How did you get into Wood Working?

[John Dingman]

The subject of how we got into wood working has come up a few times on this forum, and others, and many guys have posted pics of the projects that they completed while they were in school, so while I was at my Mom's house I snapped a couple of pics of the projects that I did while I was a Freshman in High School (just a couple of years ago) :D

Here's a stool:

http://www.johnswoodshop.us/Images/Projects%20004.jpg

And a hand carved nut dish:
http://www.johnswoodshop.us/Images/Projects%20010.jpg

And a little table/stand?

http://www.johnswoodshop.us/Images/Projects%20011.jpg

I can't believe how well they have held up. My Mom has moved several times since I gave those to her. Anyway, these were what started it all for me. ;) Somewhere in the process of making these I was bit with the wood working bug.
Hope this wasn't too boring for ya :rolleyes:

John

[John Hart]

They look brand new John! Seriously, how many years? That is a testament to great woodworking for sure. Very nice.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I flunked out of woodshop in high school. :(

Made some incredibly simple towel bars with a cheap jigsaw my firrst Christmas in the Air Force...no money to buy presents. When I discovered the military hobby shops, I was hooked. Made all kinds of retirement gifts through the years, and the typical household projects.

I had some recognition in several of the Air Force Arts&Crafts contests, and those plaques are the only momentos I kept from those years...

KC

[Mike Cutler]

Wow! Those are pretty sophisticated pieces for a high school freshman. I'm willing to bet that they are favorites of your mom.
I started taking woodshop in the 7th grade. All the projects were hand tool stuff to demonstrate proficiency with hand tools. I remember that we always looked at the machines in the shop and couldn't wait to use them, but you had to "graduate" to the machines after hand tools. It was two years before we were able to use them freely.
I took metal shop for a short while in the 10th grade. When the teacher explained that if the metal furnace wasn't used properly it would blow up, I looked at my classmates and made my first "risk analysis decision" and transferred back to woodworking class. ;)
I did the Votech stuff after school in a cabinet making shop. All the guys in the shop were Italian, and barely spoke english. At that time they were reproducing a piece for a museum in Spain that had been damaged. Everything they did was measured with machinist scales and dividers, I don't think there was a tape measure in that shop. I still believe that everyone of those guys had forgot more than I'll ever know, and lest I make it sound like I was some kind of a prodigy, rest assured I did a lot of sweeping, toting, and machine cleaning.
They had some incredible machinery, but it was the hand tools that were the most impressive. They had a collection of Neander tools that would make Dave Anderson envious. Watching them use them was an education in itself, but they were real picky about letting anyone touch those hand tools.
Growing up in an older neighborhood in Los Angeles, I was introduced to the Mission, and Arts& Crafts styles, simply by living in the area. A lot of the houses were what are called "Craftsman Style Bungaloes" now. Unfortunately, a lot of these houses are not in the best of neighborhoods, so to speak, but it did keep them relatively original because no one had the money to gut them and redecorate back then. I tend to design things based on the A&C style. Limbert and the Greene& Greene more so that Stickley or Morris probably because of living in those houses.
I mostly do projects for, and around the house now. I have a "real job" and the woodworking is stress relief, although LOML would disagree, because I obsess so much about it. I admire the folks that are able to make a living at it.
It's nice to have the classical "rote" training, but sometimes I look at the work of people that are "self taught" and I wonder if I came at woodworking from the right path. With no preconceptions it's easier to shift the paradigm in my opinion.

[Dale Rodabaugh]

I did the usual in high school wood shop,stool,etc.I think my youngest son has the stool now.I got into auto mechanics at a young age,and toyed around with that most of my life,in fact I still do.I always admired anyone who was good at woodworking,but I never thought I would be any good at it.A friend of mine who is into woodwork,showed me a lot of things about it.When I retired I set up a woodshop,and started building a few things,a nice workbench was my first project.At the time I had been divorced for 18 yrs.Then I met a lady from Oklahoma,and bang next thing I knew we were married.I enjoy making things for her in the shop,mainly because she really appreciates them.I never got away from the auto end of things.I still have a 1955 Chevy pickup that I have streetrodded,and a 1972 Chevy pickup that is in great condition.I enjoy taking them to cruisins and shows in the summer.Thing of it is with two hobbies I have to work a part time job to support them.The wood work seems to carry over into the trucks.The 55 has a cherry wood bed floor in it,with about 5 coats of spar urethane,and the 72 has an oak bed floor.got a day off today,so I better get away from this computer and get my backside out to the woodshed.:p :p :p

[Frank Pellow]

Nice work John. Your mother obviously treasures the furniture that you made for here -and she should!

