Tell Your Story: How Did You Get Hooked on Woodworking

[jim oakes]

It seems that most woodworkers are passionate about the craft. I think it would be interesting to record how we got started and a brief history of our woodworking experiences.

Here is my story.

I first "got hooked" on making things by reading Popular Mechanics as a kid. I bought my first table saw at the age of 8. I still remember the add in the paper for it, $25 and it was a great saw! Even as a kid I wanted to see how things were built and figure out a way to do it myself.

When I was 17 I moved out on my own and rented a small house. I studied design magazines and wanted really cool (expensive) furniture for my empty house. By then my table saw was long gone, but I thought why not buy some good tools and make my own furniture. My first piece was a redwood and leather chair. It looked good but failed to hold-up. I found out why hardwoods and good joinery are needed.

From age 17 to 20 I had a shop in a rented basement with a Montgomery Ward radial arm saw as the only stationary machine. I got a job full time in a big (30 person) millwork shop. At night I made furniture for family and friends. I bought my first pro machine. I drove to the factory and got a Safety Speed Cut panel saw. What a step up that was!

By age 21 I bid on a big job making office furniture and got it. I quit my day job, bought a new Powermatic 66 table saw and became a self employed woodworker. This was in 1972 and the Delta Unisaw was the standard. The salesman told me "the 66 is new to the market but cost the same and is built better". They gave me no interest financing and it cost $500 total delivered, set in place and free on site help from the Powermatic rep!

From 1972 to 1977 I started to earn a good income,but to much was going to taxes. My accountant said "buy a building,don't rent". The only place I could afford was a small brick and stone hotel built in 1884. It had a huge walk out basement and was zoned for manufacturing, great! The first floor was a vacant (Elks or Moose ) lodge complete with a stage, great for my bachelor pad/loft/ showroom. The downside was the top floors had apartments and tenants. I didn't want to be a Landlord,I was way to busy making furniture. My accountant pointed out I would pay little or no taxes for years and actually make money from the rents. The accountant was right, it was the best investment I ever made.

From 1977 to 1980 when I wasn't busy with jobs in the shop, I restored the hotel. The TV show "This Old House" didn't even start till 1979 so at first I was considered an oddball for restoring instead of remodeling. I went to great detail grinding knives to reproduce moldings and learned a lot. When it became popular to restore the old stuff I was very busy. After all my showroom was my restored hotel. I was lucky enough to do lot of work for the state historical society. Everything from 2 flights of handcarved stairs to building modern exhibits. I even put together and dismantled an entire room of wood paneling for an exhibit. It was the office of a famous politician that had been stored in a warehouse for 90 years. In my last years in business I designed and sold high end custom furniture. Around 1990 I sold all my portable tools,and leased out the shop and machinery to a fine woodworker.
I thought I was done with woodworking,and I wanted to travel. You could say I was "retired" because I lived on rental income and investments.

I truly thought I would never get into woodworking again, but in 2001 I got some tool catalogs and a woodworking magazine, and got hooked again! I told my wife " IT MIGHT BE FUN TO HAVE A SHOP". I designed built a new house (full of custom furniture and millwork of course) and a shop in 2004. Now I just do woodworking for fun.

Please post your stories. How and why did you get into woodworking?

[Peter Quadarella]

My story (and history) is a lot shorter! Last year I started reloading because ammunition was getting too expensive and I was shooting a lot more often.

I needed a bench to reload on and decided to make a real basic, but sturdy one. I never before made anything whatsoever, even out of 2x4s or anything. Anyway, I screwed this bench together, out of 2x4s, 4x4s, and 3/4" plywood and it was sturdy. And it was really nice being able to use this bench that I made myself - I was proud of the ugly thing.

After a month or so, I decided to take a shot at building a little cedar side table for the back yard. It came out decent :). Then I got ambitious and made the Jake's chair version of the Adirondack chair. That did it for me, and the rest is history.

[Matt Meiser]

This will come up a lot, but I blame Norm. My first projects were built when I lived in an apartment--a couple tables. I bought precut lumber at Lowes, including a glued up panel for the top. I made all my crosscuts with a plastic miter box and a miter saw. The joints were just dowels and metal reinforcements inside. I had a 2BR apartment, so I could do finishing in the 2nd BR with a fan in the window and the door closed. My BIL still has them as far as I know. Things really kicked into gear about 5 years later when I sold my drag car (which I enjoyed building but not racing, and breaking) and put the money towards the WW hobby.

[Eric Fuller]

I never had any thought about woodworking until about 5 years ago. I bought a Japanes puzzle box on Ebay and thought it was the coolest thing ever! Started collecting puzzles and quickly found that the only interesting ones are handcrafted in very small numbers and many designs are almost impossible to find.

I started thinking about making them myself and remember being confused how they got the middle part out of a notched stick...I could figure out the two end cuts, but I couldnt figure out how to get the middle part out. That's how I learned what I chisel does.

Anyway, ended up buying a nobex miter saw, set of chisels and square poplar sticks from home depot. Later I *really* moved up and bought a belt sander! Within 6 months I moved to a place with a small garage and set up my first real shop with power tools and such...used the insurance money when some lady pulled out in front of my motorcycle. Almost 5 years later and I do it for a living. Life's funny.

My first shop:

http://www.cubicdissection.com/temp/workshop1.JPG

[Terry Teadtke]

Years and years ago I took woodshop in high school because it sounded like fun. I knew nothing about woodworking because no one in my family did woodworking. My only experience working with wood up to that point was building forts and stuff out of whatever lumber we could scrounge up in the neighborhood. Our work was primitive at best. Anyway the first day of woodshop the shop teacher was introducing us to equipment I had never seen before like a planer, cabinet saw, jointer, and so on. The shop teacher had the class stand on each side of the cabinet saw and calmly explained that although all shop equipment was dangerous, the cabinet saw was the most dangerous. He then proceeded to turn the saw on, and then tossed a piece of scrap wood into the blade. That piece of wood shot like a rocket across the shop and his point was made. But what really struck me as the most amazing thing I had ever seen and instantly turned me into a lover of woodworking was the demonstration of the jointer. He demonstrated the jointer by jointing two 1 x 6’s and then putting the edges together and showing the class a perfect joint between two boards ready for glue up. No gaps at all. I had no idea that two boards could be glued together without a gap! So he went ahead and glued up the two boards, clamped them, and said he would show us more the following day. It sounds really naïve but again, I knew absolutely nothing about woodworking. The following day the shop teacher picked up the 2 boards he had jointed and glued up the day before and explained that even though the boards were only held together with yellow glue, the glue joint was stronger than the wood itself. I found that really hard to believe but his next demonstration took care of that. He calmly took the two glued up boards and hit then on the table breaking them in two. I’m thinking the boards broke at the glue joint but they broke about an inch away from the joint and the glue held. It took all of two days for me to become a woodworker for life.

Terry

[Larry Nall]

Photography is my first hobby, but frames are so darn expensive, I thought I'd built my own. I quickly realized my crapsman tools weren't up to the challenge. I wondered how to score a fortune in tools just to build frames. Well, the LOML wanted her kitchen remodeled.

After one kitchen, a couple of room remodels, various pieces of furniture, I have a decent set of tools and a nice-sized shop is nearing completion.

I haven't taken many photos lately and I've still only managed to build a couple of frames. But, just just wait till the shop is finished...

[Greg Hines, MD]

I took woodshop in the 7th grade, not really learning much from the bus driver who was the teacher. He did teach us a lot about safety, and always made us wear safety glasses, which was handy the time that my brother almost caught an offcut coming off a miter saw.

We built all kinds of things when I was younger, including a 30' deck, a 12' tall entertainment center, and numerous other projects at the parents house.

When I got out of school, I wanted to make sure that I could do some woodworking, so I built a bench and got some cheap-o Ryobi tools, but the drill I still use. The rest I rarely touch, though the light is handy, and pretty bright.

Now I use the Shopsmith for a lot of small projects. I particularly like to turn mallets for the Scout Troop to use for hammering stakes in. I also love working on the router table.

I would second Norms influence on my interest. It really does not matter what he is building, I will watch it.

Doc

[Karl Brogger]

I think it would be interesting to record how we got started and a brief history of our woodworking experiences.

HA HA HA HA!!! I needed a job. It's pretty easy to do. The only real traits that are required is that you be anal retentive, and pay attention to detail. Both of which I well. Just shy of ten years later I'm still doing it. I started when I was 17, and dropped out of school earlier that year.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I got out of the Navy and was working for a company servicing a single CT scanner. My neighbor was a building contractor. I stopped by his construction site one day. I jumped in to help him and his siding crew. The next day I was there again as I was bored working 4 hours per week. The next day he hired me part time with the understanding if my pager went off I was gone. Between jobs, he layed off his crew but kept me on. We built a couple of houses and gutted and remodeled one. The next year I got promoted to management and moved to the Chicago area. I bought a home with an unfinished basement and finished it. I got tired of city life, stepped down and eventually transferred to Idaho. I watched a lot of TOH and NYW. I remodeled a lot of my house, retrussed the carport in place, and replaced the header on the carpot. 7 years ago I broke my back. While recovering I needed something for physical therapy so I designed and built an octagon gazebo for my wife. No drawings...all in my head. Then I bought a set of NYW plans and built an oak sideboard for my wife. She could have retired but came to me and had me hire a contractor to build the empty shell of my shop. I finished it eventually after recovering from an attack by the turners here. I'm finally at the stage of building cabinets in for the shop. I may start turning again this weekend.:D

[Mike Heidrick]

When I was a kid (7-10ysld) my neighbor had a shop with a craftsman TS, RAS, and this rack full of power hand tools - drills, belt sanders, circular saws. No jointer or planer or router - just the stuff needed to do building construction and home remodeling. He let us kids come in the shop when he was there and we built go-karts and skateboard ramps and bike ramps and tons of stuff - no RAS or TS or circular saws though. He salvaged a lot of wood and gave use the scraps to use. As I got older I got trained on the larger tools in his shop. By 7th and 8th grade Woodshop I had used quite a few tools. I was hooked.

