Originally Posted by
Steve Hsu
My house is decently furnished at this point but I am missing 2 coffee tables and 2 side tables mainly because we can't really find what we both loved at first sight. I am a 37 years old middle class that works hard and continues to improve my daily life. After browsing around big box store like Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, or Restoration Hardware, it's really not the fact that I can't afford the furniture from there but it's more of the fact that I can't bring myself to pay what they want being in the factory side of things. Purchasing is my job and I deal and visit factories overseas on a monthly or yearly basis. It really ruined me in a few ways lol
I am not looking to start building a coffee table that's elaborate. In fact, I can live with a plywood tabletop and 4 legs. i think the important thing to me is that, it's something that's made by me and it can be improved and will be improved as I improve.
Kudos to you Steve and Welcome! While it is not always true that we can make furniture for less than we can buy it, we can certainly make much better furniture than many of us can afford. It is good that you are open to replacing things as you go. Many of my early pieces had to be wrestled from SWMBO's hands to be fed to the scrap pile. Parts of those now live on as secondary woods in the pieces that replaced them.
We all learn at a different pace and all start with different natural abilities. I recommend diving head long into online resources such as Fine Woodworking, Woodsmith and Wood magazines, joining or at least visiting wood working groups in your area like Steve Jenkins mentions. I read and re-read articles and watch and re-watch demonstrations of methods and processes. Then I practice them.
Although many folks have reached the point where they have built their last workbench, I think I have a couple more versions ahead of me and I'm in my 60's. Build something that will work well for you now, learn from its use what things about it you would keep, add and leave behind. For example, all my benches have had front and tail vises and all have had round dog holes. Those features have proven their worth to me and follow from bench to bench.
You are at an exciting phase of this craft. I wish you much enjoyment and look forward to having you progress along with the rest of us.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler