Female woodworkers

[Mickey Finn]

I don't personally think much of calling women "chicks". Sounds like preppy talk to me.

I prefer "women".

Umm.. well, OK...I know not of one woman in my life-sphere that objects to being called a "chick". Single, other man's wives, even the gay girls.
Who cares? Chickee... Chick-a Rumbus... Chick-Fil-A.. nothing preppy about it... (and I was there with the skinny tie and the tweed blazer back in the 80's, back in the day, so I know....)

Unless you're having High Tea with the Queen of England, "Chicks" is a term of endearment these days. Just sayin'... Your mileage may vary extremely, up to zero miles per gallon.

Never use a jigsaw when a table saw will do, right?

[Gary Keedwell]

In my day, even the broads called other broads, "broads"
GK

[Mickey Finn]

I like to call us men/women - but the most important term I like again is: just "us." As in "all of us," together, doing something fun or productive, or informative or supportive of each other - regardless of any specifier, i.e. gender, race, religion, doesn't matter. Sieze the wood, turn the wood, except I can't recall the Latin phrase for it, ha! Jude

"Seize the wood?"

I'll leave that alone.

[julie Graf]

"chick" is a casual term I'd use with my friends. I don't think many people are offended by it - I'm not, and so I used it for myself. It's kind of like calling a man a guy. Perhaps it's regional. maybe "gal" is more common?

man/woman, lady/gentleman are more formal.
guy/gal, dude/chick seem more casual.

i don't much like the term "broad" - possibly because i hear it most often with the word "dumb" in front of it. :\

and - I don't think I've ever been called preppy before. I like to think of myself as "hip" haha!

[julie Graf]

haha!
well, he makes me coffee every morning.

[Dennis Peacock]

I was never exposed to woodworking growing up. As a female born in the 50's it wasn't really encouraged and it never ocurred to me to take shop or woodworking in school. I didn't have a relative that was a woodworker.

I got in to woodworking because of my hobby of stained glass. I had an 8 foot wide panel to frame and I couldn't buy wood framing made for stained glass in that length. So I thought, how about buy a router to make the channel for the glass and get the oak from Fleet Farm? How hard could it be? Then I found it was not only relatively easy but also FUN!! Watching the grain pop when staining wood is FUN!! Then came a table saw, more ideas, etc.

It's been a steep but very enjoyable learning curve.

I do small stuff like pens, bowls, yo-yos on a midi lathe. I've made small boxes (excuse for a Leigh jig) and things like Woodsmith's kaleidoscope and night light with interchangable scroll sawn inserts (yup, excuse for scroll saw).

I spent one terrific week at American Sycamore Woodworkers Retreat making an Arts and Crafts chair. I'd like to do more of this kind of woodworking.

Donna

WELCOME to SMC Donna..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad to have ya around the watering hole.

[Jude Kingery]

Mickey, you made me laugh! Nah, didn't mean it that way. Ya'll are great. Jude

[Phil Clark]

I've been hobby woodworking for over 40 years and am now teaching woodworking for fun. The most fun is having a woman want to learn woodworking. Each one picks their project of choice and we work in my shop until it is done. Last spring's novice just poured the concrete slab for her new shop she is designing with input from those of us who have been around for a while - it's great fun watching her over rule her husband who doesn't work wood on shop design issues. Yup - the shoe's on the other foot.

[Matt Lackey]

Curt, you are making this up. So you just "listened to a conversation" and these women "had PhD's in things other than Home Ec." Like what Curt? What are these other things. If you have a biased opinion - go ahead and post it, don't just hide behind a lie.

[Gary Keedwell]

Curt, you are making this up. So you just "listened to a conversation" and these women "had PhD's in things other than Home Ec." Like what Curt? What are these other things. If you have a biased opinion - go ahead and post it, don't just hide behind a lie.

Those facts are old.. Back when the so-called woman's movement in the late 70's was in it's hey-day, someone tried to prove that it was the environment not the genes that determined what roles children would assume. Needless to say, there were alot of red-face women because the little boys threw the dolls away and went after the trucks and stuff.
I guess you are who you are.....Just like POPEYE.
Gary

[Nancy Laird]

Curt, you are making this up. So you just "listened to a conversation" and these women "had PhD's in things other than Home Ec." Like what Curt? What are these other things. If you have a biased opinion - go ahead and post it, don't just hide behind a lie.

And how do you know he's making this up? And why do you think he's hiding behind a lie? I think that this has degenerated into flaming, don't you???

Nancy (73 days)

[Gary Keedwell]

Well, at the risk of another of my FAUX PAS, I say, whatever will be, will be. Apparently somebody has some issues. Hi Nancy
Gary

[Dan Clark]

This is a very interesting topic for me. I've always enjoyed watching people do the opposite of what is expected. For example, at my wife's Akido dojo, there are many women would study Akido intensely while their husbands sit on the sidelines (I'm one of those). I revel in the fact that my 60+ year old wife can kick tushie if she needed to. The fact that she's tougher than I am doesn't bother me one whit. (She's also a college professor and the best cook I know of. Awesome woman!)

But I digress...

Right now, there are three people who I admire greatly for the knowledge of hand tools and wood working - Bob Smalser (US), Derek Cohen (Australia) and Alf (UK). Bob and Derek are fairly well known here, but the only time I encountered Alf is in the UK Workshop forum.

Alf is a very prolific writer, whose reviews combine indepth knowledge of tools and woodworking, balanced analysis, clarity of writing, and a wry wit. In the UK Workshop, Alf is THE hand tool authority.

When I first read Alf's reviews, I thought Alf was short for Alfred or Alfie. Nope. Those are the author's initials. Alf is Alice Frampton. (Nobody knows what "L" stands for.)

For many men, this is a bit of a shock when we find out Alf is a women. But that lasts about 30 seconds. For the vast majority of guys, the sudden knowledge that Alf is a women changes our opinion of HER not one whit!

My personal reaction was "Cool!" I think that women bring the same things to the "woodworking" table that men do. And perhaps a little different perspective too. This is good. When someone provides me with knowledge and skills that help me achieve my goals, their sex, race, age, sexual orientation, or ethnicity is completely irrelevant.

And for the silly male twits who are threatened by women entering this male bastion... Well, tough! That's their problem!

If you haven't had a chance to read Alf's reviews, I strongly encourage you to check out the UKWorkshop forum. The extension is ".co.uk", not ".com". Look in the "Hand Tools" forum and click on the sticky at the top labeled "Hand Tool Review Links".

Also, Alf has a nice website called "CornishWorkship". Again, with the ".co.uk" extension. There's a lot of good information there, including tool reviews, step-by-step projects, tips for Galoots, and a link to her Blog.

Regards,

Dan.

p.s., at last count, Alf has posted 10,583 times on UKWorkshop. Very prolific writer!

p.p.s, send me a PM if you have difficulty finding her posts or website.

[Jim Dunn]

I've tried to get my wife in the shop numerous times. I thought that if I got her interested in wood working I'd have it made when I wanted a new tool, as she would get to use it too.

Unfortunately/fortunately we are now grandparents and her time is spent in other areas. She is a very prolific painter and has complemented some of my work with her paint techniques.

So there you have it. I think that women wood workers are great. I just wish that my wife would take a little time in the shop with me.

[Chris Foley]

I really love this thread! My LOML is an artist (also a mechanical engineer) and I hope that I can get her into woodworking. Her talents could make my mundane creations scream for attention.

My take on all this would be "How do I get her interested?" I have seen some fantastic turnings that qualify as "ART". I have seem small delicate boxes with woods that make them "ART". [apologizing in advice for the mini-hijack here]