Asking how I got into woodworking is like asking me how I got into breathing, or walking, or swimming, or skating. I can't remember learning to do any of them. In my family, these are all just things that one did.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Well I started out with a 6 foot by 2 foot slab of pine and the idea that I wanted to make a bench out of it. I had always seen log benches and furniture and thought it was neat.

So I made this:
http://www.woodworkersweb.com/modules/gallery/albums/albut49/LogBench.sized.jpg

I made it using a hand held power planer and a belt sander. I didn't have a draw knife for the logs so I used the power planer and belt sander.

Next I made a log quilt ladder:
http://www.woodworkersweb.com/modules/gallery/albums/albut49/Log_Quilt_Ladder.sized.jpg
I also built a shower curtain rod, two curtain rods for the rec room, a toilet paper holder, a towel bar, and a queen sized bed.

The first project that I used my planer and jointer on was the log bar:
http://www.woodworkersweb.com/modules/gallery/albums/albut49/100_7033.sized.jpg

The bar was quite a challenge for me. The first time that I had glued up boards to make a wider panel. As you can see, the glue up for the front took a LONG time.

My first real woodworking project was a blanket chest for Xmas for my LOML this year:
http://www.woodworkersweb.com/modules/gallery/albums/albut49/100_7237.sized.jpg
This project was my first time using raised panels. I think I am hooked on them now.

You all have seen the dresser that I have built for our spare bedroom. I am almost completed with two other projects as well, but they are super secret :)

Right now I am searching out the timber for the next super secret project.

Hope I didn't bore you all!

[Per Swenson]

I was going to say nice stuff for a freshman but
that is not what I mean.
Nice stuff for anybody!

I love Mr. Pellows reply,
"Asking how I got into woodworking is like asking me how I got into breathing, or walking, or swimming, or skating. I can't remember learning to do any of them. In my family, these are all just things that one did."

I grew up the same way.
Thanks Frank
Per

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Woodshop in the 7th grade...made a plaque for Dad that still hangs on the wall at the house...

[Jim Becker]

My first "real" woodworking project at about age 41 was the cherry desk I made for Dr. SWMBO. Prior to that it was only home improvement and a few incidental things, such as a plant starting stand and some sound reinforcement speakers for an organization I was then a member of. My shop experiences in high school (many moons ago) were in drafting/mechanical drawing and electrical shop.

[John Dingman]

Thanks for all the very kind comments.

It has been 33 years since those were made :eek: I remember I really liked my shop teacher because he was a very paitient man. That nut dish was my second attempt :rolleyes: The first one I carved right through the bottom of it. He very kindly stated that I took a little too deep of a cut, and then commenced to demonstrate the proper technique. He allowed me to band saw out another blank and try it again. The finish on all of those projects was simply about three or four coats of paste wax. (It's been so long I can't remember.) They have not been touched up in 33 years. If it matters it was Johnson's paste wax. Good stuff eh? Again thanks for all the nice comments. We also made a set of candle holders that we turned on the lathe. I have those in my home. I did have to repair them as the glue on the votive cup failed. I fixed them not too long ago and they hang on the wall in our dining room. It is so sad that most schools have done away with programs like wood shop :(

John

[Erin Stringer]

I took shop class in junior high and enjoyed it but then got distracted by other things a teenager does. I didn't do much more "real" woodworking until a year or two ago (about 20 years in between). For me it is a good way to think about a "problem", figure out a solution, and then actually carry out the creation. At work I figure out a solution but then a supplier or someone else actually creates the part or idea. The end product holds a lot of the joy for me.

[Andy London]

If carpentry is woodworking then I would have to say all my life as we were always building bridges for snow mobiles and dune buggys as a kid. Then around age 11, I talked myself into a job cleaning our local cabinet makers shop, hidden agenda was access to tools as I didn't have much and my dad, although he tried, just wasn't cut out for woodworking.

The old cabinet maker started showing me the ropes and the rest is history, within a year I was building and selling "stuff" I took woodworking in Grade 9 but the shop teacher said I did not have what it took and would not let me in, in grade 10. Back then if you took WW in grade 10, you stayed in for three years, so I took electrical.

I learned much later in life the WW shop teachers position had more to do with politics than woodworking.