Only in the last 6 years have I had a shop. Before that it was powertools and hand tools working on a picnic bench or on the front step of my apartment. Once I got the shop I started recreating the shop I used back as a kid - only now with the power of researching all WW tools, wood forums, and a good job to pay for the tools! Came in from the shop at 12:15am tonight. Man I love spring evenings in the shop.

Sad part is after I moved out to go to college, the neighbor that got me started in WW lost interest in remodeling and never pursued WW any more as a hobby. Now he gardens as a passion. Glad I was there when I was - Otherwise I would be on a gardening forum! Tractor forums do not count!

[Dave MacArthur]

My Dad always had a basement woodshop while I grew up, I started out being the B-man, helping with sheets on the TS and cleaning up. When in 6th grad, the General Contractor who was building our new house took the $$ from 40 projects, left his wife, and moved to the Caymans without paying the subs. My Dad had to finish it from sticks only, after his day office job...my younger brother and I had responsiblity thrust on us young! We helped every day after school doing our task list, then with Dad when he got home. I "apprenticed" with a neighbor who was my biology teacher and also an electrician--I ran all the emt conduit (Delaware, required in residential) in the walls, put in the boxes, lights, burglar alarm, stereo and TV to rooms, intercom etc., pulled the wires, and hooked it all up. He checked it all.

We did the drywall (not ceilings), paint, cedar siding, and helped two hired carpenters with shimming etc., so learned a lot.

We finished it in about a year, and then I helped my Dad build cabinets for it as we lived there, all the bathroom vanities, kitchen, etc.

Early on I saw that being able to do your own work gave you an incredible sense of independence and self-worth; and it all was based on my Dad's woodshop. Until I joined the AF and moved away at college, I continued to help Dad in the shop and make furniture etc.; woodworking for me means time spent with my Dad when I was a boy, learning to be a man and how to be self-sufficient.

[Denny Rice]

I'm 41 yrs old and was turned onto woodworking as a hobby in the 7th grade. It was an elective you could take in Jr High,. I continued to take it in the 8th, 9th, 10, 11, and 12th grade. I loved my shop class, my shop teacher was a mentor to me (he also taught me drivers ed..LOL) and as a junior in High school for a summer job the school system let me be an assistant to my shop teacher to teach woodworking to disabled kids, it was a really cool time and a lot of fun. After high school, I didn't have the "money" for my own shop, so I enrolled in night school classes at the High school to continue woodworking until the school decided woodworking was not important any longer and sold everything in an auction. Then not knowing how I was going to continue with a lifelong hobby, my wife and I took out a small personal loan and I purchased an old tablesaw, jointer, planner. I have since replaced these items with newer tools since, but if it was not for my wife, I probably would not have my shop today.

[Judy Kingery]

Jim, mine's pretty short as well, started as a kid, oh doing various projects, but mostly turnings. My Dad taught me and we enjoyed the shop growing up. Then sorta took about 30 years off for a career, and went back to it, now enjoy it about full time. Or any time the mood strikes. It is nice to have a fully equipped shop for what you most like to do and in my case, I do, it's turning. Best to you and interesting thread! Jude

[Johnny Kleso]

Some dude on PBS in a flannel shirt, I would have to say its all his fault.....

Hand tools I dont remember where but I had just bought what I thought was my last sander I needed and read an artical on hand planes how there is no dust and a nicer finish and its been down hill since them.......

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

I took the blue pill :D
(apologies to The Matrix)

WW'ing always facinated me. I consider it the next logical step in the grand scheme to drain the Engelhardt bank account to zero. Guns, knives, fishing (& the boat) and computer stuff, all became too manageble - from a $$ perspective.
I dabbled at video slots for a few years as a means to drain the vault.

It came down to rehabbing old British Motorcycles or buying WW'ing tools.

I searched for a BSA 441 Victor Special - and ran the idea past SWMBO.
She said "You can have a MC, when I can have a live in boyfriend".
Pftt, says I, "long as the guy mows the lawn every week and takes out the garbage"..."she gets this half annoyed look on her face at this point so i figure I better dig myself out and follow up with "Well, in baseball they bring in the relief pitcher in the 7th inning right?".
Conversation went downhill real fast after that.:D

Ok -seriously.
WW'ing always facinated me since i was a kid. When we picked up some rental property, I needed some tools to do the rehab work. It's blossomed from there. :)

[J. Z. Guest]

My grandpa on my dad's side was a woodworker in his retirement. Before retirement, he was a machinist, an airplane mechanic (for WWII warbirds) and a flight instructor. He couldn't fly in the war due to having to wear glasses, so he was retained as instructor. (he was the top student prior to that)

So in his retirement, he did woodworking as a hobby only when he wanted to. Only when he felt like it, as he didn't want it to feel like work again. He built a grandmother clock for my grandma; started in 1967, finished it in 1975. It is walnut that he knew as a tree, which fell down in a storm. After that, he built a rocking chair for me when I was a toddler. Receiving that chair when I was two was one of my earliest memories. I just remember bits & pieces of it; his face, being led out into the garage, and rocking in it for quite a while before I could be coaxed to come back in.

Many years later, I took wood shop in Jr. High; loved every second of it and could not get enough. Later, I took machine shop classes in high school and a class called "Manufacturing", which was half wood & half aluminum work. Although metal work was fun, the end result is not really as universally warm and beautiful as wood.

My grandma on that side is still alive, but she has passed the clock onto me. I still have the rocking chair somewhere in my mom's attic.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q112/jzorns/Woodworking/clock1.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q112/jzorns/Woodworking/clock2.jpg

Again, many years later, I decided I would start it as a hobby and got hooked. Seeing that grandmother clock in my living room is always an inspiration. I wonder if I will ever make anything so beautifully? My family is especially proud that he took the time & effort to bend the wood piece that goes around the door to the face of the clock. I've not seen any other grandmother or grandfather clock where that trouble was taken. My grandma says it was in the bathtub for DAYS.

[Vernon Taylor]

Woodworking has been a progressive disease with me.Shortly after getting married in 1966 I acquired my first power tool ,a quarter inch single speed B&D drill, I thought I now had a complete shop, I actually bought a circular saw blade on an arbor and was ready to build anything.We bought a house in 1969 and I began to do home "improvements" and acquired a skill saw and a CM single speed jig saw,again ready to conquer the world of woodworking.
Found I really liked building things used miles of 1x12 pine.We moved to Virginia from NJ and I discovered hardwoods. At this point we wanted to build a log house which we did with the help of freinds and neighbors,this experience really hooked me into setting up a real shop to build cabinets and built-ins. Several houses later I now have a credible woodworking shop with all the goodies, I consider myself an intermediate hobbyist and hope to develop more skills as time goes on. My primary focus now is building furniture and toys for the four grandchildren.

[David G Baker]

I don't consider myself hooked on woodworking as much as I am hooked on SMC. I have a lot of hobbies from photography to metalworking and pretty much am a jack of all and a master of none.
My woodworking addiction is generally based on projects that need to be done rather than the desire to make something. I was hooked for a while when I was in my 20's and couldn't afford to buy furniture that matched my impression of what my home needed.
I haven't made anything that I can brag about in years, the interest still exists but the energy level has faded. I really enjoy reading about and seeing photos of the great projects that are accomplished by my fellow Creekers.

[Greg Peterson]

The only two things I wanted to do in grade school were band and woodshop. I waited years (6, which in kid years is FOREVER) to be able to do both.

By the time I got to high school I only had room for one elective and I chose band all four years. I missed woodshop all along.

Fast forward twenty five years. Step father had an old craftsman contractor saw that had been in garage fire but suffered mostly smoke damage. He was giving it to my younger brother but he needed my pickup to get it. We ended up storing the saw in my garage 'temporarily'. That was several years ago now I've managed to accumulate more tools and setup a more proper work space for the hobby.

I may not be playing baritone or trombone these days, but I do have a woodworking shop. I guess I have had the best of both worlds.

[Fred Voorhees]

My grandfather on my fathers side of the family was an all around handyman. He had a small shop in his back yard and also down in his basement. I was very close to my grandfather as it was he who also introduced me to my lifelong love....local dirt track stock car racing. I used to hand around with him in his shop, helping out when I could. I had always had an interest in woodworking, but really never had the space to dedicate to, nevermind actually operate, a wood shop. I took wood shop in high school and loved it. As the years progressed, I was the only one that was allowed to borrow my grandfathers stuff as no one else would be bothered to return them in a reasonable time. When he eventually died, he has specific orders that I was to get his woodworking tools and machines. I still have some of them for sentimental purposes.

