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    Welcome Mike. You have found the right place for woodworking. A great group of people willing to help. Looking forward to see your projects and comments. Work safe in the shop and don't forget to use pushsticks.
    Mike, I, and I am sure others would like to comment on your question above, so please copy your question above and go the the top of this page and repost it in the 'Forums' section.

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    Glad to see that you have made LumberJocks a part of your Woodworking experience… Welcome

    Your question would get a much better response if you post it in one of the forums or as a blog here on LumberJocks.

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    So tell me. Is this the right site for me? I've got a few junky tools, a garage full of crap that I'm trying to clear out to the great consternation of all other family members, little hands-on experience in building anything worth mentioning, even less money and even less time. But I look around my home and I see a dozen or so places where life could be made better with the right piece of furniture. And by "right" I mean something other than IKEA or Bob's. I want a place where I can go after I'm done with work and its attendant frustrations where I can focus on something that will come into being out of my own two hands and that, when I see the product of my work in the house, I can pause, look at it for a while and say, "this is good."

    I've wanted to do this for years. I have a new son-in-law who's given me the idea of clearing out the garage and turning it into a one half woodworking shop and one half auto repair garage where he can work on his vintage car. I give him space and he gives me muscle and enthusiasm. Sounds fair to me. Is it perfect? Of course not but, then again, I've been married for nearly 32 years and I learned long, long ago that compromise is the only option if you don't want to be a hermit. If I'm ever fortunate enough to obtain the sorts of tools that allow me the chance to make all the things I want to make, then I'll need to spend almost as much money on the mobile bases they'll sit on so I can move them out of the way when my son-in-law needs room to work on his car. Again, fair enough.

    I need to know if I can make modest investments over time but still get enough satisfaction out of this enterprise such that I want to keep at it. And I need ideas on how to follow this path. This could easily be one of those endeavors where my reach is far beyond my grasp but I've done enough projects over the years to know that the effort of building something yields tremendous satisfaction for me. On the other hand, these projects have demonstrated how the wrong choices result incredible wastes of time, energy and money and I'm at an age now where I can't afford to waste any of those things anymore.

    I have a friend who's a furniture restoration expert and furniture builder. My guess is that all he needs are three or four commissions a year plus his regular restoration/repair work and he's doing just fine, thank you. He builds furniture for ridiculously wealthy people and is paid ridiculously large sums of money for his products. His shop, from my uneducated perspective, is as austere and simple as his products are flawless. I know deep down that this is because of his skill, training and experience. I also know that I'll never reach that level. While you may think that I have the perfect mentor to help me in this process I would submit that it's more of a hindrance than a help. His approaches fit the needs of professionals and artisans and I'll never reach that level. More often than not my discussions with him yield frustration instead of solutions but I think it's because we have completely different goals. He meets the demands of wealthy clients while I merely want to end each day with a modest, yet worthwhile piece of work that I can behold with satisfaction.

    Maybe all I need is a good book on this subject that I should follow but I'm hoping that a site like this goes beyond the generalities of a "good book." Maybe what I need is too rudimentary for those that use this site. I certainly don't have anything to contribute for the benefit of others; I would be merely parasitic at this point. Then again, maybe there are people out there who find satisfaction in sharing their knowledge with others who are like minded.

    On the other hand, I can simply leave all that crap in the garage right where it is.

    So tell me. Is this the right site for me?
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