In any event I live and breath woodworking and feel very blessed to have a son who loves it also, he started around age 8 just helping, he is now 14 and has been selling his own products, keeping his own books etc for 2 years.

Andy

[John A. Williams]

I took metalshop in the 7th grade and woodshop in the 8th grade. In high school I got into cars (and girls) and became a professional mechanic. Then I got hooked and watching Norm every Saturday and said to myself, someday I'm going to do that. That was about 15 years ago. Then about 3-4 years ago I went to a woodworking show and saw a booth for Cerritos College. I took an "Introductory to Woodworking" class and 3 months later was buying a unisaw. I was hooked. A little later I took a weekend job at a new Woodcraft opening up so that I good really build on my collection of tools. But working 7 days a week became too much. I'm still taking classes and woodworking every chance I get.
John

[Mike Parzych]

My Mom used to call me "St. Joseph" when I was a kid, so I guess it was just a natural attraction to wood. I've got my Dad's Craftsman hand saw (refurbished) mounted over the front door of the shop. It was the first saw I ever put to wood. He just turned 91.....which makes the fact that I'm only 22 even more amazing.

[Alan Turner]

I started in the shop with my Dad, a pretty good builder or whatever was needed, at about age 6 or so, and except for brief stints, have been in the shop ever since.

[John Hart]

I started in Adak, Alaska...a little island out in the middle of the Aleutian Chain. It helped fill the time and maintain my sanity 25 years ago. It's played the role of "sanity maintainer" ever since.

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

It's very interesting reading all about the history and experience that we have on our forum.
We talk about the philosophy and sentimentality of how we got into woodworking.
I also have the same stories but have been in woodworking for about (lets see 61 minus 8 equals = 53 years) yes, 53 years, gosh! I'm getting old and stupider every day.
But the story I'm going to tell you is why I got into woodworking. Not when I got into woodworking. It is short and sweet and brings a mistiness to my eyes. I hope you don't laugh.
You see my mom was about 4' 10" tall but she had a large foot - so large that it was firmly planted where it reminded me that I was going to college "to get out, get a job, and earn a living" (her words). Now, she also had a co-conspirator in her quest for her son's greatness and that was my shop and home room teacher in school. They both conspired to have me succeed in life. I became a wood shop teacher.
I do have a $10,000 bowling pin lamp made out of walnut, that used to be my mom's.
Why $10,000 dollars worth of lamp; well, that's what it cost to send me to four years college back then.

[James Carmichael]

I started in Adak, Alaska...a little island out in the middle of the Aleutian Chain. It helped fill the time and maintain my sanity 25 years ago. It's played the role of "sanity maintainer" ever since.


Wow, John, what did you use for wood? Never been there, but I've worked with several guys who had. What's the saying, there's woman behind every tree?

I got started very late, about 2 years ago as an offshoot of home-improvement projects. I always wanted to try woodworking, and after tiling my home-office, LOML suggested a built-in bookshelf. Probably the worst starter project possible, but it gave me an excuse to buy some tools and got me on the slippery slope. Being the nerd I am, I started doing web searches for info on tools and happened on the Creek and other forums where I've gotten (mostly) good advice and encouragement. Oh, yeah, and lots of folks helping me spend my money:-)

[John Hart]

Wow, John, what did you use for wood? Never been there, but I've worked with several guys who had. What's the saying, there's woman behind every tree?

That's about right James...The Aleutians are treeless. The Marines planted a little grove of 50 pine trees after WWII and they are still there. It is an official National Forest and cited as the Country's Smallest.

But the woodshop was well stocked with every kind of wood imaginable.:)

[Dave Ray]

The Marines planted a little grove of 50 pine trees after WWII and they are still there. It is an official National Forest and cited as the Country's Smallest.

But the woodshop was well stocked with every kind of wood imaginable.

John, I spent a little over a year on Adak. (1972 thru 1973) I know and have visited "The Adak National Forest", but never knew about the wood shop. I feel cheated. LOL Thanks for bringing back some good memories.

Dave :)

[Jim Earls]

Adak 1969-70. Maybe we should start an Adak survivors club :D . I spent most of my spare time "upstairs" in the Bering Building. If I remember correctly the Adak National Forest had a sign that read something like "You Are Now Entering and Leaving the Adak National Forest". :p .

Jim

[John Hart]

Adak 1969-70. Maybe we should start an Adak survivors club :D . I spent most of my spare time "upstairs" in the Bering Building. If I remember correctly the Adak National Forest had a sign that read something like "You Are Now Entering and Leaving the Adak National Forest". :p .