When my wife and I purchased our home, I kind of worked out of our two car attached garage, but it was inconvenient with the noise, dust and also a 1965 corvette in the second bay. One year, Uncle Sam hammered us with taxes and we decided that it was time to do something about building a real detached garage that would actually be used as a garage. We would therefore remortgage and have a fresh new place for a tax writeoff with the new mortgage interest. That got me thinking about things and I decided that as long as we were building a new garage (a huge two car garage 30X40) I might as well add a second floor and put a true woodworking shop there. The die was cast and it has been love ever since! I am now roughly into my 14th or 15th year of woodworking and am just now getting underway with upgrading the shop from my original purchases of machinery to bigger and better equipment, hopefully stuff that will outlast me in my final years.:D

[Don Pierson]

...it is more like a Black Hole in the universe that sucks everything into it. Retired, bought a Kreg pocket hole kit, built some tomato cages, doghouse, etc. Wanted to make a "picture box" shelf to replace the one over the kitchen sink. Made a life changing decision to use dovetail joints on the "shelf". I have never made that shelf!

Dovetail jigs were more than I wanted to spend on the project. Bought Tage Frid's book and "The complete dovetails" so I could learn how to make dovetails by hand. Thought I had better make a couple of practice dovetail joints, started out marking the boards and concluded it was too much work and I really didn't have the skills required to do a half way decent job.

Since I had been writing computer programs since the Sputnik days the easy (and more fun) way for me was to write a program that prints out a template/pattern rather than marking the boards. As time has passed I moved from dovetails to twisted dovetails and rising dovetails just because they are more fun.

Given the money I have spent on saws, chisels, hand planes, knives, floats, sharpening gear, etc, I should have bought the dovetail jigs...but alas I don't have a wife to save me from myself. Included are some pics I took as I have fallen down into this bottomless pit.

[Tim Thomas]

I have to blame a television that I got when I was about 10 years old. It was a used one that my parents bought in a garage sale so that I could have my own TV in my room. I thought that would be great, but the lousy thing would only pick up Georgia Public Television. That actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because instead of watching mindless network sitcoms, I got hooked on do-it-yourself television programming. Long before the days of Food Network, DIY, HGTV and the like, I spent my Saturdays watching cooking shows, This Old House, The Woodwright Shop, and OF COURSE the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Norm Abram. (I can recite his "safety" speech by heart [annoys the wife to no end] and I still crack up every time I hear him say "ah-sem-bah-ley".)

I also did some small projects with my father when I was growing up, but he only had a few handheld power tools (jigsaw, circular saw, drill) and that limited what we could do. But I watched Norm diligently for 20 years, even through college (my roommates could never understand the obsession), and all that time I knew that SOMEDAY I would have the tools, time, space and finances I needed to finally MAKE something. I've got dozens of sketches of woodworking projects that I planned as far back as middle-school, and sooner or later I will make most of them. I have made a few projects over the past 4 years (jewelry box, garden bench, home theater equipment rack), but I'm really only just now getting my shop together. However, in my heart, I've been a woodworker for just about as long as I can remember. It's really awesome to finally have a chance to do the things I've only been dreaming about for the past 20 years.

[Jim Becker]

I didn't have woodshop in school...took electrical and drafting. I came to this avocation via the home improvement route as well as...watching Norm. That was in about 1997 or so...when I was already 40. 'Bought some tools from that famous mass marketer...poor choices...learned a hard lesson in that...and went on from there, making the decison right then to make more careful investments in tools and learn new techniques with every project.

[Ben Cadotte]

Started for me when I was about 10 I think. Had some money and rode my bike to a small K-mart. Bought a B&D jig saw. Wasn't sure if they were going to sell it to me. So I had made up a plan that it was for a birthday gift. They sold it to me without any questions. I made simple things with just hammer and nails. Parents were divorced so I sometimes hung out with my neighbor. He was a good handyman around the house. worked on his house quite a bit. He would let me help when I cam over to see what he was doing.

When I went to the 6th grade my school district moved 6th from the elementary to the middle school. So from then until I was a senior I had woodshop every semester. In middle school we were not allowed to use the table saw though. Instructor had to do all the table saw work. Band saw, scroll saw we all fair game. Don't ever remember using a jointer or planer though. In HS 9-11 again took shop every semester. Could use all the machines in shop there. Senior year I was in the homebuilding program. 2 HS in my town built a house every year. My school had first shift the other second shift. Since it was half the day, you could not take any electives. Rest of the day was the required classes. Anyway built a large 3,200 sqft house from the foundations up in the school year.

While in HS my mother started a small furniture store. They bought a table saw and I made some simple furniture that kids in college bought up for their dorm rooms. Pretty good gig but I really didn't enjoy it that much as I became an employee of my mother. Which I really didn't like too much. Had grand dreams of my own big shop making furniture. When I graduated I joined the Carpenters union and started the apprentice program. I did that for a couple years but heart was not into it. Never got on with a good company. Was either drywalling all day, or doing concrete form work. Plus I didn't like the instructors in the apprentice program. They would not help you with a project. Said all the information you need is on the drawings.

After a couple years of that I decided it was time to go to college. I kind of mulled around with that not really knowing what to do. I started flight school as I wanted to be a pilot. But didn't have the money to do it right. So that turned into a long drawn out process. I eventually started working in a small lumber yard while in school. I actually didn't mind that at all. Worked there for 3 years I think. Moved from being just a yard guy to sales inside / still yard guy (small place :D ). During this time I would do some work for my mom part time on the simple furniture. I even bought a upgraded table saw, drill press, band saw, and lathe. With my lumber yard connection I also bought a Ryobi lunch box planer, jointer, and radial arm saw.

Eventually I decided maybe a good idea was to go to school for aircraft mechanic and I could work as that so I could pay for flight school (did finish my private pilot). So I went away to school. This was the end of my woodworking for years. I even sold all the equipment to buy mechanics tools when I got my mechanics license (no place to use it).

Finally about 6 years ago I finally settled down and rented a house with a small garage. Started gathering tools again. Didn't have alot of spare money so mostly cheapish tools. Did a few custom kitchen cabinets for the rental house (which I left). Last year we bought a house in Maine with an very long barn converted to garage / storage. I am in the process of putting in a shop in one end of the building now. Every trip home (travel for work now) I clean it up some as we just piled everything in there when we moved. Getting to the point where I have a dedicated area for woodworking.

Had a real desire for woodworking as a kid but didn't know how to follow through. Think I would have enjoyed doing it as a career.

[John Towns]

I read with much interest the stories about getting started in woodworking. Like many others, my Grandfather planted the 'seed'. We would go over to his house on Saturdays, and instead of toys, he would have a fresh bag of nails and some wood. We would make things. While I do not think we evere relly made anything, I do remember the joy of pounding nails into the wood, straightening bent nails on an anvil, and ll the rest. Those sure were happy days.

Thanks for taking me back to those wonderful times. I sure do miss my Grandfather.

Now that I am a Grandfther, I look forward to passing on the legacy of the love of wood to my little ones.

[Mike Gager]

honestly it happened to me about 4 months ago i was looking at some mission/craftsman style furniture and thought to myself, "man that looks pretty simple, i bet i could build that"

i use to be into building race cars and hot rods and i have a nice 2 car garage to work in, i just pushed my car outside and put a for sale sign on it bought me some basic tools and thats all she wrote

i like woodworking SO much better then working on cars i wish i would have found this hobby 15 years ago would have saved myself a lot of grief

[Al Willits]

First time I was introduced to woodworking was in 9th grade, made a shoe rack and got a B on it, instructor said it was a nice towel rack...

Shortly thereafter one of the kids in the class run his hand over the TS blade and I figured I'd get into something safer like sex, drugs and rock and roll.

Years later I started thinking about what I was going to do when I retired, Beasty had already said no to building another drag bike, IPSC shooting is a young man's game plus shooting outdoors in Minn is not a enjoyable year around sport for me, and tournament fishing has a couple of problems, costs to much and its hard to put a boat in the lake in December here.

So I decided on recreational and some tourney fishing for the summer, bought my dream boat and was set...well except for winter and them days you can't get on the lake, that's where woodworking came in, I have absolutely no expertise in woodworking and thought the challenge would be nice.

So I sold all my racing stuff, and bought things to make sawdust with.

That was about two years ago and I have managed to learn how to make lots of sawdust in that time.

Al

[Peter Quinn]

Guess it started when I was about 6 yrs old with a coping saw, a small pine bench and some balsa wood. I loved making 'things', airplanes, bird houses, small piles of chips.

We were a family of contractors, dad an electrician, grampa a plumber with an amateur cabinet shop, my uncle/godfather a trained cabinet maker turned GC. My Dad and his brothers built or remodeled countless homes over the years and as a kid I was taken along to watch or help as required. Learned enough to work on my own home effectively. Dad always had a TS, RAS, and jointer in his shop to build the things that were needed. Of course TOH and NYW were watched religiously by all. I wanted to work for my uncle after high school but Dad insisted I go to college first, saying "Don't get caught in the working man's trap, get an education while your young and you can always come back to this."

My path took me to grad school, then to a career as a chef in NYC, 5 years ago LOML and I left NYC to start our family, she didn't want new construction with sheet rock, vinyl windows and crappy colonial casing, she wanted an "older home with character"! I wanted a wood shop (to help restore said older home with character). Then I got hooked on David Marks and my focus split between home restoration and fine woodworking.

Took a job in a custom flooring mill which led to a position in a custom cabinet/millwork shop. I have a nasty habit of turning hobbies into vocations. It is nice to know your way around a seven head molder though not often useful in the home shop.

In my own shop I'm just now at the point of productivity where results have become predictable and mostly professional. Seems I've spent my whole life getting to this point. The smell of fresh cut wood still makes me smile, and I still like making things, just that the things have become a bit more complicated and expensive.

