraps of wood that my dad would bring home. Every winter when there was snow or ice I would take some 2X stock and build a new sled or something that resembled a sled.

Later on I became interested in sports and weightlifting. So I built benches and squat racks, incline benches and such as that.

I built a play house for my 3 little sisters. I would like to say I learned woodworking from my father, and in some respects I did, but he did not teach. He had me help him and what I learned I learned from watching.

In eighth grade shop my actual love for woodworking came into being. I learned how to turn a bowl or at least a piece of wood with depression in it. I also learned that I had an artistic side in that I made some decorative wall hangings from wood and gave them for Christmas presents. I also compound sawed a large block of fir into the shape of a bison/buffalo and entered it in an art contest and sold it. Big mistake, I wish I had that buffalo sculpture.

While I was in college I took on some woodworking jobs at the apartment complex we lived at and then at another when the word got out.

I made a table and four chairs for my wife as her wedding present. These are the only 4 chairs I have ever made and we still use that set every day as our kitchen set. I have made other pieces of small furniture over the years but mostly as gifts for family and friends. My son and new DIL have requested that I make some furniture for them so I will be returning to that once again.

When my son was born I started building wooden toys and selling them.

Being somewhat of an organization freak I started building boxes to store stuff in my shop. My wife decided I needed to build her some boxes and this led to jewelry boxes and other decorative boxes that are the mainstay of my hobby. My love of boxes turned full circle as I had a desire to make round boxes and I returned to the lathe and taught myself first to turn lidded flat grain containers and then end grain boxes. I have been fortunate that I have been able to sell a few things all along to pay for my hobby.

Woodworking has been something that I love to do. It is an integral and very important part of my life as I find it to be a very sensual experience turning a rather unpromising piece of rough sawn wood into something of use or beauty.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

My father and his brothers were carpenters. Back in those days one carpenter did it all, rough and finish carpentry. They took me along on the jobs pretty much as soon as I was able to understand directions and get out of the way when I was yelled at. I helped after school and on weekends well into high school. I was the one who carried the tools, fetched lunch, and as Mark said, "Held the dumb end of the board." That's a new phrase to me and I like the picture it brings to mind. As soon as I was old enough to actually use the tools, I stayed on the ground and cut the boards to marks my dad and uncles made for me. Pretty soon I was able to actually do the measuring and nailing. I really liked doing the work, but not the nature of the business. Work this month, but not next week. Didn't work when it rained, but worked when it was cold. I ended up going in a different direction, but the love of tools and creating stayed with me.

[Tyler Howell]

I'm not sure if I'm a WW or even like it. I love working with my hands, heart, and head. My favorite past time 25 years ago was working on my home. After 3 rehabs, 2 garages, toys, for the kids and helping lots of friends with projects, I'm trying to refine my skills.
I'm very frustrated right now with my work.
I hope by reading, watching and doing, I can "get comfortable in my own shop"
I love tools with the power and control they give me over my environment. I like the independence of making changes over the old and warn out. "Fixin stuff"
I like problem solving, and hope to rise to the level of my new tools.

[Donnie Raines]

My story: bought a house when I was young and needed to fix it up. I needed tools to do that. I bought the tools. Then we needed furniture....we could not afford the furniture...so bought some wood and made furniture(thats what I called it at the time any how). And the rest they say is history...

[John Hart]

Wow...thanks for all the replies so far! I will enter them in today. Also, you've spurred me to pull my "first project" from the bottom of the rubble of my life and take a picture of it. I kinda know where it is...at least the GPS coordinates...I just have to dig tonight.Look forward to reading more. It's nice to get to know everyone better.

Thanks

[Glenn Clabo]

When I was 5 my father bought a one room cottage out in the Massachusetts </ST1country. I still remember the first day that we went to look at it. He always was working on that house…added a bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom over the next few years. Although I thought it was mean at the time…and am VERY happy about it now because I was required to be there at every step of the way. At 12 years old and for .75 cents/hour I went to work for a man down the road as a helper for his old French cabinet maker. By the time I was 16 I had my own kitchen/finishing crew of 3. After I married at 19 I went through the GE apprentice course, to get a “steady” job as an all around machinist…and then a few years later the Navy grabbed my attention. I have always kept my hand in woodworking by remodeling 3 homes and 6 kitchens…building furniture, decks and cabinets for family and friends…and plan to make woodworking one of my main hobbies when I retire in the next few years.

[Keith Christopher]

My grandfather used to help his Dad in Ireland build ships. Large wooden sailing ones, which is where he picked up the love for working wood. When he moved to america he began building furniture and carpentry. When I was little I used to spend summers with my grandparents and I was always amazed watching my grandfather take all these straight , kinda patina'd boards, and build a desk or table or chairs. So I began helping him when I would be there. I used to hate it at first though, he would use the powertools but he wouldn't let me use a TS until I could cut long straights (mostly) square edges with a hand saw, hand chiseling out M&T until I got it right, and it goes on and on. FF> many years and I was looking at a piece of furniture in a museum and as I looked at it I said to myself, I bet my grandfather could have built that. and thought about it all day. Then I decided, I need to get some tools. So I did and I haven't looked back once. I love the smell of wood from milling, reminds me of all the times in my GrandFathers's shop. I love taking these flat boards and making something that with care, can last many lifetimes.