Jim

1980-1982 Here. Oh and I found the sign...You're right about the wording. I forgot about that.:rolleyes:

Just so we don't highjack any more of John's great thread...here's a link to someone's pictures http://www.orneveien.org/adak/contributors/rodneyshupp/

Maybe someone ought to start another thread

[Chris Padilla]

Pops was into ww'ing so naturally I got into it. I also got into home remodelling of which ww'ing can be a part of. It seems that we were always redoing rooms and stuff in the house I grew up in.

[Corey Hallagan]

I wish I could say it was because of my shop teacher but it wasn't. As a kid, enjoyed watching a TV show on the PBS station doing some wood working. Idon't remember the name of the show but it was in the earlier days of PBS. Also Homer Formby had a show on the air when I was a kid on refinishing furniture and I enjoyed watching that.
I was looking forward to shop class in junior high, but honestly the shop teacher was there to collect a paycheck and didn't really give a darn about teaching anyone anything. We basically messed around on nothing for 7 weeks and the final week we all had to turn out a book rack in a week with 40 other students competeing for equipment and time. It was lame, but I still loved those big old Rockwell and other WWII Vintage equipment we had in there. That planer was just plane scarey looking, we never even saw it fire up but it wouldn't even fit in my kitchen I have now.
Fast forward to a young adult, and living by myself in an apartment, I became hooked on a new PBS show with this guy named Norm. I thought man if I ever get a place of my own I am going to have a shop. Fast forward about 10 years and I am married with a young so and just buying a new house. The country pine craft revolution is in full swing in the mid eighties and I jump in full swing. Got me a 8 inch Craftsman benchtop, 8 1/4 mitre saw, the drill press I still have today and I am sawing! Upgraded equipment slowly over the years and still love it!!! Glad I found this place to share it!
Corey

[Vaughn McMillan]

My first woodworking experience was at about 7 or 8 years old, making a cutting board for my grandmother. Grandad let me run the sander, but he cut it out on the bandsaw and drilled the hole to hang it from. I messed around with little projects and hand power tools as a kid, but in high school, I took a couple semesters of woodshop, and got pretty proficient at using the big power tools. Grandad enjoyed letting me borrow his shop to build things, and I made several projects to support my music habit (a lap slide guitar and several speaker cabinets come to mind).

In my 20's Grandad passed away, and I inherited his shop, including an old General table saw, a stand-mounted bandsaw, and more handtools than you can shake a U-Haul truck at. I didn't have space in my various places of residence at the time to set the shop up, so everything went into storage in Mom and Dad's garage for quite a few years.

I moved to California about 14 years ago, and when I did, I couldn't move the big tools, so I "loaned" then to a good friend, who cleaned and tuned them up, and has used them almost daily since then (he's a one-man homebuilder and cabinetmaker). Several years ago, I bought a place that had room for a little shop, so I slowly started buying more and more tools, including a little $100 table saw and one or more each of the usual power hand tools (drills, circular saws, sanders). Then last fall, the LOML and I bought a house together, and I immediately staked out my territory in the two-car garage for a shop. Since then, I've filled in a few more tool deficiencies (power hand planer, tabletop bandsaw, better sanders and drills) and have made a variety of little projects for use around the house or for gifts. Some of the cutting boards I made as gifts proved to be so popular, I started making them for sale. I finally bit the bullet about a month ago and bought a decent table saw (at least more decent than the $100 cheapie), and with inspiration from The Creek folks, I intend to start tackling some bigger and more challenging projects. For now, I'm getting used to the new saw by making a few accessories and jigs for it. I'm dipping my toe back into the woodworking pool after quite a few years of being away from it, but I'm having fun, and will surely get more and more hooked -- like the rest of you.

BTW, I still have the cutting board I made for my grandmother, as well as the sander I used while making it...nearly 40 years ago.

- Vaughn

[John Hart]

....

BTW, I still have the cutting board I made for my grandmother, as well as the sander I used while making it...nearly 40 years ago.

- Vaughn

Nice story Vaughn. I think we deserve some pics of the cutting board and the sander!;)

[Frank Pellow]

...
In my 20's Grandad passed away, and I inherited his shop, including an old General table saw, a stand-mounted bandsaw, and more handtools than you can shake a U-Haul truck at. I didn't have space in my various places of residence at the time to set the shop up, so everything went into storage in Mom and Dad's garage for quite a few years.
...
I finally bit the bullet about a month ago and bought a decent table saw...