[Sam Yerardi]

My dad. He seemed to have every tool in the world and knew how to use every one of them. He was a jack of all trades and a master of most of them. Everything from woodworking, electrical work to laying block. It was the early 60's, so he had a lot of old tools from the 40's & 50's. Something about that time when things were much simpler, no computers...
Anyway, he taught me a lot and I was fortunate to have been able to have spent many years with him. He had the whole array of shop power tools as well as handtools. There would always be some tool up on a shelf that I knew one day I would get to see him use. I inherited his tools when he passed on several years ago and I find myself sometimes just sitting in my shop looking at those tools. I have an old hand-crank grinder of his and I remember many a Saturday morning cranking it for him. I watched some of the TV shows about woodworking but I never really got into Norm that much. Not to slam him (because he's turned a lot of people onto woodworking) it always seemed like his shows were an advertisement for Craftsman or whoever's tools he was using so I never felt I was seeing the 'real thing'. My dad always used to say 'if you have the right tool you can make anything'. More often than not with him, the right tool was only what he could afford to own and make do with. In my later years I loved the Woodwright's Shop. Reminded me so much of my dad's shop and approach to things. No unique jigs, screaming routers, no ringing tablesaws, but a lot of solid advice about woodworking. Just what I learned from my dad...

[Randal Cobb]

While I still call myself a "newbie", I've been doing it in one form or another since I was a child, and I owe it all to my father. He spent his entire life (after he got out of the Air Force) in the lumber industry (almost 50 years). He was ALWAYS working on something out of the wood he brought home from work. I remember "pecky" cedar fences, benches, furniture, etc. coming out of his shop like an assembly line. The "good stuff" always ended up in the house (mahogany, teak, oak, cherry, etc).

When my dad passed away, I wanted to carry on that legacy with my son (who carrys my father's name). So, I started my very first project in the form of a set of QSWO shaker style bunk beds. I even used some of my father's ashes in the glue so I can claim the piece as an heirloom, and so the kids will have something to fight over when I pass on myself. It came out beautiful and much better than I had anticipated, so, that led to other furniture projects around the house. I now have a list of projects that will last me several years. And since my wife is overly pleased with the results so far, she doesn't say too much when I go out and spend uber-dollars on lumber and tools. When my son is old enough to start using the "big tools", I'll start teaching him in the same way my father taught m; hopefully, he'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Cheers!
Randy

[jim oakes]

Thanks, this is all great stuff.
I had another memory from when I was 5 years old. I had an uncle that made all the cabinets for his house and many of his friends. He had a little shop in his basement. When I would visit I was allowed to play in the basement alone, but only after I got a stern warning not to touch anything in the shop area.

I remember standing in the basement looking at those little machines and thinking " what does this knob do, and what is that thing for". Mainly I was thinking GOD I want to touch this stuff so bad!

[Lee Koepke]

I will go back and read all the other responses later...

For me, I am 4th generation General Contractor. I am genetically wired into building things. Most of my history and experience has been either new construction of structures, or renovations. Never any old restorations ( although the desire is strong ). In HS, never took shop, but did work for my dad "in the business". He had a true carpenter in his shop that build almost all the cabinets for the commercial buildings. Didnt know it then, but my limited time with him left some stong memories.

Years later, after college .. beginning my very own GC life, worked with a Superintendent that built miniature dollhouses for his Granddaughters. I told him " I could never build that ... " his response, also quite memorable, "you will. One of these days you will have kids, and THEY will teach you the patience you need to be a woodworker".

Well, I am 40ish now and have a 17 yr old step son and am finding the early stages of that patience he mentioned. 5 or 6 yrs ago, I restored a 1965 Rockwell TS ... real cast iron. I now have a brand new Grizzly and its only the beginning.

My first M-T craftsman inspired side table is under construction, and I ( hopefully ) will post my pics soon.

[Larry Alles]

Hello,

I started working with my father in his workshop when I was about 12 years old. We built many things together. A pool table was one of the things I remember the most. Used pressed wood for the bed and cut our own rubber
rails for the bumpers. We then made many bumper pool tables for family and friends. I still have one in my basement for my grandchildren to use when they get a few years older. My father is now going to be 93 years old in August and still is making child's table and chair sets. (made about 40 or more sets since he retired). I'll be 65 in June and plan to follow in his foot steps. Mighty big ones. Hope I enjoy making things as much as he did.

[Andrew Pezzo]

My interest in woodworking was born out my other hobby - home theater.

Unfortunately my dad was not the handy type, he was a lawyer that spent all his time in the office. Baseball is what he passed onto me which is by far my biggest passion to this day. Because of this I was never handy or learned any DIY type skills.

Fastforward to me early 20's the roommate I had at the time had this awesome home theater system. I got hooked quickly and when he moved out of the apartment I got my own surround sound system and big screen TV. After many upgrades (bigger is definately better for speakers and TV's) I realized finding the right tv stand/audio rack to fit my specific needs either didnt exist or would cost a lot of money. Since my student loans like to eat my disposable income expenisve furniture was out of the question. I had a friend that had great woodworking skills help my customize a TV stand I bought at Ikea. That got me thinking, building stuff meant I could make it to fit any need I had.

Last summer my wife and I bought our first house with a one car garage. I finally had the perfect place to set up shop and started getting acquiring tools with the Ridgid 3650 table saw as the centerpiece (love the saw).

As I mentioned ealier I had no one teach me anything and as a kid I didnt really have any interest in this sort of thing (which I wish I could change). So far all of my projects have showcased just how little I know but I have a good 30-40 years left to learn.

So, basically my desire for the perfect TV stand is what got me into this hobby. And I get lots of praise for the TV stand I use now which is very rewarding (but was actually very easy to make).

[Mike Sandman]

Got a C in WW in the 7th grade (51 years ago) and even that was a gift. My father's tool box consisted of two rusty screwdrivers, a jar of screws and nails, a 12-oz. hammer and a handsaw that he never used. But he owned a factory with a machine shop, run by a machinist named Oscar who was willing to show me what he was doing. He taught me good shop work habits. (I got an A in 8th grade metalworking shop.)

Still, I didn't really get interested in WW until I got married and was the recipient of my brother-in-law's bragging about the kitchen cabinets he'd built. I thought they were beautiful and perfectly done, but he was a condesending ass just the same. I figured, "If that jerk can build stuff like that, so can I."

Anyway, when my wife and I bought a house the first thing I did was buy the smallest cheapest Sears 10" table saw. We'd bought a fixer-upper and ran out of money for hiring contractors, so I got to work. Once we got the house in shape, the natural step was to start building storage space, and it's gone on from there to where I've built some things that are almost as good as those cabinets by brother-in-law built.

My 7th grade WW teacher would be stunned and Oscar the machinist would be pleased.

[Colin Giersberg]

Well, I have to give credit to my father also. He came home from work one morning with two hand carved (I guess) monoplanes that looked like low wing Cessnas. Anyway, we played with them for quite some time, before setting them aside or breaking them.Frankly, I am not sure what happened to those airplanes, but they were solid wood, made out of three or four pieces. I don't even know how he made them, for sure. His only toos were a circular saw, jigsaw and an electric drill.
Several years later, after he had passed away (1978), I saw The New Yankee Workshop, and Norm re-kindled my interest in making things on my own. While it is only a hobby, I do wish I could build more furniture, since I love the smell of fresh cut wood. However, work has a bad way of infringing on my play time. Now, if I could just find one of thos airplanes, I would be even more happy.

Regards, Colin

[Joe Chritz]

I'm a poor public servant with expensive tastes.

I can get top of the line stuff for middle of the road costs if I don't count labor.

Besides its cool having someone ask where you got your (insert item here) and you casually say you built it.

Joe

[Peter Luch]

This is only my second post but I love reading all the topics here, Great Site!

My dad was a weekend wood butcher but from the very first time I smelled sawdust I was hooked, always loved the smell of wood.

Never did much woodworking till I was out of high school but then got a job (second one) as a helper doing concrete formwork.

At 19 I got in the carpenters union and worked for a framing company for about 1-1/2 years then switched to commercial buildings in the L.A. area.
Did this until I was 38.
All the time I would do little projects but nothing much as I was single and only had rented places, never much room for a shop.
Got married early 30's and kids so we moved to San Diego and I built our first house.

Changed Jobs and got into computers, started an online company in 96 during the hey day. Took so much time did not get much woodworking in even though I had the garage for a shop.

Well 5 years ago sold everything, retired and moved to Kona, Hawaii.

Bought the house my wife wanted and now have the time to do all the woodworking I want as I'm remodeling the house from top to bottom.
Of course the garage is smaller but I make do with it.
Got great exotic woods and even get newly cut woods from tree trimmers and take it to a small sawmill.
Joined the woodturners club here and got a old Rockwell/Delta lathe from my buddy who upgraded.

Life is good!!:D

Aloha, Pete

[Danny Thompson]

There were really 2 turning points for me: 1) concrete countertops and 2) exotics.

I had been watching Norm off and on for years, always loved his show, and dabbled with rough work--pine bookshelves, molding, etc. Even as a kid, my brother and I built a 2-story "fort" out of 2x4's and 1/2" ply. College it was a pine bookshelf. Later, flimsy trellises, garage shelves, that kind of thing.

My first venture into furniture was when I reconfigured an old, out of style "Cherry" China cabinet from Sears (really it was poplar and cardboard with a cherry finish) into a more contemporary display cabinet. I removed the top doors, added a wine rack, replaced the lower door panels with fluted glass, squared off the top, added crown molding, and painted it black. To help with the project I bought a cheap $99 Delta Compund Miter Saw and cheap $99 Table Saw.

