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how did you learn to woodwork?

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2K views 22 replies 21 participants last post by  MichaelA 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
i was just wondering how many people are self taught or how you learned from your father,shop class or what.for me i took vo-ag in school and built a birdhouse twenty -three years ago and enjoyed it but never did it.finally started doing somethings awhile back and getting more involved.i tend to struggle with how to do things correctly.i've learned alot off of this site and the internet with a grain of salt of course on the internet.just thought it would be interesting to see how everyone learns.thanks marty.
 
#2 ·
took shop class in high school and failed that class my dad try to teach me how to read a tape he said you don't know how to read a tape I do not know how to read a tape then i got 1 of those easy read tapes that's what I use my dad showed me some basic woodworking that's about it.
 
#3 ·
No shop class ever. No previous woodworking experience. I learned everything I know about woodworking on this site and am eternally grateful to the people who took the time to answer all my dumb questions. There are guys here who forgot more about woodworking before breakfast today than I will ever know!
 
#5 ·
I've build stuff around the house for years on a learn as you go method. Never had the tools to do the kind of woodworking that I wanted to do…Now have the tools and with the wide open world of the internet, I can learn to build anything…Now if I was just 40 years younger, so I would have the time to attempt it all…but I'll do all I can and enjoy every second of it…Thanks to all you LJ'ers, for sharing your projects and ideas..
 
#6 ·
I took every woodworking class I was allowed in highschool, 4 or 5 total I think, then would come in during study halls and build stuff. After that was books, magazines, tv & practice. I do feel the classes gave me a leg up though, taught me the correct way to use machines and prepare stock.
 
#8 ·
I started WW one or two years before I had my first high school shop class. I wanted to graduate early so I went to summer school to get rid of required classes. Unfortunately the wood shop class was not offered so I settled for electronics which ended up being my profession for 40 years.

During those 40 years of working I read about and did woodworking. Most everything is self taught and
  • Book ….......... too many to list, many very old
  • magazines … Wood, Wood Smith, American Woodworker, Shop Notes, and others
  • TV shows ….. New Yankee Workshop, The Woodwrights Shop, David J. Marks Woodworks, and others.
  • Osmosis ….... this web site and the talent here!

I often wonder if the high school woodworking shop class would have been available if my career would have been different? Never can tell, no do-overs in life!
 
#9 ·
I was taught by those born before me and am very thankful for the pitfalls that face me, knowing the lessons of choices yet to made, have previously been paid for, by those long since dead.
 
#10 ·
Back in the 70's I was a teenager with no money who liked loud music. So I built speakers for myself from wood my dad had laying around and old TV speakers. I learned a lot about what not to do.
When I was in my late 20's I started working with small pieces of wood I sliced on my TS. bird houses, doll houses. and just fun stuff. I think I was more or less hiding from wife #1.
When I remarried and turned 50 I decided to build a deck in the back yard, then I made some other things outside and then remodeled my kitchen.
It hasn't stopped since, i've put in two bedrooms and a full bath downstairs now and have built a very complete work shop capable of just about anything except turning in my garage. I'm finding that you can do just about anything if you don't freak out about your ability. You have as much as anyone does, you just need to find a way to let it out.
 
#11 ·
My whole background was in High Pressure piping systems. I retired from the pipefitting industry after 32 years.
My only woodworking experience was an 8th grade class in which the teacher started out by saying" this is a jointer but we won't use it,too hard to clean up" then "this is a table saw but we won't use it too hard to clean up" this is a drill press etc etc. We used a hand plane and built a "wannabe gunrack".
Everything I know came from magazines,the internet, places like LJ,s and the local library.
Some people say when they retire they get bored, I'm never bored with woodworking,always something new.
I build items for family and always have a backlog. My only requirement is I do it in my time frame not theirs.
 
#12 ·
I grew up in a household where tools = swearing.
My father was not handy and I learned that the more syllables involved in the swearing the further I should run!

In the 80s, I was among the first class of girls allowed to take shop class. I turned a lamp and built a small shelf and loved it. When my husband and I moved into our current house, I started doing small repairs like hanging shelves, replacing knobs. I discovered that if I took the time to learn how to do something properly and safely, with the right tools, it wasn't that bad. I slowly started to accumulate screwdrivers, pliers, etc.

I really only started with woodworking in the past 3 years. I wanted a trellis for the front of the house and was not happy with any that were in the stores and thought the price for a trellis kit online was crazy! So I decided to buy a kit for a small trellis and use it as a template to make my own. I had fun doing it and learned a lot.

So bit by bit, I'm learning and enjoying the journey.
 
#14 ·
It's in my blood. Dad was a carpenter, gunsmith, and tool designer…. Grandpa was a home builder, I grew up around tools and wood, and I grew up poor and we made most of our stuff. I also when to school for art, design, and sculpture. But woodworking.. Fine woodwork I am totally self taught. Started in a basement after college with only a few cheap and second hand shop tools. I struggled a lot by reading books and challenging myself, but honestly my history made it easier than for most. Hardest part of my career was all the floundering and confusion, sacrifice, and diligence. I look back 15 years and I think wow I knew so little and yet today I am still learning new stuff. Now, I habitually stand the same way when i sharpen my chisel or cut with my dozuki blade.. So for all my years of feeling inept … I absolutely enjoy that I can do what I want now… I have the tools, the experience, and the life.
 
#18 ·
Learned a little from my Dad growing up, took wood shop in 5th grade and worked with a carpenter in college.

The early experience taught me to watch what I was doing, plan ahead and to be careful.

Most of my real wood working was self taught. Books, video, try it and see.
 
#19 ·
Went to work in a piano shop when I was in the 8th grade. My first job there was washing all the crud off old piano cases. Talk about starting at the bottom…..............
Those days used NC lacquer, benzene, acetone, caustic stripping solutions, trichlorethylene. All the good stuff that would explode, burn, eat your skin, rot your lungs, etc.
We sure turned out some beautifully refurbed pianos.
Hard to find a learning environment like that today.
Bill
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
Shop class in Junior high 1977 and high school.
Lots of Norm, and basic hand tool/hand held powertool stuff, till we bought a house.

Then books and a few classes.

Now I go every year with the kids to Marc Adams School in Indiana and learn something (or see a new Toy i want) every time!
 
#22 ·
born into it. Learned from my father. He started out learning tool and die and then when he wanted to start his own buisness the tools were to expensive so he went into woodwork. Something he never said but lived in front of me all the time was never admitting that something couldn't be done. He would find a way. About ten years ago I felt I had earned my right of passage. My dad asked me how I would make a particular part. I gave him my answer and he told me "That's good" followed by "I told the customer you could do it". I later found out that samples had been sent to Greece for hand carvers to bid and that they and several other WW firms had passed on the project. The parts became the rail around the bar in Caesars Palace in Ohio.
 
#23 ·
When I was a cub scout I made a Pine wood derby car that I raced. My wood shop teacher in high school told me that I would work my entire life away buried in sawdust, and to please go home we are not open 24 hrs. 7days a week.
 
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