Is woodworking gaining or losing popularity?

[Art Mann]

Actually if it's declining in popular that's a good thing for us cause tools will fall in price.

I think it is a very bad thing. A smaller population of buyers will only reduce the selection and availability of equipment. Retailers are already having a hard time staying afloat. Woodworking stores go out of business at a much higher rate than new ones open. If they can't sell higher quantities, then the only way they can make a profit is to raise prices. Going out of business generally follows. Look at the Steel City manufacturer. They just closed their doors forever. If there were enough customers, they might have stayed alive.

[Lee Ludden]

When I was at the Woodworking in America show in California two years ago, I was surprised at how many people in the 25-35 age group where there, and how many of those were in IT related fields. Of the 20-30 people I chatted with, more than half were programmers or network engineers. There are a lot more DIY type people, some of whom will migrate into woodworking as they get more experienced.

[Mike Cutler]

TBH you're saying nothing new to when I was your age... The only exception is there were shop classes with heaps of guys wanting in to them, but when we all graduated we stopped the hobby. Wait till you hit your late teens/early 20s and see if you are still making things with any real passion. Maybe you will but you'll be one of a very few. I guess it comes down to which would you rather do. Go hang out at the lake or ocean with some nice minimally dressed girls and a few mates on a hot summer day enjoying a few wobbly pops, or make shavings in your parents hot garage on your own.

Brian

Eventually you catch one of those minimally dressed girls.
A person may not stay active in the hobby their whole life, but if the concepts and techniques are acquired at an early, they return. Other than necessary house repairs, I probably took a 20 year hiatus from the "hobby", but the lessons came back pretty fast once I started doing more than repairing decks and siding and such.


My SIL told her daughter one Christmas ; "You either have to marry someone rich, or really handy like your dad or Uncle Mike".

[David Ragan]

My opinion is-I don't know
when I'm making something and screw up-I think....well in 50 years when someone looks at this sometimes obvious mistake- they'll say "wow-,somebody made this by hand "
I really don't know much about it, but I think in 50 years, clothing and food will be printed (clothes to be worn once-no washing-too much water wasted) Kids will say "Wait a minute-you're telling me folks used to spray a gazillion gallons of water out in the open onto the ground and harvest cotton and food-how archaic and totally wasteful was that"

[Moses Yoder]

I think the supply of woodworkers will always adjust to fit the demand. You can tell what the demand is by checking the TV schedule. I think a show called "The Walking Dead" was the top rated show for this season, hence the demand for woodwork is very low. Woodwork is timeless; people who want to be trendy have no interest in it, other than getting the right temporary style and painting it to match their decor.

[Rod Sheridan]

Do you think woodworking is gaining or losing popularity these days?

I'm afraid that it's losing popularity, and more of a thing from a day long ago rather than a thing today. I think younger people are more into video games and flying drones than trying to create wood furniture or other things from wood.

Curious for your thoughts on the subject.

I believe woodworking is declining in population for 2 reasons

- employment, in Canada we've lost a majority of the lower skilled blue collar jobs that paid good money, such as assembly line work. Obviously skilled blue collar trades are doing well. This loss of disposable income has hurt all hobbies, including my other one, motorcycles.

- living y, most younger people are priced out of the housing market, in the city I live in, the average detached house hit one million dollars last year. Now that's Canadian, so only $12.89 American, however it has really removed homes, and workshops from the average buyer.

It's funny, I ride a BMW, am 57 years old and one rally I go to in the US every year has an interesting demographic, I'm exactly the median age, and it's keeping in step with my age every year. I think woodworking is like that, a lot of us grey haired guys participating, and getting older every year.

My youngest daughter is 28 years old, and still makes stuff, most recently her dining room table, she wants to make a bed next, using my shop of course. Most young people probably don't have that opportunity...........Regards, Rod.

[Jim Andrew]

I have one son who would do woodworking, if he had access to a shop, unfortunately he lives in California, and does not own a house, so can't do much. The local school has a very nice woodshop, they have a big widebelt sander. When I was in school, all they had was a radial arm saw, a jointer and a router. The handheld belt sander was shot. School shop there sucked!

[Jarad Medbery]

I guess this post was already talked out... but, being that demographic you are talking about (30s) I think I can shed some insight as to why my generation tends to shy away from woodworking.