Then came the concrete countertops; Turning Point #1. LOML and I needed to replace our countertops and were looking for a decent quality DIY solution. That's when we ran across http://www.chengdesign.com/. We were hooked! The project required me to build molds out of melamine and 4 large (3'x7') heavy duty workbenches to keep the molds level during the curing process. I learned a lot on that project! It almost killed us, but we came out fearing nothing.

Then I caught David Marks's show on DIY Network. OK, a little fancy for our humble suburban home, but very interesting. And the exotic wood was amazing. Amy Devers's entry table stained with leather dye brought it more down to my level. The Mrs. asked me to try nightstands, and taking Amy's table as inspiration, I did it!

Not long after that, the Mrs. bought a headboard from the Pottery Barn Outlet and asked if I could make a matching footboard and side rails. Again, I was in way over my head . . .

Turning Point #2: In quick succession, I embedded my TS and router in one of my massive workbenches, picked up a scratch and dent Biesemeyer with a 7' rail, subscribed to www.finewoodworking.com (http://www.finewoodworking.com), took a trip to my local exotic wood supplier (www.colcofinewoods.com (http://www.colcofinewoods.com)), bought my first rough sawn boards (african mahogany), read my first Derek Cohen article, found "the Creek," and did it! Not a perfect match, but real live furniture! Now I am totally on the hook.

Since then I can't seem to stop picking up the odd exotic board whenever they go on sale. I've made a sitting bench (Padauk), a mail sorting center (MDF), a garden bridge (SYP), a 6' rolling tool cabinet (Birch, Maple, and Red Oak), and a drill press table (Maple and Makore). The question now is, what to do with the remaining Maple, Leopardwood, Bubinga, Makore, Padauk, Purpleheart, Wenge . . .?

One important part for me is this. Now that I am working in interesting wood, I want to make items that will stand the test of time. Maybe it is just that I am getting older and have young kids. My grandparents are gone, and the few things of theirs that have been passed on are of great value to me. I think the word is, "generativity," the desire to pass something on to the next generation. Maybe a way to gain immortality. I hope to create something that my children and grandchildren will cherish.

With the house up for sale, I'm hitting a lull. No real projects. I've accumulated a few hand tools, but without a real need definable until we move into the new house, I'm having trouble getting into the shop.

Just last week I picked up some discounted walnut, thinking I could make a shooting board. My first time to work with walnut, and with my new LV BUJ. We'll see.

Guess I can't complain.

[Danny Thompson]

WOW, Jeremy! That is gorgeous!

[Bill Wyko]

When I was in Junior High my shop teacher was a mean SOB. He beat me up on a couple occasions. He hated me because I was related to the worst students he'd ever had(my Uncles) Back then they could get away with that stuff. So obviously he had no influence on my desire to do wood work. Later on I wanted to build a fort so my dad said here's some saw horses, a circular saw and some plywood. Don't cut yourself. Being the extremist I am |i built a 3 story plywood fort from some old crates and the plywood. It was such a feeling of accomplishment I guess it stuck. When I was 19 I moved back to San Diego and became a carpenter for about 7 or 8 years. Then I started building woofer boxes for my friends and ended up in car audio and have been self employed for about 16 years now. Then I saw the Incra Jig about 12 or 13 years ago and started playing around with that. Never really got heavy into it but made a few things once in a while. THEN I got a Jet Mini Lathe in Dec 06' that was all she wrote. Now I'm hooked on all of it. Turning, flat work, Veneering, Bending, all of the artistic stuff. David Marks has been an inspiration ever since his show hit the airwaves. Now I'm trying to make a name for myself. So here we are. When I started in car audio I made the top 100 installers in the country list within 2 years of being in the industry and have been on the list 7 times. When I was a framer I was building 5000sq ft homes within a couple years. I can only hope that I can turn this into a "hobby" that can make a name for its self. Thank goodness I have advice from all of you. You've all been quite an influence on my desire and my knowledge. Thanks to all of you.

[Eric Barker]

My Granddad was a general contractor and my Dad built cabinets for him as a second job. Funny, but I never had any desire to work with wood when I was a kid.

When I graduated from college I decided I didn't want to sit behind a desk so I joined the Carpenters Union and framed houses for a few years. When I moved to Oregon I got my contractors license and built homes for a while but decided being a sub was a lot less hassle. I opened a cabinet shop and have worked with wood ever since, in one form or another. I guess it was in my blood.

[Josiah Bartlett]

My dad build the log home I grew up in when I was 3 years old. When I was 10, I got in trouble for using my dad's router by myself when he wasn't home. I had used it to make a bunch of marble tracks in a pine board, and it was a pretty nice board.

At age 16 I bought an old Delta contractor's saw at a garage sale. At 18 I had built my own electric guitar, several speaker cabinets, a dollhouse for my sister, a couple of bookshelves, and a small boat.

[jim oakes]

[quote=Josiah Bartlett;820634] When I was 10, I got in trouble for using my dad's router by myself when he wasn't home. quote]

Yes, LOL that's the kind of trouble I got into as a kid. The table saw I had at 8 years old was only to be used when an adult was home. But you know a kid has work to do parent's home or not.

[Anthony Fields]

Dad would always putz around trying to do something.. but as Dads can be..with 3 kids in the house. Too busy to teach me. So, in High School I latched on to my Shop Teacher and grabbed whatever knowledge I could. Then after that it's been trial and error. I stink at it and I'll admit it. Somethings are just genetic...:D

[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!

[Jon Grider]

but I've done quite a bit of lurking.My woodworking interests I attribute to my grandfather,who at 75 years old built his own retirement home for himself and my grandmother.I was just a 5 year old kid,but I loved the smell of fresh cut 2 by lumber and the excitement of seeing the progress of a house being built from the ground up.I considered myself lucky when he would need my 'help' to cut off a 2X4 with his well worn but sharp handsaw.
I bought my first TS about 35 years ago later to be followed by a jointer,planer ,bandsaw,lathe,mortiser,drill press,and all the hand power tools thatwere necessary for whatever the job at hand dictated.I later fell in love with hand planes, old chisels,draw knives ,saws and antique tools[mostly user grade].
My projects,many for pay include tables,chairs,custom cabinets,kitchen cabinets,and lately a myriad of fixtures,carts,benches,shelves,etc.for the printing company I work at for my day job.Currently,I have a Maloof style rocker project going on,but the warm weather has taken a lot of my time to do maintenance and repair projects on our home and yard.I do hope to have the rocker done by mid June however.Well,thanks for reading,it has been a pleasure for me to browse these forums before bedtime and I hope to get to know many of you regulars better through this board.

[Doug Swanson]

Both my grandfather and grandmother are the ones who got me interested in woodworking. I was a country kid from Iowa and as such I was in 4H and I remember building stuff with my grandfathers help for the county fair. My grandmother made beautiful jewelry out of wood..usually walnut...I can still smell the lacquer that she used to finish her pieces...Every time I smell walnut it reminds me of their shop on their farm. My grandfathers furniture pieces were ok but his carving was incredible...animals, cowboys, birds....every year they made an ornament for all of the grandkids...I will have them forever....my grandfather is gone now and my grandmother is in a nursing home...but I have great memories...
I've always had the inner "itch" to build stuff...it's what I like to do. My dad owns a welding machining shop and I'm sure some of my desire to build stuff came from him. I only do welding now when I need something for my shop...I trade him (mostly for my mom) some of my woodworking for welding shop time...
My desire to build furniture stemmed from being cheap and not wanting to pay big bucks for crappy store furniture (I don't count tool costs/lumber costs/time costs when building something...seems reasonable :))...and my desire to physically build something. My day job is software development and it is kind of a release to build something physical. I went to a woodworking show in St Paul MN around 1996 and bought my first table saw (Jet contractors) and it has been a slippery slope since then....My ideal weekend is get up early on Saturday...breakfast,paper, good cup of coffee and then head out to my shop for the rest of the day...doesn't get any better than that for me....other than spending time with my 2yr old daughter...she likes hanging out with daddy.

Doug

[Craig McCormick]

I read every story in this thread yesterday. My eyes actually hurt when I finally finished. I'll catch up on the rest tonight.

My dad was in the wholesale hardware business most of my life. Dad never new what end of a hammer to hold but he could sell hardware. He is still out there selling at 69. He was always brining home samples of new tools. I was always fascinated with fixing and building things.

When I was nine years old the main floor toilet broke in our home. Dad bought all the stuff to fix it and even started the repair. After a few days with the broken toilet and the parts and tools sitting there I decided to finish the job. It was not for years later that dad told me he could not figure out how to fix it and was shocked to find that I had done it for him.

It was that Christmas that those samples dad received became my Christmas gifts. What other ten year old was excited to get an adjustable wrench in his stocking? (Was I a tool geek?) By the time I was 12 I had a nice little shop in the basement including a Rockwell table saw. I would use my lawn mowing money to buy wood for projects. Dad also brought home one of his sales catalogs from the wholesale company he worked for it was at least 8" thick and must have weight 25 lbs. I would make my Christmas list from that catalog.

By the time I reached 7th grade I was building furniture for my parents in JR high wood shop and refinishing/refurbishing antiques mom would bring home. I took shop all the way through high school.

At 15 I got a job in a local wood shop. Mom thought they would only let me sweep floors but against state law they had me running power tools minutes after I was hired. My best friend and I worked there every summer through high school.

