Tell Your Story: How Did You Get Hooked on Woodworking

[Bob Jeppson]

I was in junior high shop and apparently I took to woodworking. It is definitely the only time I as a "teacher's pet." There were three tools no one used but the teacher, the table saw, the jointer and the band saw. All of these I was permitted to use, but also did work for other students. Thinking back on it I am amazed at what I was permitted to do and to use. My favorite projects were on the wood lathe. My dad and I went to an auction where I got the wood lathe that I still have. That was 46 years ago.

[Scott Kilroy]

My father was a professional carpenter then contractor, anytime he was working on our house he would talk me through what he was doing, (imagine Norm Abram with a Bronx accent).

I used everything I remembered from watching my dad when I bought my home. Eventually everything that was fun to work on has been fixed, so I started making simple things like toy boxes, cabinets closet organizers and bookshelves. Slowly I'm working my way towards making arts and crafts style furniture.

[Jacob Reverb]

My father was into cabinetmaking since before I was born, and when I was in my teens, he gave up engineering to pursue a cabinetmaking business full-time. I used to help him with simple jobs after I got home from school sometimes. He eventually went back to engineering but after he retired, he rented a shop and pretty much spent his days woodworking for fun and profit. After he had a stroke and lost the use of one arm, I think he missed woodworking more than he missed hunting, fishing or anything else.

I've been tinkering with woodworking ever since I was able to afford a house with a shop of my own, but ironically I didn't really get "the bug" for it until after my Dad passed away.

I guess we all have to "find our own way," and sometimes it's almost easier to learn something new when you don't feel obligated to follow in someone else's footsteps for fear of hurting their feelings. My Dad was big into early American style furniture, but my tastes lately have been more Craftsman/Arts & Crafts, which he didn't care for, so at least we don't have to butt heads over that. It sure would be nice to sit down with him and "talk wood" again, though. For a scientific/engineering black-and-white kind of guy, he really had a "reverence for wood," as Eric Sloane put it, almost like George Nakashima, whom he admired and once met when he worked in a factory right downriver from Nakashima.

Anyway, my Dad is who got me into it, and although I love woodworking for its own merits, it also brings my dad back in a way. I have fond memories of seeing him work with wood, and working with him in his shop when I was in high school and later, after he retired (and of course I own a number of things he made).

Not to go on and on about it...

Jacob.

[Chris Holder]

My grandfather was a carpenter and we were close. When he died I inherited some of his old hand tools-a couple of hand saws, block plane, etc. Didn't really do much with them, but one day I saw David Marks show and was hooked. I think I must have watch 30 episodes of his show and Norm before attempting one project (an outfeed table for the miter saw out of 2x4s. I've been hooked ever since.

[Tom Kelley]

What got me hooked was building cabinets for speaker systems that I designed. After doing the math for the electrical part I still had to put the speakers in a decent cabinet. I started out with my father-in-law's ancient Delta table saw. It was weird. It had a monster motor but only took an 8 inch blade. That baby could cut through anything. Since I retired I have purchased some good equipment but have a lot to learn. I just hope I have enough time. But then don't we all?

[John Pahl]

When I was just a little guy, maybe 4, I started spending time with my Dad in his shop or Barn or where ever. He wouldn't let me use any power tools but he would let me use a hammer nails and a file. I can remember spending hours trying to cut through the wood scraps he had with that file. When nailing them together in some fashion.

As the years past, I took woodshop in high school and began to develop my own skills. It's fun now that I'm in my 30's and have my own shop to go back and do a project with my dad as his equal in the shop. He's still got 30 years experience on me but I do manage to teach him a thing or two once in a while.

Thanks Dad!!

John

[alex grams]

I grew up in a house that was always being remodeled by my Dad. Fond memories of shoveling shingles off the roof when i was 10, of having a nail through my foot with a board stuck to it, and not noticing until my dad asked why there was a board on the bottom of my shoe...

In high school my job was working in my Grandfather's cabinet shop. He started this after WWII and worked there till the day he died pretty much in 2003. It supported him, his wife, and 4 kids (3 through college), so he did pretty darn good.

I started off doing small things, lots of hinges and drawer guide installations. Then cabinet assembly. We did lots of formica/melamine work for school cabinets and such.

My uncle (my grandfather's son) formed his own cabinet shop and did a lot of higher end solid wood, raised panel style cabinets. Around 1993ish they merged shops. My grandfather wanted to retire and pass his down to his son, but ended up unretiring about 6 months later because he hated being bored. In those 6 months he aged more than he did in the previous 10 years it seemed. This man at 70 could still man handle a 4x8 piece of MDF like it was a twig.

I can't tell you how many hundreds upon hundreds and thousands of 4x8 sheets of melamine/mdf I had glued up when I was done working there. My shoes were so covered in contact adhesive that it would take a miracle to untie the laces. In fact, when the soles got so worn down, i just sprayed the bottom of them with contact and then walked in some sawdust. That kept them good to go for another couple of months.

