Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Is it just me or are all the woodwork forums dying on their feet ? What's going on ?
Added later 1 h 19 min 21 s:
Looks like the moderator Karen's killed this one. They are certainly working hard on the other's.
Welcome to the forum. I see you just registered. Just an observation, not a criticism. Put a little description of the build with your picture. I would be interested in a short description of your process on building the side table that you posted a picture of.
Okay. Let's see if I can do that much without offending the moderator Mafia prowling this forum from another.
Maurice wrote:Okay. Let's see if I can do that much without offending the moderator Mafia prowling this forum from another.
This forum's moderation has always been light and even handed. No mafia here - but there are basic rules about topics to avoid.
Henry
So. Henry from North Carolina.
If I caution a guy about the dangers of thickessers will that get me banned ?
If he cannot agree on the specs of a machine that makes me verboten ?
Is it a crime to respond to comments I don't agree with, based on long professional har won EXPERIENCE ?
Is it not cool or insensitive to share pictures of my work ?
Why did I bother to post at all ?
Honestly ?
Social experiment.
When you've been in the trade all your life trying to earn an HONEST living doing QUALITY work, you soon realise one thing.
A lot of people will be jealous and hateful.
Ironic isn't it ?
But that's human nature. For some.
But I got banned for trying to warn people about genuine safety issues and petty jealousy. That's all there is to it.
You know it, I know it and many forum members who dare not speak up all know it.
Craftsmen swear on the shop floor now and then. They cut loose, they make mistakes and have to put it right.
But when you guys suffocate us with your petty rules you starve the forum of fresh interesting input and it dies.
You suffocate the very thing that gives forums life. The diversity of input, the eccentrics, the cheeky larrikins and rough edged old codgers like me.
Cut some slack instead of slitting throats.
Hi Maurice
I am on a few woodwork forums. The reason for joining is to learn from others and to offer my own insights with the intention of helping. One would think that this is the reason for all being there, but personalities come into play, and some are more competitive or opinionated than others. Then it is not the information that is provided that becomes a possible problem, but the way the message is delivered. Abrasiveness and rudeness are a turn-off. There are better ways to deliver opinions or facts. Civility is just as important on a forum as in face-to-face situations, but anonymity can encourage some to ignore the need for empathy.
Regards from Perth
Derek
" Cut some slack instead of slitting throats"
Hmmm - not sure I have slit any throats (lately! haha )
I have to admit I am not aware of the examples you cite - or are they hypothetical? Does not really matter.
The basic idea in my opinion is kindness - just be kind and follow the basic prescriptions of (I think) "No religion, No politics." Pretty simple. Focus on the craft.
I like the pic I have seen of your work - earlier posts you added seemed to be missing the pics, at least for me.
Happy to learn from your work and experience(s).
Henry
Gents.
Nobody in the trade knows everything.
Ten life times wouldn't be enough to master them all.
I was lucky. I was born in to this trade. I was running around grandads sawmill and joinery shop when I was three years old.
He never lost any fingers because he looked after himself and religiously maintained his machinery. I used to watch him doing it.
He let out floorspace to a sharpening service. So he always was on top of that vital part of maintenance.
He gave me a demonstration of kickback once. Threw a piece of pine right out the shed in to the drive way.
"Never stand in the firing line lad !"
It was an early Wadkin 12" BAO.
No machine is infallible.
Stories are important. They make the point better than manuals.
Woodworking is a great hobby, go for it !
Earning a living at it ?
You need to be mad, dead keen or very humble.
Do any job long enough and you get good at it. But only if you survive the dangers and this trade is full of them.
How many guys have I worked with who lost finger's ? To many.
And they always say the same thing. A split second not paying attention or ignoring the rule's.
Have I nearly lost fingers ? Yup. Doing something unbelievably stupid at the end of the day when I was dog tired and couldn't find the push stick.
People take my plain speaking for insensitive or arrogant. I once saved an apprentice from resawing his fingers off in the nick of time. He never saw it coming.
He thought I had shamed him in front of everyone and got shirty !
Sometimes you just can't win.
yes indeed -
I'll quote myself: " Happy to learn from your work and experience(s)."
Henry
Maurice wrote:But I got banned for trying to warn people about genuine safety issues and petty jealousy. That's all there is to it.
You know it, I know it and many forum members who dare not speak up all know it.
Don't remember ever seeing it happen. Not that it's unusual for someone to get banned for outright bad behavior - even rare here - and then claim it was something else. That or attempting to use forums to advertise by drumming up support for safety devices or jigs that are for sale, or by affiliate linking stuff. Maybe you're not remembering why you actually got banned if you did.
Forums don't lose good members because they ban bad ones, but they do lose good members sometimes when they don't.
One of the inevitable consequences of old age and experience is reaching the mental state of Zen called Zero fks given.
I don't mind what people accuse me of if I have the right of reply. And sometimes I can respect their suspicions about me. It's okay.
I doubt if any two people will agree 100 percent on what good, medium suck or bad is. If I could get away with it I would post hot girly pics on my threads now and then. Grandads joinery shop was covered in them. Hmm. That gives me an idea.
I had one boss who was an impossibly pompous ass who said daft things, according to some. But I really liked that about him. He was just masking his insecurity and bluffing his way through the day. He was underneath a good soul and when he made a promise he kept it.
Sadly missed John, RIP.
It takes all sorts and I like rebels and individualists. It's the suck ups that I can't resist taking down a peg or two.
Now I'm self employed I miss all those crazy people I worked with. Some were social misfits with Zero people skills but they meant well and did good work. They were funny and likeable. They wouldn't hurt a fly.
Respecting ladies is one thing. Having to treat men the same way ? That's not a man's world I understand. I don't think it's healthy either. We had one guy who was easily offended in the shop. He was at the time a closet homosexual so a tad neurotic. His endless stories about the hot chick's he dated convinced no one. Lol.
Live and let live. Work through the drama and let it ride. May as well have fun with it.
It's not like any forum member is going to steal tools off your bench and run away with your girlfriend.
Physical violence should not be tolerated. But that's never going to be an issue.
Anyway, I think friendships grow through friction not polite diction. Propriety makes up for lack of humour and fun. IMHO.