Biggest benefit of woodworking for you?

[Rich Riddle]

What is the biggest benefit woodworking offers you. If you list more than one please indicate your highest benefit.

1. It keeps me out of the way of my wife but allows her to know precisely where I am located and what I am doing.

[Curt Fuller]

Peace of mind.

[Gary Hodgin]

Great way to forget about other things and concentrate on something I really enjoy. Lots of hobbies do this but not very many give you the sense of accomplishment as woodworking, even when I'm not accomplishing anything other than destroying wood.

[Ed Aumiller]

What Gary said...

[Lornie McCullough]

I enjoy the social aspects of woodworking.... always someone stopping by to fix something or build something or have me build something. I enjoy helping friends build what THEY want and would build if they had the tools. I live alone, but I am never lonely.

Lornie

[Rich Riddle]

Lornie, you live in a lovely part of the USA. Glad to hear woodworking helps keep your social life going.

[Andrew Joiner]

1- I get furniture and cabinets that no one else makes, exactly the way I want them.
2- I get the satisfaction of designing and building my own things.

I'm not sure but maybe 2 should be 1. It's a toss up on the highest benefit.

[Larry Browning]

I have ofter pondered the question why do I enjoy woodworking? I have never quite answered that question to my own satisfaction. I usually end up with something like, " I love the challenge of learnign something new" or "I love working with my hands and creating something useful from a stack of old dead trees".
I have recently been researching veneering and have been spending time over at www.joewoodworker.com (http://www.joewoodworker.com). On his home page he address this subject and I really like the way he says it.


Woodworkers are fortunate people. Providing tremendous growth opportunity and personal satisfaction, woodworking as a hobby has fast become one of America's greatest pastimes. What makes the hobby so satisfying? Any woodworker will tell you the personal reward of creating a finished piece from rough lumber is certainly the largest aspect. In most cases, each piece we build is better than the previous and with the right thinking, each piece will continue to improve. This idea gives a woodworker a dream of something he or she will create someday knowing it will only be better than what he or she has made today.
As woodworkers, we are also rewarded by the admiration of our work from those who normally wouldn't appreciate ordinary items like the furniture and keepsakes we make. Though all of us have furniture and wood items in our homes, those which have been hand-crafted, retain an uncommon and secret beauty. These items are the unique connection between a woodworker and the rest of the world; the link between maker and user.


For most of us, it's not a competition to be the best woodworker. It's just a wish to be a better woodworker. Ultimately, our goal is to develop new skills and create something more memorable than the last. And regardless of whether our woodworking endeavors are criticized or celebrated, a talent will have developed in the process.

The point of the journey is not to arrive!

[Jeff Monson]

Great way to forget about other things and concentrate on something I really enjoy. Lots of hobbies do this but not very many give you the sense of accomplishment as woodworking, even when I'm not accomplishing anything other than destroying wood.

Nicely put, that is exactly what keeps me in the hobby. Plus the noise of power tools drowns out the ringing of the phone.

[Brian Tymchak]

having worked in software development all my adult life, where nothing tangible is produced,,, woodworking allows me to get hands-on (beyond a keyboard and mouse) and create something I can pick up, show someone, use in everyday life, etc.

[Moses Yoder]

1) Woodworking has provided a living for me over 20 years now. Of course currently I am not actually touching wood except in my little home shop but I still have to factor in wood movement, I have influence on some design aspects, etc. for my day job.
2) A creative outlet
3) Allows me to collect cool tools
4) The feel of working with wood and building something is indescribable.

[Gordon Eyre]

There is something inherently satisfying about building things with your hands.

[Eric DeSilva]

Woodworking relieves me of the burden of having to carry a wallet with spare cash in it.

On a more serious note, my job is mainly policy work--intellectually stimulating, but things take forever to produce results. I like the tangibility of working with wood--at the end of a session in the shop, I usually have something to show for it.

[Joe Angrisani]

It feeds my Control Freak.

I can make what I want. With the materials I want. On the tools I want. With the finish I want. Or I can put it aside and sharpen things if that's what I decide that night. It gives me something fidgety to do, which is something I really like. And it's relaxing, which I, above all, want. ;)

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Relax after very stressful job and enjoinment working with tools and wood.
Ed.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Biggest benifit?
Hmmm. I guess it would be that it allows me more flexability to finish off things & at a reduced cost.
For the most part, WW'ing is a means to an end for me. The end would be rehabbing and remodeling.
WW'ing is a part of that whole.

I have to say though, that, WW'ing is near the top when it comes to getting the most enjoyment & satisfaction out of completing a rehab/remodel.

[Jason Beam]

1. Long lasting self sufficiency.

Woodworking led to metalworking for me which then led to CNC and will likely lead to many other things. In the process, it's because of woodworking that I know how to fix just about anything in my house or cars, build anything I need for either and have some things that will hopefully outlast me.

[Chuck Darney]

When I started doing woodworking I had to strive for perfection. I made lots of mistakes and perfection seemed unattainable. My brother (a machinist) does some work with wood and works based on his knowledge of working with metal. He'll learn as well. As an engineer I had to "learn" that an inherently imperfect medium like wood will NEVER be perfect. It's been very satisfying to work with something that doesn't have that many constraints.

I do have to agree that my wife REALLY likes to know where I am and she knows I'm close in the workshop.