Throughout college I never had access to do any work, nor the time or energy.

Then I graduated and got married and had some spare time, but since we lived in an apartment i didn't have the option to do any things, but i had the energy and drive there to do things, i just had to channel it to other past times.

Then we got a house, and i've been busy ever since. I love cabinet work, but i love the challenge of other home improvement projects. In the year and 1 month we have had a house, i have:

-rebuilt fence around back yard
-built storage shed in yard
-built vegetable garden
-painted.. well.. everything it seems
-retiled entry
-retiled backsplash in kitchen (had to pay someone else to do granite, but i put travertine backsplash in)
-rebuilt fireplace mantle, built-ins, and tore out fireplace tile and put marble in.
-retiled bathroom.
-lots and lots of crown molding
-built a nice wall clock (wenge box with white marble face
-built cherry breakfast table.


and so much more on the way.

-Sorry if it is a long read, but lots of influences in my life led to me enjoying woodworking.

[Ray Girard]

My story is similar to a couple of others. I too was introduced to woodworking in the 7th grade in school. If you wanted to take woodworking, you were required to take Home Economics the second half of the semester. Most of us weren't pleased with that requirement, but we were willing to pay the price. I was amazed that I could actually build a small cedar chest (~10"H X 10"W X 18"L) in the first half of the semester, and take a ribbon in the final contest. That set the hook. Unfortunately, it made Home Economics a lot harder to take, knowing I could be making something else in shop.

As you know, mothers never throw anything away that their children make, and when mother died a few years ago, I recovered the cedar chest, at the age of 62, with the ribbon still in tact. I never got to do a lot of woodworking until I retired at the early age of 44, but I have made up for lost time. I do not sell my works, but sure enjpy the feeling of giving it away.

[Steve Rayboy]

My father had a shop in the basement, and he built most of the furniture in our house. It wasn't his profession...just his hobby. I totally rejected woodworking as a kid, much to my regret. I loved it when he built a beautiful table/set for my trains, but all those tools just got in the way when I played in the basement.
Jump ahead 20 years...
I left the country when I was in my 20's, and ended up in Costa Rica, where I bought some land in 1977. I returned to NYC to make some money (I was a NYC taxidriver) so that I could return to CR, and build my house. I married my girlfriend, and drove down to CR in 1978, bringing a handful of hand tools (no electricity within miles) and a couple of carpentry books...a sunset book and a textbook. The local woods were all so beautiful, and hard to work with...but I finally finished my modest 1 bedroom cabin (beach shack) in 8 months.
I still have that house, and it's in decent condition...except for the termites. It withstood a 7.6 earthquake in 1991. Suffice it to say, the whole experience hooked me on woodworking. I lived there for 5 years, and build 2 more houses, and a lot of bush furniture. I still live in that house, but only 3 months a year. I'm no longer a taxi driver...over the last 30 years, I've been a trim carpenter, cabinet maker, and am now a high end deck builder...and I still love to make sawdust.
I do regret that my father died young, and never knew that I became a woodworker.

[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!

Simple projects lead to more difficult ones. I practiced just joinery for a long time in anticipation of needing these skills for furniture. I always relied on my hand tool skills that I learned from my Dad, sawing, shaping ,planning... these were the foundation of my woodworking since we did not have any power tools or machines except an electric drill.
I began buying power tools and then machines and today I have a full shop with excellent equipment.
I also rely on my design skills as an architect and try to design each piece. Drawing and layout are very important in my work.
I enjoy the challenge of a project from conception through design and then construction.

[Scott Loven]

My grandfather was a woodworker and taught me how to use a had saw, hammer and other non power tools when I would stay with him for a week or so in the summer. We built a fence, a lean-to on a hog shed, and fixed what ever needed fixing around the farm. I took wood shop in 7th and 8th grade and really learned a lot now looking back. 15 years ago I got into RC air planes and really enjoyed building (and rebuilding). My wife said something like " As long as you have to spend money, why not spend it on tools to work on the house and build furniture instead of airplanes that just make noise and crash into the ground"). I enjoyed building more then flying so agreed with her and did. Grandpa was about 95 by then and couldn't get up and down the stairs to the shop anymore so decided to give me his tools. We had a house built in 97 and moved in way before it was finished. I have been finishing it, building cabinets, stair systems, vanity's etc. ever since in my "spare time" ever since. I have a lot of tools now and still use Grandpa's sears table saw.
Scott

[Matt Halfmann]

In grade school and high school takeing all the shop classes I could. Always ace thouse classes and barley paid attention on the other academic ones. Then in high school my dad built the house he lives in now. A deal he made me was if I help out when ever I was asked he would pay for 2 years of college. (though I only ever finished a semester and a half before I joined the Army.) After the house was built I went to work for my uncle building houses during the summer.