A few factors involved here: How we grew up. I think this generation (the kids that grew up in the 70s and 80s) have an instant gratification complex. I think even when introduced to woodworking or any other tradesman type of work, they are daunted by the sheer amount of work, skills, and tools needed to get there. Someone mentioned that disposable mindset the younger generations have, same applies towards careers. Oh this will take me forever to learn, I will do something that will take me less time to learn and I can get paid more. Building on that disposable attitude most younger generations don't appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into good furniture. They just know they go down to Ikea and can get a desk for 50 bucks and it satisfies their instant need for a desk at a low cost. If you can't appreciate something why would you want to make it by hand yourself. When I went to highschool, I wasn't even offered woodshop or metalshop class. We had computer programming and drama. Well hey what do you know... I work with computers for a living now, and get dramatic over getting a Lie-neilson low angle jack plane to people who have no idea what I am talking about.

I have an interesting prediction when my generation gets to be your generations age, they will realize and appreciate the craftsmanship of fine furniture but there won't be very many people around to make it. It will become a very hot commodity, and probably become a lucrative career at that point. A lot of the tradesman industries have been exported out to India, China, and elsewhere at a much cheaper cost and soon most of the country won't have a clue how things are done. The one good thing about my generation is that it is lazy for the most part. Now this is a blessing in disguise really. CNC routers with computer programming (made by lazy people) We love to take things that would normally take hours, days, weeks to do and find a way to do it quickly, cheaply, and more effectively.

Personally myself, I am not sure if because I am crazy, or it just helps calm the nerves but hand tools, and working with wood just helps wash away problems and stress. I can't rightly say what brought me to appreciate and admire woodworking. I started out in my mid 20s one time down at the rec center and I saw these guys cutting up rocks with crystals inside(geodes). I was drawn in and started going down to hang out and play around. They were all in their 70s and 80s. Then I saw a woodshop class they had, I wanted to start going but I was going to get married soon and life was getting busy. I would like to blame another one of my generations great tools, the internet, for driving my interest in woodworking. I started reading up on it and getting more into it. Now here we are the handful of people to continue on the woodworking mallet.

[Matt Meiser]

I think there was a peak just before the recession. I know a number of people who got out of woodworking due to the recession--moves for jobs and sometimes moves to a different housing situation because of a lack of a job. More than 1 sold tools to pay bills. I also think there was a surge of us who are now 40 and 50-somethings who had good paying jobs and got into woodworking due to Norm. Ten years ago the club I was in the majority of the members were young professional guys. We all either had maybe 1 or 2 little kids or no kids. More kids started coming, kids got old enough to get busy, and people ran out of time and or money for the hobby. Some moved on to other interests and their shops are waiting for them to come back, others realized there's a lot of money sitting there idle and sold out. I moved for my kid to where I had a lot less space for me and it ended up being a good point to get out. One guy just moved on an overseas assignment and will be away from his shop for 3 years, though he kept all the major stuff and stored it, not that he had done anything in a while due to work, other interests and kids. Some will come back when the kids are gone, others won't.

[Roger Feeley]

Who cares whether it is popular? I do woodworking because I love it, not because other people like it.

Jamie, you are right, of course. But if many other people are doing it too, it's easier to find materials and tools.

I'm very fortunate to live in Kansas City where we have good resources. We have a great Woodcraft store run by knowledgeable people. We have several places to get wood (Metro Hardwoods, Schutte). And we have what I believe might be one of the best woodworker guilds in the country with a 10,000 square foot shop and meeting place. Up until this year, I belonged (getting ready to move from the area) and there are plenty of young people.

Charlie over at Woodcraft tells me that business is up.

[Keith Outten]

I believe that woodworking is on the rise as most of the Baby Boomers are now retired.
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[Matt Meiser]

There are definitely a lot more guys from that generation in the club now. Unfortunately not many have stepped up and helped lead, leaving just a couple guys doing all the planning. That's really cut back on extra activities like Saturday events.

[David Cramer]

Well put Mike and personally, I agree.

David

I'm 56 now and I got to tell ya', I like the kids that are entering the workforce lately. They're bright, want to learn, and seem to be willing to listen if you present a topic in a concise logical manner. I believe that they will gravitate to the "manual art forms", because they need to express the creativity that's been inhibited in them. The young girls today really want to explore their creativity.
They're somewhat hamstrung by their mechanical aptitude skill set, because they just haven't had an opportunity to develop it. Schools all across the country dropped programs like wood working, metal shop, auto shop, etc due to insurance liability. Even basic art classes were dropped due to budget problems. They haven't been given the chance to explore their own hands yet.
Once you explain concepts to them, they pick them up pretty quickly. They just have holes, but it's not entirely their fault. Just start at a very remedial level. They pick up quick. ( For those of us working in industrial environments, do them and yourself a favor. Teach them "soft to hard, hard to soft, and metal on metal hurts a fella." )
Wood working can be utilitarian, but it can also be a art form, and I think that younger people today are going to approach it more from the art form, than the utilitarian aspect.

I think it's just at a low point in a cycle now.