After high school I bounced around from job to job and found I really didn't like to work in a shop all day. Nor was I able to hold a job very long. There was always that token a** h*** that would get under my skin and get me to quit. My dad suggested I try the handyman route. With a new wife and baby on the way I dove into that business. Man I can still feel the exhilarating freedom I felt those first few months of business. I have been in business 18 years now and my best friend from high school has worked for me the last eight. We laugh and have a good time everyday. We choose only positive happy customers rejecting anyone we don't like. We will actually walk off a job if a customer starts in with negative crap.

Back to woodworking.......

Three years ago my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. We decided during treatment that we need to chase more of our goals. The biggest of which was to buy a rural property were she could have a large garden and I could finally have a shop outside of the garage which would free up space for her to park inside. We moved onto our dream property about a year ago. The shop is not complete yet but I work on it a little every week. After completion I will be building new kitchen cabinets, valances and other stuff for the house. Woodworking will continue to be a hobby for me.

You can check out the shop here:
http://www.azcraig.us/New_House_Project.html

Thats my story and I'm sticking with it.

Craig McCormick

[James G. Jones]

I love the idea of being self sufficient. Both of my grandfathers could fix anything that was broken. I remember visiting one grandfather during the summers and just going out to his shop to be amazed at all the various tools. I had no idea what they all did, but there were hundreds of them. Thinking back, I can't ever remember seeing anything with rust, just a thin coating of oil until it was needed again. My father was a GC until he retired. He built everything from houses to hospitals. His real calling however was as a teacher. As a boy I had a question for every occasion. Dad always knew the answers. He would explain patiently, usually with a drawing to illustrate his point, any question I had. He had a full complement of tools in the garage work shop. Most came with the safety warning to don't even think about using them without him there. I got to hold offcuts, drive nails and screws, and tighten nuts and bolts. But while he used the power equipment he would explain the entire process.
Fast forward through college and all its associated knuckleheadedness. My wife and I had moved into her grandparents house after they passed. As we renovated and restored the house, and built much of the furniture to fill it, the purchase of a Sears table saw was all it took to bring those childhood questions back to the front. I found myself remembering more and more of those lessons learned from watching dad. When I got into deep water, I'd pick up the phone. I know a little more now, and the questions aren't as frequent, but the delight in learning something new has never changed. I can only hope that I can inspire my three little ones to love the challenge of discovering something new as I was inspired. My dad and I still talk shop. I still have questions. He still has the answers.

[Mark Elmer]

Hi all,

I am hooked on woodworking mostly because I am hooked on tools! My first workbench was the windowsill of my bedroom when I was about 4 years old. Since that time I have accumulated tools whenever and wherever I can.

I ran a small sharpening business when I was going to high school and later on worked in a carbide cutter shop where we built and serviced carbide cutters and saws.

As a kid my father taught me to not be afraid of power tools but to always show them "proper respect". We had a couple of radial arm saws, drills, and a nice cabinet of Stanley hand tools, etc.

The most memorable project that we made together when I was young was a built in desk / dresser that ran the entire span of one wall in my bedroom. When we sold the house I insisted that we took it with us. I am sure it is still at my folks place somewhere.

Now I have even more tools and several boys of my own and they love to work in the shop. I have taught them to show "proper respect" to the tools. And to always inventory their fingers before and after any shop activity. No lost inventoy so far! :)

[Steve Sawyer]

As a kid I was always building something, either by myself or with some friends. Always had some scheme for something way beyond our capabilities, but it was fun to think about and plan. Really enjoyed woodshop in JHS and my Dad introduced me to drill presses, grinders, drills and once set up a little lathe for me.

In my early 20's my ex-FIL allowed me the use of his wood shop to build a couple of pieces of furniture. After the divorce and a while a single father in the late 70's I began collecting WW tools and machinery, and built some more stuff. At that time I couldn't afford a lot of the equipment, materials and tools that I wanted/needed (old mags from that time have prices not much different from what we're paying today - a lot more expensive when you consider inflation). I then got sidetracked by family and career and while I always maintained a workshop, woodworking kinda languished.

A couple of years ago, I realized that I again had the time (and the money) to get back into this hobby. I've been making a lot of stuff, but most of it has been to get the shop all tricked out, and I'm finally starting to turn out some stuff that has some utility beyond the walls of the shop!

[Brandon Burns]

I got hooked after a trip to the furniture store when furnishing our first house about four years ago. I couldn't believe how expensive this particle board crap was. A friend who works at a furniture store then told me that crap was marked up around 400%. I thought I was fairly handy with tools at the time and told myself I could easily make some of this stuff. And so it began...

[John Dingman]

I got started in Woodworking in Jr. High Woodshop Class with these projects.

Hand Carved Nut Dish:

http://www.johnswoodshop.info/Project%20Images/Projects%20010.jpg

A Little Table with Queen Anne Legs:

http://www.johnswoodshop.info/Project%20Images/Projects%20004.jpg

And a little Arts and Crafts Table:

http://www.johnswoodshop.info/Project%20Images/Projects%20011.jpg

My shop teacher taught us how to use all the tools (including hand tools) we made some candle holders on the lathe as well. It was a very well thought out program. It covered all the bases and I thought it gave me a good foundation to build on, which I am still trying to do. My shop teacher was not big on fancy finishes, everything we made we finished with Johnson's Paste Wax. The items pictured above are still in my Mother's home today and they look as good finish wise as they did the day I finished them. (almost 35 years ago) Maybe I should should paste wax to finish my projects today :D I truly enjoyed the shop class in school, too bad most schools today have cut them out.

John

[Dwain Lambrigger]

I took woodshop in jr. high, and didn't do very well. I didn't care, and was having too good of a time doing other things. My dad called me the wood butcher. Several years later, after getting married, my dad told me about an old dresser he made out of solid maple. We spent four nights refinishing it and getting it ready to move into my new home. We spoke of all the wood working he wanted to do. My dad died not too long after that. I want to work with wood because I enjoy it, but also because I want to make sure that I take advantage of the time to do it. I don't want that regret, and I am enjoying it as I go along.

[Rod Sheridan]

My father was an electrician, so I grew up in a household where everything was repaired by my father.

In high school I took "woodshop" where we were tortured by a teacher who made you hand plane all your material even though the shop had two perfectly good General jointers and planers. (LOL).

I made some things, and continued to do so through post secondary education and into adulthood.

Diann's father is a recently retired English cabinet maker, with an incredible amount of knowledge, and a collection of hand tools that is hard to describe. Unfortunately, he won't sell me the tools, nor will he use them.

My furniture making continues as a hobby now that I'm 50, almost all of the furniture in the house has been designed and built by me.

I went through the usual process, bought some Craftsman stuff, then General and an Oneida cyclone.

Now I seem to be on the Felder/Hammer slippery slope, having replaced my jointer and planer with a Hammer A3-31.

Unfortunately a sliding saw/shaper combination looks interesting, so more of the green machines (and cash) may head out the door.

The hand tool collection has grown over the years, who would have thought that I would have purchased so many old Stanley as well as E.C.Emmerich/LV planes?

Woodworking competes with vintage motorcycles for time/money. Aside from Diann's BMW, I have a 1930 James, a 1975 Norton Commando (original owner) and a 1976 BMW R90/6.

I have to admit that the SC forum has allowed to me interact with, and learn from many wonderful virtual friends.

Oh, speaking of slippery slopes, did I mention that Diann occasionally allows me to use her lathe and that I've been sucked into the vortex and even joined a turning club?

No wonder my mother is still waiting for me to "grow up".

regards, Rod.

[Jeremy Layden]

My lead into woodworking is kind of a sad story. I'm 25 and have always enjoyed working with my hands, have watched prob. all the NYW episodes and had a grandfather that was a master carpenter. About 3 years ago my uncle and his wife were finishing up a complete restoration on a 113 year old farmhouse when his wife (who was fit as a fiddle) had a fatal heart attack. After spending all that time and energy working on the old house together, my uncle couldn't stand to live there with all the memories of his late wife. He was a very skilled woodworker and had basically furnished his own shop right from the Norm's. Same tools and everything.

He made a complete lifestyle change which meant stopping the woodworking. At the time, my wife and I were just moving back home and helping build my grandmother a 25'x40' garage to keep her van in during the winter. My uncle sold his house and so we had to move the tools from the barn into this new garage. One conversation lead to another and in the end I get all my uncles tools and 1000 board feet each of seasoned walnut and white oak he had in store.

What were the tools you say? Here's a small sampling...
Delta Unisaw, Mortiser, dj-20 jointer, 1.5hp dust collector, air cleaner,
5hp SpeedAire 100g compressor, 18" woodmaster with all options, old delta rockwell 48" lathe, 3hp shaper, delta floor drillpress, porter cable brad, finish, and framing nailers, pc belt sander, delta spindle sander, leigh d4, bosch plunge router, dewalt planer, and everything came with extra blades/knives/bits.

Aside from the circumstances that lead to this, I fell into great fortune and am in the process of marketing my new furniture business: Brotherwood Furniture (the stuff came from my mom's brother)

[Larry Rasmussen]

When I was a hippie manufacturing jewler/silversmith in the 70s I needed a booth for the fairs. Built it out of pallets. Then it was display cases for my starving artist shop, used actual oak! Then it was building an addition on the cabin, practically wore out a couple carpentry books figuring out load bearing issues. Next remodeling/repairing the farmhouse built in the 30s room by room. Got familiar with Wells, plumbing and wiring on that one. I sold every tool I had and moved to a rented town house promising myself not to burn up so much time fixing things up. I have long since gotten a traditional job. When I re married and moved to this house I started a few interior fix ups but still avoided taking much on.

