*** SURVEY: THE IDES OF JANUARY ***

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF JANUARY ***

Ron in Kokomo

>You said "begin woodworking" so I will respond to a rank neophyte.

First decide why you want to work wood. Is is to make pretty things? Is it to furnish your home? Is it recreation? Is it a possible career path?

The reason you need to know that is that a firm grasp on that answer will be invaluable to inform us as we answer subsequent questions going forward.

Second go to a good library and check out a few books about the craft and read through them. ( May well want to buy your own later. but the library is good for this exploratory phase)

I'd then begin in a small way to put my hands on wood. Start with a small simple project and see if it is a much fun as you thought.

Ask questions on this forum as they arise.

Buy tools as you need them and buy quality tools when you do... even if your budget requires you to go slowly.. DO NOT BUY CHEAP TOOLS

DAMHIKT

If you think you know whay you'd like to make. See if you can find a video that shows a fine craftsman doing similar work. This can really speed up the learning curve.

Know tha all the icons in the craft use hand tools for part of their work. Use of these tools requires practice. Discipline yourself to practice.

If you are not working at furniture production for money... stretch yourself with each new project. I mean make yourself learn something new with eac project

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF JANUARY ***

Michael Recchione

>I recently had to deal with this very situation, the family member in question being my younger son. He will turn 8 this weekend. I told him that the best way to learn was the way my grandfather and uncle learned, i.e. by apprenticing to an appropriate master. I generously offered to take him on as an apprentice, since he was really too young to commute to another master's shop by himself and I didn't feel like driving him.

He wanted more details. I explained that, as my apprentice, his initial responsibilities would include keeping the shop swept and tidy, making sure that tools were put away in the right place, to obey me without question in the shop. My responsibilities would include teaching him the trade and providing him with food, clothing and a place to sleep. As he gained skills, his responsibilities would grow to include additional duties, and that as his master, I would provide him with tools of his own as he developed the knowledge and skill to use them.

He looked a little confused at the "providing food, clothing and shelter" part, and pointed out that I already did that as part of my duties as "daddy". (He's really not a dumb kid.) I pointed out that an "apprentice" was kind of like a "slave". He knows all about that since he saw that movie with Tony Curtis. After thinking about it for a minute, he said, "Daddy, I don't want to be a slave. I think I'd rather be a servant." I asked him what the difference was, and he pointed out, "A servant gets paid".

We then started haggling in earnest. He drove a hard bargain, but we finally agreed on $0.25 an hour. (OK, he's not dumb, but I've got several decades on him. And I'm REALLY cheap.) We shook on it and got started.

He got out the whisk and swept up a bunch of shavings, and I started showing him how layout tools work, explained the concept of "square" and why it was important, showed him how to measure. This went pretty well for ten or fifteen minutes or so - we went through the try-square, dividers, rulers, different types of marking guages... By the time we got to the bevel guage, his eyes were starting to glaze over a little. Then he spotted "his" saw and a piece of scrap and headed over to the sawing bench and said "I want to practice sawing now, Daddy".

I patiently reitereated the part about unquestioning obedience, and he looked a little doubtful. I then suggested, to reinforce the nature of our relationship, he should address me as "Master" and I would call him "Grasshopper". That's when he announced he was going upstairs to play on the computer with his brother.

So, to answer your question, Ellis, if someone I cared about came to me and asked about how they should go about getting into woodworking, the best thing I could do for them would be to say, "How the %&$* should I know? Go read a book or something!"

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF JANUARY ***

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(

>Dang, Ron is a hard act to follow, but I'll add this advise:

Don't be fooled by gadgetry. Nothing is going to make you an expert woodworker overnight.

Learn to sharpen Handtools by hand.

Lean heavily towards Handtools.

They are enjoyable, cheaper and safer.

And to echo what Ron stated:

Educate yourself on what's good quality tools before you spend your hard earned $$$ on Junk, Read, read, read everything you can on the subject of woodworking either in books or via the internet.

Subscribe to at least one WW mag, Popular Woodworking comes right to mind, and find a good WW forum such as this one.

Todd O.

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF JANUARY ***

bill tindall

>Join a club or otherwise befriend a mentor. Then take a begining class on the tools you expect to use. Otherwise it will take forever to learn enough to accomplish something nice.

