How old are you and are you passing on a woodworking legacy?

[Phillip Gregory]

Dang, I haven't had this much abuse sense the 5th grade Spelling Bee.

I thought you would laugh at the reference...

[Martin Wasner]

Martin, My consulting is more on the technical side of processes, machinery, methods and hardware for door and window work.

The long hours and too many hats is something most of us in the business have had to contend with. No easy answers but for me when I honestly faced up to what I could produce with my machinery and crew and stuck to that schedule things got easier. This means you have to turn away some work and that is not easy.

Thanks for responding Joe. I've made some serious leaps in methodology the last few years for making the shop productive through tooling and equipment. The product I build, is what I build, there isn't much that I'm willing to change on that other than manipulating how it goes together through machining, that all require a cnc, which is in the plan.

It's just been killing me. We've been down for 15 days between moving and getting set up in the new shop. We were about a week ahead when we pulled the plug to move, but things are stacking up quickly. Saying no is tough, no two ways about it. Impossible when it means potentially losing an account.

I'm just cranky from the last six months, my average week has been about eighty hours. Woodworking is a tough biz. The only thing worse than not having work is having it, because it's always too much when you do have it, it seems.

[Rick Malakoff]

Hi All,
I'm 72 1/2 today, none of my children are interested in wood working nor are my sons in laws but just about every weekend I visit the local swap meet and look for old tools. I figure that it serves many purposes, I get out and spend two hours shambling around and I buy planes for less than the price of a replacement irons, there also braces and bits, Yankee push drivers in all sizes and quite a few egg beaters all for cheep. Not to mention hand saws and back saws.
I clean them up but do not refurbish them, clean meaning no rust but sharped and usable and they do get used.

My kids and grand kids know what I do and know that there will always be a market for what I have accumulated, so yes they will be able to keep or sell "The Antiques" because in the future not everyone can afford a 300$ plane or saw.

The other thing is I know that what I find will be going to a good home!

Rick

[Bradley Gray]

Longest thread I've seen here. I'm 64 and have 2 grown daughters. Both learned hand tool woodworking when young. One is a scientist.(coolest job title ever) One is a video producer for HGTV and does make use of what she learned working wood.

I have launched 4 apprentices who still work in the trades - I enjoy working alone too much these days to take on another.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Cary, tell them, once they retire there will be no free time.

[Joel Cress]

Like Darcy's story, I showed little interest in woodworking. My dad is an excellent woodworker, and his high level of skill is quite daunting. I have always been too busy to really invest the time to develop woodworking skills, and am not sure I have the patience to match his quality of work.

However, since Mom died a few years back, I am finding in my mid-50's that woodworking is a great way to bond with my father. I am finishing up the construction of my own workshop, and am getting much advice from him on everything from dust collection to sharpening tips. Now that my daughter is grown (she has no interest in the craft at all at this time), I have more time to devote to the workshop.

I am not sure that the woodworking legacy is dying quite yet; I am convinced that many are starting later in life, after they settle down. One day, I believe most youngsters will realize that fancy coloring books are about as fruitless a hobby as Facebook advances social graces. They will be seeking to create things of far more lasting value.

[Chris Fournier]

Legacy? I built a wood shop to work wood because it turned me on. When I'm too old to do it any more or just not interested I'll sell it all to whoever shows up at my price. I've helped several folks build their benches so that they could work wood. But I'm not sure that this is the stuff of legacy, more likely just decency.

[David Turner]

I'm 73 1/2 and learned most of my woodworking knowledge from a 84 year old. I would love to pass along what I have learned in the 55 years I have been building period furniture but the younger generation doesn't seem to be interested in reproducing the "old" stuff/furniture. I have had luck getting my son-in-law interested and he is building some Arts & Crafts style work. He has become a good lathe turner and is putting out some great bowls. Most of the guys I talk with are concerned about the lack of younger participation but have no knowledge of how to get them involved. I am a member of the SAPFM and have posted on their website in an attempt to get meetings together to share the knowledge but to date no one has responded or seem interested.

David Turner
Raleigh, NC

[Yonak Hawkins]

Dang, I haven't had this much abuse sense the 5th grade Spelling Bee.

Excellent intentional, strategic, stick-it-to-him misspelling of "since". Well played, sir.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Great thread!

I'm 58 with 2 sons in college. Early on, they spent little time in the shop with me, as 'the shop' was at my father's and the available hours past their bedtime. My own interest came from my father, but in an equally circuitous route as his.

As a teenager, he learned some basics from a neighbor on Cape Breton Island in a water-powered mill. He left it all for a career at the stick of a USAF single-seat fighter. Then a wife, kids, and a house that needed furniture brought him back to WW'ing in his late 30s. Like many here have implied, I think needs and limited funds mesh nicely with "I can do that" attitudes, so he built what we needed. At 90, he can WW, weld, is a decent stone mason, plumber, electrician, and has overhauled about 5 houses along the way - but now limits himself to small lathe work.

My WW'ing road has been similar. My earliest memories are of playing in dad's sawdust pile. But as a young man, I had little time, interest, or access to tools. Up popped my family and an empty house, coupled with sticker shock for expensive new cheap furniture (I knew good drawers didn't use hot-melt & staples) and I was pushed to my dad's shop. ( "I can do that. Maybe?") I was lucky that my dad had moved nearby, and was still here to pass on what he knew. One day he called and told me he was moving my mom to a senior's apartment, and to come get his tools if I wanted them. It's all in my shop today and my signature line is an acknowledgement of my dad's legacy.