Then we got the quote for the kitchen. I used Ikea cabinets but we did some custom things, too and I ended up with a great garage shop that is my end destination for enjoyment these days.

Larry R,
Seattle

[Jerry Olexa]

Watching my Dad (with wonder) as he built things started me....

[Gary Lange]

I have always wanted to get into Woodworking and teach myself how to build some Furniture. When I lived it Illinois I never had a place that I could use as a workshop. So when I retired and moved to Missouri I made sure I had room for a small workshop. Now I have the room and I am putting together a shop to build some stuff. I have a cabinet for the shop hung waiting for the doors to get built. However, I have to build a router table so I can build the doors. I have the table just about finished now so the doors will be coming soon. I will then start on something else for the shop.

[Chris Kennedy]

Gather close around the fire of burning scrap and I will tell you the tale . . . .

It was back in '04. I was a graduate student working on my dissertation. Every morning, I would get up early, make a cup of coffee, sit in front of the computer and start typing. My day would consist of typing with a few breaks for maybe a shower, a meal or two. I would work until my wife got home from work, which usually meant I was putting in ten hour days.

One evening I actually finished. I e-mailed it off to my advisor that night, and then the following morning, I got up, made my coffee and sat down in front of the computer and suddenly thought, "Now what?"

I looked at the study with the sea of textbooks and binders of notes, and decided that it needed organizing. That required a bookshelf. I had nothing better to do, so I'll try to build one.

Sakes alive, it was hideous. Cheap lumber, cuts made with a tiny battery powered circular saw, and hobbled together with screws. But I made it myself.

That was the beginning of the end. I started saving money for more and better tools and have put together a pretty good shop, with a mixture of power tools and hand tools. When I started, I had a basement shop in a rented townhouse, and I built small pieces of furniture. Now, we have changed jobs and changed locations, and changed shops. I have a separate shop now, but with homeownership, my developing skills are often being dedicated to handyman work as well as woodworking.

Cheers,

Chris

[danny haber]

Never had woodworking shop in school, never had anyone in the family do woodworking, etc. Always had this feeling that I could do it and would like to try. Bought my first house in my 20's and a Craftsman radial arm saw. Tried to build simple tables, boxes and stuff like that. Had no idea what I was doing and it showed!!! But, I loved the smell of wood even if the wood was cheap pine bought at the local big box stores. Left woodworking alone (trees were probably happy I did) for bodybuilding for about 12 years or so until we bought our second home. Started watching alot of Norm, reading alot of books and magazines, watching alot of videos, well, you know. Wife suggested I get back into it and I use this statement very loosely. I did decide to get serious about it and bought an Enlon 2hp contractors table saw. I thought that this thing was a beast and for me it was. Scared the you know what out of me the first time I turned it on. More so when I went to try and saw my first piece of wood thru it. Well, I did that without incident and proceeded to start building stuff. I started collecting tools thanks to Woodworkers Warehouse ( hated to see them go) where everyone knew me by first name, ugh, and now have a nice shop. I have built entertainment centers, computer desks for all my kids and myself, display cases, TV stands,
vanities, remodeled rooms in my house including the bathrooms and many other projects once I decided to take things more seriously. Most of the stuff I build is a combination of maple and mahogany (wife's choice).
Got laid off about 5 years ago from fiber optics technician job and ended up buying a FASTSIGNS sign franchise in NJ. Completely new life change for me but I was so busy getting the store running profitably that I have done very minamal amounts of woodworking. Was thinking that I may get back into it by making small boxes of various exotic hardwoods then build on that. All my tools are in excellent condition so other than blowing off the dust I plan on making saw dust again....Danny

[tim rowledge]

He built a grandmother clock for my grandma; started in 1967, finished it in 1975. It is walnut that he knew as a tree, which fell down in a storm.

*Nice* clock. Not a style that would go with my taste in furniture but a good piece of work.

[Shawn Christ]

My father is a carpenter; I grew up helping him and my grandfather do woodworking in their garages. At middle school and high-school age, I worked construction with my dad during the summers. Remodeling, additions, decks, roofs, siding, windows, even new homes. It was great cash during school and even better experience.

My father worked for himself, had no crew, only my brothers and I during the summers. In the early years, there were times where he had difficulty finding enough work. Overall, he made a decent living, but nothing to boast about. Dad told me once, "You will have this knowledge for the rest of your life. But this is tough work. Don't do what I did. Go to college and find a career that you will enjoy so you can give your family a comfortable lifestyle. You'll have plenty of opportunities to do construction and woodworking during your spare time." I followed his advice. His career has become my hobby, and it's something we still enjoy doing together to this day.

My carpentry skills are being put to the test around my home - I love handyman work and my wife and kids like to help. I am also trying to hone my woodworking skills. I've been doing woodworking on my own since 2002, starting with an oak crib for my first-born son. I've been trying to assemble a decent shop since, and am making progress. I just wish I had more time to devote to woodworking, and that projects didn't demand so much of my time.

My aspiration is to become efficient enough at this hobby where I can begin making a little money on the side to be able to sink back into the shop and also my pocket. In time, I'd like to have enough of a 'network' to provide a nice, supplemental retirement income... Seems reasonable, right???

Thanks to all for telling your story and pitching in on this forum...

Shawn

[Rob Renicker]

I was first bitten by the bug at Fort Osage High School in Independence, MO. I took shop class. We worked with everything from metals, to plastics to wood. Wood is what really interested me. I made a jewelry box, turned a bowl, and made sawhorses to sell as a money making project. My mother still has the jewelry box. I still have the bowl and two of the sawhorses are in my shop.

I began collecting some small power tools but couldn't afford anything like a table saw. I built some small things on my own but the lack of tools and funds slowed me down. I gave it up for a few years.

Years later I was invited to the home of my new boss, Jeff Seabaugh. He showed me around his house and behind his garage was a shop that reminded me of Norm's. I was truly envious. We talked a lot and I decided that I could now afford some of those tools I had always wanted. I was ready to buy a Craftsman contractor saw when he intervened. He told me that "Friends don't let friends by Crapsman". He steered me toward a Delta contractor's saw. I loved it and began making my own things and buying more tools. I have turned pens, made clocks, built entertainment centers, created raised panel doors, built bookcases and desks. I have used everything from pine to oak to bubinga to spalted maple. I love this hobby!

My father has since taken up the hobby. I love seeing the things he creates. He has built desks, entertainment centers, a tall case clock, curio cabinets, etc. We have built things together too. It is really fun working with my Dad. (Even though I'm in my forties....)

Not too long ago, I upgraded to a Delta Unisaw and couldn't be happier.

[Tom Clark FL]

Here's a strange story. I started building large amateur telescopes because you couldn't buy one - you had to build them your self back in the early 80s. Fourty scopes later a woodworking friend was visiting my shop and asked where my table saw was. I said I didn't have one because I used a bandsaw. He looked at me like I was nuts and said that it was about time for me to learn about woodworking.
I now have a nice shop that was featured in America's Best Home Workshops, and the PM 66 is getting old.

I'm still building telescopes…

[Michael Schumacher]

Getting hooked on woodworking was a long process to actually get there.

When in high school, I took shop class and built a small cutting board, which wasn't square at all. The teacher (wasn't great one either) didn't let us use anything to figure out if it was square or not. Although he never really did show or tell us how to do it either. After that, I built a shelf with a mirror in the middle of it that I just tore apart since it was very poorly done - again, not much guidance from the teacher, just went with it. My last wood shop project was building a stereo cabinet, which a year ago went to Goodwill. Yeah, kind of sad, but space was an issue and it wasn't being used.

When I graduated from High School, I got into the hobby of Remote Control Airplanes and loved building and flying them. So I got some building experience from that...my last creation was building a duct fan jet and I actually painted it too with a spray gun and automotive paint...of course in my basement shop.

I also watched Norm and the DIY shows - got inspired and thought about building furniture, since the cost of the furniture I liked was outrageous and I knew that I could build that stuff, but the space and amount of tools needed kind of put that on hold.

Four years ago, I started dating this gal from church. One day coming home from flying jets, she asked if there were other hobbies or something I would be interested in. I mentioned that I thought about getting into wood working, but never did due to space and cost. Well, for my birthday she bought me a RAS. I loved it, but knew that I'd need to get a few other things since just that wouldn't be much help in building furniture. Well, 20 days later it was her birthday and I was trying to figure out what I could get her. I knew that she wanted a coffee table, but we never went looking and when she did look, she couldn't find or like any that was there. So in 20 days, I built her a coffee table - that is after purchasing a table top saw. It was just down hill from there.

We're married now for 2.5 years - have a 7 month old son and I'm hoping that I have some great years ahead of me working with my son in the shop. I really look forward to those years!

More of the story of how I proposed is on my web site - yes, wood working related - see my profile if interested.

Michael

[Ron Petley]

My university room mate and I were at a auction, in the 1980's, he comented on a table and said he could build a better one.
I later bugged him about doing woodworking for a living, we both were finished school with poor jobs. After bugging him for a while I thought if it was so good I should do it.
I spent about 6 months of time to collect tools and learn about it from a furniture builder as a "aprentice". Started a company and I built the stuff and my room mate did the sales and all the non wood parts. We did this for for 2 years, before deciding our overhead was to high and packed it in. I have the tools in my garage and happy to have a pro set up. I build stuff on the side and anything else I want for friends and family. It is a exelent past time, and now my 8 year old son is interested in wood working which adds to the enjoyment of working in a shop.
Cheers Ron.

