I spend the day sitting in front of a computer designing and building websites that will get thrown away and rebuilt within 3 years. Nothing on the internet lasts. The technologies change every day and you have to be plugged in to keep pace with it.
Awhile back, my brother helped me finish my basement into a home theater / family room and I caught the woodworking bug.
Creating objects of function and beauty for the home has become one of the most satisfying experiences in my life.
With each new project I try to add at least one new skill to challenge myself so that I'm always improving. Always learning, always thinking, always creating problems to solve.
I can't say I'm self-taught.
* My brother taught me how to use power tools safely.
* My parents and grandparents taught me the value of a strong work ethic in everything I do.
* Norm Abram taught me that big projects are just a series of small steps connected together.
* Roy Underhill taught me that woodworking can be a soulful activity and that treating a project like a factory assembly line robs the maker of the joy of making.
* Fine Woodworking Magazine and Popular Woodworking Magazine taught me the importance of buying the best tools you can afford and how to use and care for them.
* Paul Sellers taught me that a healthy dose of practicality and common sense can go a long way toward increasing my enjoyment of this hobby. If it works for you, it works.
* Jacob Abbott (author of the Work for Boys books) taught me that just because it's old doesn't mean it's obsolete.
* Gustav Stickley (and his store's showroom) taught me how to build furniture in the Arts & Crafts style.
* Christopher Schwarz taught me many things: that hand tools are safer than, and can be faster and more accurate than power tools, how and why to use them, that I don't need every tool to make every object, and that "Aesthetic Anarchy" is the term for what I've been feeling all along.
There have been several other teachers along the way, though never in a formal classroom setting. Peter Follansbee, Mary May, David Charlesworth, Rob Cosman, Peter Galbert, Frank Klausz, Ron Hock...and on and on.... they've all lent a hand in my woodworking in one degree or other.
-- I've been creating problems to solve since I was born. - http://honeydowoodworking.blogspot.com
10 comments so far
a1Jim
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118153 posts in 4546 days
#1 posted 10-12-2012 05:25 PM
Welcome to Ljs a world wide community were there are great people,super projects and great woodworkers.Enjoy!
-- https://www.artisticwoodstudio.com/videos
surfin2
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51275 posts in 4104 days
#2 posted 10-12-2012 09:19 PM
Welcome To LumberJocks.
Good Luck…
-- Rick
Max
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56000 posts in 5242 days
#3 posted 10-12-2012 09:53 PM
Glad to see that you have made LumberJocks a part of your Woodworking experience… Welcome
-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT
SnowyRiver
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51458 posts in 4449 days
#4 posted 10-13-2012 12:00 PM
Welcome aboard. Nice that you could join us on Lumberjocks.
-- Wayne - Plymouth MN
Bob817
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679 posts in 3351 days
#5 posted 10-14-2012 12:10 AM
Welcome to LumberJocks where the People and Projects are Amazing,Good Luck!
-- ~ Bob ~ Newton, N.H.
Beginningwoodworker
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13345 posts in 4642 days
#6 posted 10-14-2012 12:18 AM
Welcome to LumberJocks!
WalnutRidge
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33 posts in 3407 days
#7 posted 10-14-2012 01:43 PM
Would love to see some pics of the shop the produced those amazing projects!
-- Josh- What you put in determines what you get out.
Steve Erwin
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132 posts in 3021 days
#8 posted 10-15-2012 06:49 PM
@WalnutRidge: Heh… I’ll try to take some photos of my shop soon.
-- I've been creating problems to solve since I was born. - http://honeydowoodworking.blogspot.com
sras
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5755 posts in 4098 days
#9 posted 12-24-2015 05:25 AM
Nice list of teachers. With that group you can’t go wrong.
-- Steve - Impatience is Expensive
oldnovice
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7699 posts in 4336 days
#10 posted 12-24-2015 05:44 AM
Welcome a board!
Nice to have you here, joining the mind share and project share!
-- "It's fine in practise but it will never work in theory"
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