...Perhaps my sons will find themselves on a similar road one day?

[JohnM Martin]

32 here and just starting in the craft - learning a lot from the wisdom that collects here.

My oldest just turned 5 - too young to really get the bug yet.

[Rick Potter]

WARNING, and apology. Keyboard diarrhea. I didn't intend to write a novel, it just happened.


Late to the party as usual. I will be 75 in October. I was a fireman for 33 years, where we had to know enough about a lot of things to keep from being hurt badly. My father had a small table saw he bought in 1946(?) with some of his parting pay from the Navy. He built various things for around the house, including an addition on the house. Never anything for fun, except a few wooden toys for my brother and me.

When I started on the job in 1964, most firemen were from the trades. We used to trade time and help coworkers build additions, lay cement, re-roof, etc. I learned a lot from them. They still do it now, but to a much lesser extent, as the recent guys come from different backgrounds now. At 23 or so, I bought my second house, which needed everything. It was completely trashed by the previous tenants, and I got it in 1966 for $13K. I went out and bought some well used tools in a package deal. Got a bench, Atlas 8" TS, Sears 12" BS, and a Monkey Wards RAS for a total of $125.

I redid the whole house, which took me almost 4 years. Then, with help from coworkers, we added a new family room, sidewalks, driveway and roof. After a few more years, we moved to a brand new home, where we lived 32 years, and did a comprehensive addition and added a carport and 750 sq. ft. shop, with upstairs play room. Up to this point you will note no mention of 'woodworking'. I have always had hot rods, dune buggies, sports cars, but no interest in WW as a hobby or job.

When I was maybe 45, I helped my dad build his workshop. He was about 70. He talked me into doing some woodworking. He wanted to sell small craft type items at swap meets (no hobby). We both went to a demonstration of Shopsmiths, and both bought one. This is one of the things that caused me to build the above shop at my house. I made gifts like rocking horses, and cradles for the grandbabys that came along, but my woodworking was mostly for our needs. I built a complete kitchen with a bench top router table, and a Unisaw, which I bought with the savings from building the kitchen. Raised panel oak etc. Tried to let the kids do some projects, but never got beyond simple band saw stuff. No interest.

Fast forward to 2002. Dad fell and hurt his hips, mom had alzheimers, I recently retired and was 60. They had to go into a home, which was very expensive. Fortunately they had worked hard and had eight rental homes. Unfortunately, dad had let them get run down, and they were in need of a lot of work. Not slumlord stuff, just not up to snuff. I spent 2 1/2 years working full time redoing them all plus the house my parents lived in. We got them newly rented, one at at time for higher rent, and finally could pay the $7500 per month the rest home cost. In 2005 they were both gone. By then I was pretty experienced at flipping homes. If I was younger, I would have gone into it.

In 2006, we decided to move into Mom and Dad's old house. This became a round robin deal where first, we had to move into our travel trailer and parked in the driveway of our oldest daughter. This allowed the younger daughter to sell her house to us and move into our old house (her childhood home). Next, we had to go through her house, and get it ready to rent to the people living in my parents house. Then when they moved, we had to clean up my parents house, so we could move in. Shortly after, the first daughter gets a divorce and moves into our (my parents old) house with us, and my son's family takes over payments on the first daughters house and moves in there.

So, here we are with shower curtains around the first daughters room (nee living room), her two daughters in the bedrooms, and us starting another remodeling project. We added a granny flat (1100') onto the house for when we are to old to climb the stairs. When it was finished, the daughter moved into it. We also added a 1600' shop out in the back yard for me. I have filled it with more tools than it will hold, and have tried to get my 7 grandkids interested, but they never progressed beyond simple summer camp style stuff. (Notice how I finally got back on point here?)

I have tried to teach woodworking to a friend at church also. He just turned 65, and we have made some box joint storage boxes, and the like, but he has good days and bad from a series of strokes. I doubt he will be able to do more than small projects. We are trying to figure out a small shop for his garage, but it is slow going.

My son is very handy, and can do anything he puts his mind to. He is into mechanical stuff, not wood. Running his own trucking business and flying are his biggest things right now. The grandkids now vary from 15 to 29 years old, so I don't expect much change from them.

As for fine woodworking? I still dream about it, but I am 12 years into the remodel here, and three years into the 68 drawer kitchen (almost done though). I guess I will always be just a DIY guy.


PS: For anyone getting to this point and wondering what happened to my dad's shop...it is still here and has my old cars in it.

PPS: What will happen to my new shop when I keel over? Well, the plan is for the first daughter to get this house. She threatens to make it into a skating rink.

[Mel Fulks]

Thanks for taking the time,Rick. I'm sure the help you are giving to the friend who suffered the stroke will take hold and encourage others. You will find the right project to inspire some zeal.

[Jon Grider]

Looks like this thread struck a chord!Thanks to all who have and have yet to reply, some fascinating reading here. Now will someone tell me what the gold stars signify on the main page?

[Vince Rosypal]

Looks like this thread struck a chord!Thanks to all who have and have yet to reply, some fascinating reading here. Now will someone tell me what the gold stars signify on the main page?

Stars are the thread rating.... rating can be applied at the top of the thread