I am curious about whether your friend is still using the General table saw and whether you considered it instead of the new saw that you mentioned.

[Silas Smith]

Wood WORKING???? I thought this was a tool collecting forum. Man have I wasted alot of time here for the wrong forum. Actually, I am a little envious of you guys that had good father or shop teachers to mentor you. I got into it by necessity about a year ago and I have never looked back. I spend more time reading about woodworking and techniques than actually doing them, but, by the time I actually do a project, I know exactly what to expect. More importantly I know how to do it safely. Many of you guys are part of my "how I got into woodworking" story and I appreciate this forum. Thanks!

[Mark Singer]

I always helped my Dad with his home projects. When I began working as an architect the firm worked for had a German master crafstman, he was trained in Europe and I learned a great deal from him. When we got married I started bulding furniture, cabinets and built-ins...this has been the case in each of our 4 homes. I built many custom homes over the years where I was the General Contractor as well as the architect.....often I would apply my carpentry skills in these projects. Today mostly just make furniture for our home...I haven't made any furniture for clients in about 10 years except for an occasional house warming gift...a tray..or smaller piece.

[Steve Aiken]

I didn't learn woodworking from my dad, but he renovated two live-in houses while I was in my very early growing up years. I couldn't help much, but I was always hanging around watching and learning. What I learned is that you don't need to hire someone to fix your house, you just do it. I have done alot of home repair and renovation. I have read alot of books and magazines, but the can-do attitude (and maybe a bit of aptitude and manual dexterity) I got from my dad.

At about 16 - 18 I developed an interest in woodworking. With Dad's old skill saw, electric drill, and hand tools I built a series of book cases out of plywood. Not much craftsmanship, but my parents still keep them around for some reason. Then I bought a vice, a nice chisel and a dovetail saw and set to work building a monster workbench out of pine dimensional lumber. It was complete with 4 dovetailed drawers. It is such a monster that it still sits out in Dad's garage acting as a storage unit.

Then I went off to university, got married, had kids, bought a tiny house with no shop. I focused on DIY home repairs/ renovation. I bought the odd WW magazine and dreamed of making a workshop one day...

In 1996 we bought our first computer. The house was so small there was no place to set up a computer. I shopped for an armoire so I could set up the pc in the large living room, and couldn't find anything that would work without remortgaging the house. So I made up plans and imposed on a friend with a workshop and spent over 1,200 hours building a computer armoire that approaches the quality of 'fine furniture.'

Five years ago we moved into a bigger home with a basement. SWIMBO bought me a secondhand Delta cabinetsaw. Now, five years and several part-time jobs later, I have accummulated a nice little collection of tools and I've built several projects.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Nice story Vaughn. I think we deserve some pics of the cutting board and the sander!;)
Thanks, John. I'll grab a quick picture of the board and sander and post it here when I get a chance. (Maybe I'll sitck it in my forthcoming TS gloat...)

- Vaughn

[Vaughn McMillan]

I am curious about whether your friend is still using the General table saw and whether you considered it instead of the new saw that you mentioned.
Frank, my friend is still using the saw nearly daily. It's in Albuquerque and I'm in Los Angeles, so it was easier on several levels to just buy a new one. (I'm pretty sure it'd break my friend's heart to part with the saw, and I'm sure somewhere up there my Grandad's happy with my decision to leave it in Albuquerque.)

- Vaughn

[Fred Voorhees]

My interest was "sparked" by my paternal grandfather who was a carpenter/mason/woodworker sort of all around handyman. He kind of did it all. I wish he was still around to see how far I've taken my woodworking. Back when he was still alive, I hadn't even had my new garage and workshop building up and running yet, so I was thriving on a simple old Craftsman tablesaw and a few hand tools and power tools over in the old attached garage which is now the new bar room.

I knew that I wanted a dedicated wood shop and once the garage was built, I was up and running. I'm as happy as a clam!!

[Don Baer]

I grew up with wood working of one type or another. My dad was an electrician by trade but he was never afraid to tackle some sort of carpentry project. Some of my earliest memories growing up was dad doing projects such a room additions etc. One Christmas when I was very young my folks gave my brothers and myself a powered jig saw for a Christmas present. I couldn't have been much over 5 or 6 at the time. Dads been gone for some ten years now but I still have some of his tools in my shop. I still use the table top 8 inch Makita saw that he used after he retired.