Woodworking 101

Re: Woodworking 101

joe mohnike

Find out if there is a woodworking club in your area and see if you can attend their meetings. There will always be someone who will be willing to help you learn. There are a lot of books aimed at different skill levels that you can take advantage of as well magazines. Night schools are ok, but the problem I have found with them is they teach based on the tools and equipment they have, good for learning about the tools for future purchases, but you should learn about the tools you do have or the ones you are going to purchase in the near future. Just my 2 cents worth.

Re: Woodworking 101

Jim Dillon

Karen, Mark and Joe have given good advice. A lot depends on what you are most comfortable with: book learning, videos, hands-on in a class etc., not to mention your budget and available time. Pick up a copy of Fine Woodworking or Popular Woodworking magazine and browse the ads in the back of the mag for mention of various schools around the country. I have no experience with them, but they appear to be high quality with recognized instructors. As mentioned, the best value may be a local woodworking club to learn the basics, but many - like myself - did not have that as an option. For me, it was books/magazines/videos. Please keep posting and asking any question that comes to mind. Jim

Re: Woodworking 101

JL

Some thoughts.

Woodcraft and Rockler both offer classes. They aren't in depth and may not be suitable for beginners.

Marc Adams (www.marcadams.com) has a school in Indiana that is well thought of.

John C. Campbell Folk School (www.folkschool.org) has a number of different classes and is more project oriented.

It depends on what you would like to do.

There are other places that offer a variety of classes in a variety of types.

Resource list

DizD

Here is a listing of clubs associated with Klingspor's Woodworking shop. You can search by state. Clubs would be a good starting point.

http://www.woodworkingshop.com/clubs/

Re: Woodworking 101

Yonak

I can second the Campbell School.

Woodworking 101

Tom Colligan

Hi Karen, welcome to our forum. For me, it was, and still is though much less so, the woodworking magazines that taught me what I needed to know to work wood.

At the time it was Woodsmith, then Wood Magazine, that was most helpful. The New Yankee Workshop with Norm Abrams was also a big help and I believe you can watch any of them on the internet. A knowledgeable woodworking friend told me when I started that if you have a router and a table saw you can do 95% of what Norm does in each program.

First projects were making saw horses and then a workbench as you have to have both from the start.

Of course, everyone here will be happy to answer any questions you have in the meantime.

Re: Woodworking 101

John C Lucas

Ditto what Tom Said. I like.to say i studied under the masters. As long as theywrote an article. I used to subscribe to all.of the woodworking magazines and now that im a woodturner all.of the woodturning magazines and now i write for them. I still read Wood,.Fine Woodworking. Woodsmith and Wood are fine for beginners. I also watched all the woodworking shows on TV. Some places have introductory classes. My local place.in Tennessee is the Appalachian Center for craft and Arrowmont. Many women have.taken up woodturning. You dont need as much space or equipment and much of the wood is free. There are turning clubs all over the country. If you are comfortable letting us know where you are we can help.find a place.

Re: Woodworking 101

Myra

Lonnie Bird just published his 2018 schedule of classes. His Introduction to Woodworking is an excellent beginning for someone who knows nothing. The classes are not cheap but Lonnie is an excellent teacher and class size is small.

Re: Woodworking 101

Hank Knight

Karen,

You didn't say where you lived so it's hard to point you in the direction of a school that's convenient to you. Nevertheless, others have mentioned junior colleges, community colleges, woodworking clubs and various dedicated woodworking schools, in addition to the numerous woodworking magazines and the internet (specifically You Tube). All are good sources for instruction. I will add another school that may, or may not, be near you. The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine is a good school. They teach several introductory woodworking courses every year. You might want to just Google "woodworking schools." I'm sure you would come up with lots of options. Finding a good school or a woodworking program in a local college would probably be a good idea for you. They have fully equipped wood shops so you wouldn't be looking at a big cash outlay to get started. Some woodworking clubs have coop shops and there are woodworking cooperatives in a number of cities. All to these have the big machines that are available to coop members or guests and would save you from there daunting task of tooling up with a lot of heavy, expensive equipment. On the other hand, you could take the route many of us here have gravitated to and that is using hand tools for much or all of the work. Hand tools are generally much less expensive than big machines and I find hand work very satisfying. If you think you might like to go that route, be picky about the school you choose. Make sure they teach hand tool skills and don't focus exclusively on machines.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I've been a woodworker of sorts for most of my life and I still find it very rewarding.

Good advice Hank ...

Jim Dillon

...regarding picking an introductory course that would expose Karen to both machine and hand tools especially if Karen (or anyone) is still undecided which direction they want to go. Turning should also be included in the mix if possible. Good questions to ask any woodworking school that one is considering. Jim

Re: Woodworking 101

Don Stephan

Woodworking can be an extremely broad area. Do you aspire to weekend projects often assembled with pocket screws and perhaps dominos and/or biscuits? Do you aspire to making smallish items like TV trays, wall shelves, lap desks, and such? Do you aspire to traditional woodworking that involves dovetails and mortise and tenon joints rather than dominos and pocket screws? (There really is nothing wrong with either approach, they are just different approachs.)

Back episodes of the Woodwright's Shop and New Yankee Workshop can help you see different approaches.

Re: Woodworking 101

Joe shelton

Agreed. Of the several classes I've attended, Lonnie's was the most comprehensive, and it was fun.

Second Marc Adams