Getting back to WW'ing after layoff

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi All,

Due to a recent move and home fix up for sale, I haven't been able to do any woodworking for more than a year. This really sucks as I was just beginning to get the hang of things after three years of woodworking. Now I feel like I'm back to square one again after all this time.

I built hardwood tables, did some veneering, and some turning. Like I said I was feeling pretty good about how I was progressing in this great hobby when I had to get my home ready for sale. I worked like a dog on that and this was the beginning of the end of my fantastic hobby.

So my question to you who have done this and been out of ww'ing for awhile is how do you get back into it? I think the safety aspect bothers me the most. I have a very healthy respect for all my power tools but felt safe around them after three year of using them. Now I feel like I have to get over this fear of my power tools again and figure out how to do things again. Anybody here go through this? I won't have a shop set up for a couple of months; all I can do is read this forum and wish I had a shop now. But at least I know it's going to be soon.

Thanks Alan

[Lou Morrissette]

Alan,
I was in the same situation a few years back when I retired. It took me a year to get two houses ready for sale and then a move. My only involvment with woodworking was the carpentry required to do the necessary repairs to the two properties. After about 6 months of getting settled into the new home and setting up a new shop, I started to "play" again. I also found myself a little timid around my power tools. The one saving grace is that I also knew my power tools and their behavior. The high regard for safety never realy goes away. With a little patience and time, the confidence comes back. Just like riding a bike.:D
Take it slow and you'll be experiencing the joy that our hobby brings us in no time.
Good luck.

Lou

[Don Bullock]

Alan, I've been away from woodworking, except for some little fix-up type projects, for over twenty years. Yes, getting back into it is taking a while for me as well. I fully understand what you are feeling. Much of my time recently has been used reading books, magazines, the different wwing forums, going to some seminars and demonstrations and searching for equipment and tools. In order to actually get started working with wood I decided to plan out some projects, purchase the equipment and materials needed for those projects and get started with one that had a deadline. The deadline was met so I have that first one behind me and it feels great. I'm getting very excited to being close to finishing my second project that I've already started and will be starting the third one this afternoon after work. I have already signed up for a class on furniture making at a local WoodCraft store that will start just as school gets out for the summer.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Alan, I hope you get the chance to get set up with a shop again soon. I wouldn't worry about being "away" for almost a year. As for being careful and wary around power tools, Are you trying to convince us that it's a bad thing? I submit that being careful will be very much to your benefit and be a great help in retaining the approprite number of digits.:D Now get out there and leave the decorating to the wife, a husbands place is in the shop.;)

[Jim Becker]

Alan, I was forced to "lay off" woodworking for about a half a year or more after we adopted our darling daughters. When I did step back in the shop, it was like I never left, although I was, of course, staying "in touch" via SMC voraciously the whole time!

'Just get out there and get to work. Pick a project and execute on it. Safety isn't something you forget. In fact, it's something we all have to think about constantly no matter how much shop time we get or don't get.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks guys. So it looks like it can be done. :) I'm getting so tired of just reading magazines and not actually doing things. I just got back from a pottery class but the whole time I'm working with the clay I wish I was making sawdust. But it is a lot quieter. Thanks again for all the good wishes and ideas. Alan

[Jim Becker]

I just got back from a pottery class... Now, there's a SLIPPERY slope....:D:D:D..in the truest meaning of the word!

[Tom Maple]

Hi All,



I think the safety aspect bothers me the most. I have a very healthy respect for all my power tools but felt safe around them after three year of using them. Now I feel like I have to get over this fear of my power tools again and figure out how to do things again.

Alan,
I hope you never lose your fear of power tools. When you feel safe around them is when an accident happens.
While taking a timber harvesting course the instructor told us to always be scared of what a chain saw can do, when a person becomes comfotable with the chain saw is when an accident occurs.
Best of luck in setting up your shop. Be safe and enjoy this wonderful hobby.
Tom