That started it some. But then a few years ago my wife decided she wanted a book shelf. That was my first real wood working project. It is a 6' high by 4' wide book shelf. After it was done I was asked if I made it big enough, my wife trying to be sarcastic. Then we put the books on it, they did not all fit.

I have only done a couple small things since then but am on my biggest project yet. Building my queen size captain's bed, and so far just have the drawers yet to build.

Now the wife is going next I want you to make this then this then this. which is fine by me. As long as it does not interfer with my first hobby/passion, hunting. But that is only in the fall and early winter, so there is 8 months a year I have to build.

[Bob Slater]

I'd have to say my desire to build stuff came from working on my bicycle as a kid. I remember using spoons and kitchen knives to change tire tubes, and adjustable wrenches to get the wheel bolts off. From that, it led to doing more thorough maintenance on my ten speed bikes as teenager. This led to motorcycle mechanics, then car mechanics. I have rebuilt a few engines and done complete restorations on old BMW's and Datsun 240-Z's and VW Corrados. When I bought my first house, new tools came shortly after. I built an Ipe, and glass deck, a new bannister and stair railing, flower boxes, etc. My first power tool was a Bosch jig saw (Still a fav tool) and then I bought a MAkita compound slider saw, followed by a Bosch portable table saw. About a year ago I purchased a workshop 6 minutes from my house to expand my hobbies. It belonged to an Irish carpenter who was retiring. I made my offer on the building to include the power tools that were there when I inspected it. They are old but good ones. A Beaver planer (Scared of this tool) a big General table saw (5HP beast) a Dewalt radial arm saw and a Beaver (Rockwell) 3 wheel band saw. Since then I have added an old Delta Metal and Wood bandsaw, a Delta Scroll saw and my automotive tools, plus a Tig Welder, (soon to get a Mig Welder). I hope to be able to build things that appeal to me out of multiple types of materials, and go there for relaxation. I will post some photos of the shop[ one day. It is a great sanctuary. Still haven't decided which way to go on A DC system. Space is running out. I feel i am very well equipped for a beginner. Great hobby and a great site, which really adds to it

[Patrick Nailon]

I got hooked by buying a house. I had asked my wife a year or so ago, if she would consider us buying a fixer upper. She said she'd be fine with that. Her reply came a little too soon, so I continued, "That's because I'd be doing all the work, eh?" Again, she said evenly, that would be fine.

We bought our "cosmetically challenged" house at the end of a cul-de-sac, with neighbors who've all been here 40+ years. Talk about a great place. The last crime on this block had been a lawnmower being stolen out of a garage in 1967!

Anyway, we quickly found out that a LOT of things needed to be done. So the electric drill, circular saw and engine tools that I had were joined by a table saw, miter saw, drill press, Craftsman 6 piece cordless set, pry bar, wood clamps, and portable work bench. I'm still adding to the tools every chance I get. After a few months of work on the house, I dug out a book I had on woodworking, "The Complete Book of Woodworking" - anyone else have this one? And I started building what I thought was the simplest project, the Arts and Crafts bookshelf. Man, did I have troubles! Dadoes that were impossible to square off (the book said to cut the dadoes thru with a jigsaw - yeah, thru 1 1/2 of Red Oak?), and the mortises split when I tried to drill them out for the wedges that supposedly held the thing together. I finally cut the mortises to the outside of the end pieces and sanded them flat. It looked still very nice and made a good present for my boss.

I then downloaded a two shelf, floor model bookcase from MinWax' website. I worked hard and steadily and built that one and it turned out very well.

Since that time, I've built another A&C bookshelf, a tavern mirror (just gorgeous, and my wife, who didn't like the look of it in the book, thinks it's the best feature of our living room), and a walnut writing table of Shaker design. Everything but the MinWax bookcase came from the woodworking book. I will build more things from that book, but I have many other books now too, and I'm always looking to pick up new techniques and ideas. This has been the best possible hobby for me, having grown up thinking I couldn't do a damn thing right no matter what I did (father's teaching), but now I take everything a step at a time, fix my mistakes, and find ways to go around things that can't be done as they are.

Plus - wood is just the best medium to work with. Elemental, part of the living earth, never the same material, never always the same dimensions, and always people coming up with more ways to make it beautiful and to make our lives beautiful with it.

[jim oakes]

This has been the best possible hobby for me, having grown up thinking I couldn't do a damn thing right no matter what I did (father's teaching), but now I take everything a step at a time, fix my mistakes, and find ways to go around things that can't be done as they are.

Good for you Patrick,
When I was 8 years old I built a crude table out of scrap wood. My Dad I think was trying to be constructive with his criticisim when he said" the legs are not all the same length". Boy that hurt my feelings, but everthing I made with legs after that had all legs equal! Funny I'm 57 years old and I'll never forget that. It my have helped me in my career as cabinetmaker, thanks Dad!