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF JANUARY ***

RichardR

>I would first ask them to choose a small project to make (jewelry box, spice rack, tool tote, etc.), then invite them to my shop to work on it. I'd start with a short lesson on SHARPENING/HONING (!). I do most of my stuff by hand, but also have pretty much a full compliment of power tools, so an introduction to them, along with proper use and safety procedures is also in order. I'd supervise their project, going "hands on" as little as possible. During the project, they would be SHARPENING/HONING (!) the hand tools after a bit of practice on some spare irons and chisels.

Of course, during the project, an explanation of grain direction, wood movement and such would be necessary.

Might also be a good idea to practice some of the basic joints (dovetails, M & T, etc.) in some scrap, even if they won't be used in the current project. This is yet another opportunity for them to get some SHARPENING/HONING (!) time in.

By the time the project is finished, they should have a good idea about whether or not they would like to pursue this new "hobby". :)

RR

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF JANUARY ***

Steve Kubien

>As Ron suggested, we must know why woodworking (profit, to furnish the home, stress relief, education), what (casework, turning, scrolling, carving) and style (hand tools, Norm-wannabe, hybrid).

Again, Ron said this but, don't buy cheap tools.

If handtools are the path someone wants to take and this is meant to be a hobby, the first thing I would recommend is doing a bit of reading. Popular Woodworking is a good place to start with their neanderthal articles. This forum is a great place to learn about techniques, tool selection. St. Roy has a lot to offer and Stephen Shepards site, ilovewood.com is loaded with a pile of info.

As for tool selection, keep it simple. A scrub, jointer, smoother and shoulder for planes, rip saw, crosscut saw and a dovetail saw, a simple set of chisels from 1/4" up to 3/4" (in 1/8 increments), a square, ruler, mechanical pencil, brace and bits, an eggbeater, a few clamps, a mortise gauge, regular marking gauge, mallet, and a sharpening system. Oh yeah, if your going to be serious about handtools you had better find a flat, stable work surface. You can worry about more job-specific planes and saws a little later. This set up should get you through most projects

Want to be a hybrid-type of woodworker? Ok, add a bandsaw and a router mounted in a table. Skip the tablesaw because the only cutting you'll do with it that isn't safer/possible on the bandsaw is cutting large sheet goods. A planer would be nice to get stock to rough thickness without having to use your scrub plane.

If I was starting over, this is the kit I would build up.

YMMV

Steve Kubien

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF JANUARY ***

Richard A. Gillespie, Jr.

>Ellis;

An interesting question, one I've been exploring for a while. I have been thinking of what method to use in the introduction of woodworking to my grandchildren. First of all, I feel I have to learn just how sincerer is their desire to learn about woodworking and what direction their interests will take them.

If they are relatively young when this process begins, I wouldn't want to get into teaching them about sharpening. My choice would be to introduce them to the nature of wood, it's grain and use of some basic hand tools. This would include a fun project such as assembly of a partially precut birdhouse.

If their interest continues, then there would be additional fun projects that would attempt to teach them various aspects of woodworking including joints. This would include the use of more hand tools, glue and the the drudgery of sanding.

As these children age and become more safety conscious, they could then be introduced to some low power, power equipment such as a mini lathe. Teaching them sharpening methods could be approached as needed and when appropriate.

Most of my grandchildren are girls. I don't expect that all of them will continue with any early interest in wood. Yet, I hope I can share enough with them to wet their appetite and have them realize that women work very well with wood.

My intent is to take any of them still interested, as far as they desire in the pursuit of woodworking knowledge. To teach them what I know and where to find any additional information they want. Since I'm in the early stages of this and haven't taken the first steps yet, everything is subject to change. I have a couple of years to work this out yet.

Re: *** SURVEY: THE IDES OF JANUARY ***

Greg Betit @Williamsburg, VA (beep beep!)

>I would give the friend a shaving horse, and a draw knife (got a few spares hanging around). I'd have him hang out at my shop for a couple days and we'd bust open an ash log and make ladderback chairs. I'd loan him tools until he bought everything he needed to make them himself. My experience has been that very soon the friend would have a brace, set of bits, saws, hollow auger and spoke shaves of his own in short order.

Greg