Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
As many of our regular visitors know, Woodworker West magazine published a regular column of excerpts from surveys we conducted on our WoodCentral forums, usually on the “ides” (15th) of every other month. We harvested your responses, edited them and send them off to our friends at Woodworker West for publication in their next issue. Everyone was most welcome to participate, though no attribution was given and readers could count on editorial brutality of the highest order.
This is one of a series of articles that was originally published in May 2007. We will be taking these articles and “reviving” them for your comments as they apply today. Consumer woodworking shows have been part of the woodworker’s landscape for over 25 years, but the number of vendors and attendees has steadily declined … Read more
Like the proverbial journey of a thousand miles, our love affair with wood had to start somewhere. It’s always interesting to hear where our visitors got their start. So, this time around, i trotted out one of the classic survey questions: “How did you get started in woodworking?” Some of the answers may surprise you… … Read more
One topic that has been widely debated on the WoodCentral forums is the issue of hand tools vs. power tools. Most woodworkers—but not all—would rather prepare and dimension stock with power equipment, saving their manual labor and hand tool skills for the final stages of a project-the joinery, final surfacing, and detailing. I asked our … Read more
Every summer, the woodworking industry converges on either Atlanta or Las Vegas for the granddaddy of all trade shows, a 4-day binge of ald faces, new products, and non-stop horse-trading among manufacturers, distributors, and consumers of everything to do with woodworking. The show also provides an opportunity for consumers to interact directly with company executives … Read more
The WoodCentral community is a phenomenon that could not have come about before the Internet. But, what exactly brings us all together on this wavelength? It occurred to me that everyone who frequents our web site (and other forum sites) has a couple surefire things in common: at some point we became interested in woodworking; … Read more
Woodworking has come a long way in the past 100 years and the pace of change is likely to accelerate in coming decades as baby boomers pass the torch to a new generation of electronic-age craftsmen. It’s hard to predict what technology and changing social and environmental realities will do to this craft, but I … Read more
Woodworkers’ skills are always evolving. Through magazines, books and especially online forums (where precise feedback is just a few keystrokes away), ambitious amateurs are improving all the time. And, as they improve, their horizons expand as well. At some point, many woodworkers-probably most-decide their work is good enough to sell, begging the obvious questions “Where?” … Read more
In today’s hectic world, most of us have to schedule our time pretty carefully to be sure of getting all the important things done. In light of this madness, I wondered how folks managed to find the time to work in their shops, and this led to this month’s question: “How do you fit your … Read more
Woodworking is all about using our tools and our wits to solve design problems, using appropriate materials and skills. But those skills are common to a lot of other activities, too. This month, I asked our visitors,”How many of you engage in other creative and/or mechanical pursuits, such as carpentry and other crafts, and how … Read more
At some point, just about every woodworker entertains the notion of making some extra money by selling the fruits of their woodworking labors. One money-making strategy is to find a niche and be the best at it. Apropos of this notion, the question I posed to our visitors this time around was, “If niche-playing really … Read more
New beginnings are always an adventure, and getting started in woodworking is no exception. As with so many other activities, the quickest way to get off on the right foot is to get succinct advice from someone, or in this case a community of helpful people who have been down this road before. We were … Read more
Nobody likes the prospect of getting older, but it sure beats the alternative. Like everyone else, woodworkers have to adjust to the inevitable ravages of time, which affects everything from our energy level to the kind of work we are able to do. Curious to hear how others cope with this challenge, I recently asked … Read more
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