[derek skapars]

A Woodworkers Story
Today at the age of 32, I am awell-established furniture maker, small business owner, and woodworkinginstructor. At the age of 7 my Father John Skapars introduced me to the fineart of woodworking. I can remember helping him install our homes living roomfloor in the suburban Boston, Massachusetts town of Dover. An interest wassparked, and a true passion was discovered. Being an excellent student, knowingwhat I want, and not being afraid of failure all contribute to my currentsuccess in this field today.
When I saw my Father use the chopsaw for the first time spit out saw dust along with the smell of fresh cut,oak, I knew that when I got older, I wanted to become a woodworker. I was hishelper on that project and must have made 100 trips from the living room to thegarage that weekend in 1988. I was a very curious kid and always asked a ton ofquestions about everything. When the floor was complete, I felt good about it.I wanted to make more and more woodworking projects. The years went on and Iplayed soccer, baseball, practiced Tae-Kwon Do, and continued to tinker withwoodworking. I always was the helper and my Dad was the carpenter. We builtdecks, tool boxes, stained furniture, and many more little weekend projects together.I guess I can say he showed me the ropes.
Things changed dramatically for mewhen I was entering 7th grade. Woodworking became a mandatory class for theentire grade to take and I was ready for it. Mr. Nordstrom was my instructorand he taught me so much. I made all kinds of beginner projects and learned howto use the machines properly and safely. Then one day I came home from schooland my Mother sat me down and said, "Derek, one of your teachers called metoday". I thought I was in trouble as I was a handful growing up. But itwas Mr. Nordstrom who called and said I was an A+ student and that my advancedbird house style clock was very impressive. I got the award that year forexcellence in woodworking.
When 9th grade came along, I wonthe High School shop award for a chair I built. I knew I was in my element whenit came to woodshop. It felt good. I had a good understanding of all themachines and hand tools by then. I never got a big head though. I was alwayslearning and soaked up new skills like a sponge. I developed a way of thinkingwhen it came to failure. Instead of being bummed out and down in the dumps whensomething didn't go my way, I saw failure as nothing but feedback, and viewedall feedback as beneficial. That way, I could thrive at life, especiallywoodworking. When I felt comfortable making a chair out of pine, I would makemy next one out of walnut, then, maple, etc. Each wood cut differently on thetable saw and with the many different tools I would use. I got comfortable withbeing uncomfortable and adopted that train of thought with other things inlife.
After 6 straight years ofwoodworking instruction at Dover-Sherborn Public Schools, I graduated with 2awards and a high school diploma. I then took the next 6 years off from workingwith wood to pursue a college degree. I studied Psychology at Arizona StateUniversity and received my B.A. in 2005. After I graduated my family andfriends gave me cash gifts for obtaining my degree and with-in minutes, I wasordering my very own Band saw. I decided it was time for me to get back intowoodworking full speed ahead. In 2006 I started Rustic New England FurnitureCompany and began selling my furniture. I dabbled in fine furniture, rusticfurniture, table making, woodcarving, etc. Whenever I got a little cash, Iwould buy a new tool or machine. Business wasn't booming, but I was happy.

2007 came along and I studiedfurniture making at the well know North Bennet Street School, in Boston,Massachusetts. I learned how to hand cut dove tail joints, sharpen tools,design my own projects, and just about everything I needed to know to succeedin this world as a woodworker. I then came across an ad on Craigslist in 2008that said: SUMMER WOODWORKING INSTRUCTOR. So I applied and began my career as aninstructor. I was very nervous, and didn't know what to expect. But I went forit. I now dedicate every summer to being a woodworking instructor to childrenand make a good income doing so. I have been instructing for 7 years now anddon't intend to stop.
Running my small business,instructing, and making personal pieces of furniture have me busier than ever.I love this niche I have created for myself and am currently flirting withbecoming a High-School Woodworking Teacher in Houston, Texas. I also am teachinga class called "Adirondack Chair Building" for Leisure LearningUnlimited in Houston in February 2014.
I have so many avenues I want to godown with this craft and am sure, if I keep this attitude up, I will exploreevery one of them. Some ideas I have is, running my own camp called"woodworking warrior camp", Introducing "woodworkingTherapy" as a way to recover from addictions, and opening up my very ownwoodworking school. I am a student always learning, I know where I want to takethis, and am not afraid of failing because I see failure as feedback and viewall feedback as beneficial. Find out what you're passionate about, learneverything you can about it, and don't be afraid of failure. Pitch your ideas,utilize your contacts, learn about sales and marketing, and just have a goodtime with whatever it is. That's my story.

Derek Skapars

[Bob Potter]

Hi.
This coming Feb I will be 75. I bought my first saw a radial arm saw in 1986 which made me some where around 47 yrs old. Since that time I have gathered together a shop full of tools. Radial arm saw, table saw, jointer, planner, two bandsaws one big and one small, drill press, 16x32 drum sander, miter saw, router table,spindle sander and dust collector. I did have a small shaper but sold it after getting hooked on the Incra fence system, I have two.

I as a lot of you watched Norm and that sparked my woodworking interest. I watched a lot of tv woodworking shows, some good some bad plus video's and also woodworking books.

In my 28 yrs of woodworking I have built things that I would have never dreamed of making but by watching and studying was able to make some nice things.

We redid our kitchen before I retired by refacing, making new doors and drawer fronts and built five new cabinets.

I make a lot of furniture for my wife, kids and now grand kids. They pay for the lumber and I make the furniture for free. It gives me great pleasure to make things for them that they enjoy.
Also have made a number things for our church which is an honor.
I do some for paying customer but not as much as I would like.

I think the success in being good at woodworking as with any thing is liking what your doing. If you love what your doing you can be good at most anything.

Most every thing that I built has a mistake or two but knowing how to fix or cover up is something you learn and if it doesn't effect the structure or strength and still looks good.

Sorry for being long winded,Bob

[Jason White]

I was a TV producer at This Old House for about 8 years.

When you hang out with guys like Tom Silva and Norm Abram, it's kinda hard not to catch the woodworking bug. :D I moved to Los Angeles a couple of years ago, but I'm still an avid woodworker and I also work part-time at a Rockler store on the weekends.

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It seems that most woodworkers are passionate about the craft. I think it would be interesting to record how we got started and a brief history of our woodworking experiences.

Here is my story.

I first "got hooked" on making things by reading Popular Mechanics as a kid. I bought my first table saw at the age of 8. I still remember the add in the paper for it, $25 and it was a great saw! Even as a kid I wanted to see how things were built and figure out a way to do it myself.

When I was 17 I moved out on my own and rented a small house. I studied design magazines and wanted really cool (expensive) furniture for my empty house. By then my table saw was long gone, but I thought why not buy some good tools and make my own furniture. My first piece was a redwood and leather chair. It looked good but failed to hold-up. I found out why hardwoods and good joinery are needed.

From age 17 to 20 I had a shop in a rented basement with a Montgomery Ward radial arm saw as the only stationary machine. I got a job full time in a big (30 person) millwork shop. At night I made furniture for family and friends. I bought my first pro machine. I drove to the factory and got a Safety Speed Cut panel saw. What a step up that was!

By age 21 I bid on a big job making office furniture and got it. I quit my day job, bought a new Powermatic 66 table saw and became a self employed woodworker. This was in 1972 and the Delta Unisaw was the standard. The salesman told me "the 66 is new to the market but cost the same and is built better". They gave me no interest financing and it cost $500 total delivered, set in place and free on site help from the Powermatic rep!

From 1972 to 1977 I started to earn a good income,but to much was going to taxes. My accountant said "buy a building,don't rent". The only place I could afford was a small brick and stone hotel built in 1884. It had a huge walk out basement and was zoned for manufacturing, great! The first floor was a vacant (Elks or Moose ) lodge complete with a stage, great for my bachelor pad/loft/ showroom. The downside was the top floors had apartments and tenants. I didn't want to be a Landlord,I was way to busy making furniture. My accountant pointed out I would pay little or no taxes for years and actually make money from the rents. The accountant was right, it was the best investment I ever made.

From 1977 to 1980 when I wasn't busy with jobs in the shop, I restored the hotel. The TV show "This Old House" didn't even start till 1979 so at first I was considered an oddball for restoring instead of remodeling. I went to great detail grinding knives to reproduce moldings and learned a lot. When it became popular to restore the old stuff I was very busy. After all my showroom was my restored hotel. I was lucky enough to do lot of work for the state historical society. Everything from 2 flights of handcarved stairs to building modern exhibits. I even put together and dismantled an entire room of wood paneling for an exhibit. It was the office of a famous politician that had been stored in a warehouse for 90 years. In my last years in business I designed and sold high end custom furniture. Around 1990 I sold all my portable tools,and leased out the shop and machinery to a fine woodworker.
I thought I was done with woodworking,and I wanted to travel. You could say I was "retired" because I lived on rental income and investments.

I truly thought I would never get into woodworking again, but in 2001 I got some tool catalogs and a woodworking magazine, and got hooked again! I told my wife " IT MIGHT BE FUN TO HAVE A SHOP". I designed built a new house (full of custom furniture and millwork of course) and a shop in 2004. Now I just do woodworking for fun.

Please post your stories. How and why did you get into woodworking?