Woodworking trends

I would say that I am using more reclaimed wood in projects; using used lumber in light construction projects.
I probably will never venture into digital wood working, although I have had custom metal components made by a local CNC shop.
I am not into minimal design, solidly middle of the road stuff, no Baroque designs either. 
I have only been involved in a few live edge projects and I am wearied of it.
Everything I do uses a mix of hand and power tools.

@John w Foster,

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and you are having problems logging in, email me and I can fix things up. I'll need your current email address, which is best to not post in a public forum.

Maybe my version of eco-friendly woodworking is what I used to call being cheap. When I retired a couple of years ago I brought a stash of plywood pieces and solid lumber back to my apartment because they were too good to go to the dumpster. I'm gradually using these pieces on small projects, mostly to help organize my new work space. Today I was cutting vertical-grain Douglas fir 1x12 pieces of old window trim to make 8' high shelves. My landlord replaced a 16-foot row of windows back in November and the contractor was going to throw away the old trim, which is much higher quality stock than the fir you get these days.

Now that I'm old I prefer designs that are simple but effective to ones that are obvious design statements. A certain amount of clutter helps me feel more comfortable and minimalist designs make me feel like I'm in an art museum where my "comfortable clutter" is out of place.

I programmed and ran a CNC router for a while at work and it was a useful tool but not what I'd want to do for fun. My power tools are limited now but I like finding ways to use the tools I have to make what I want. Overall I love retirement.

I used to use reclaimed stock and cheap lumber. But I began to see that I put in a lot of work on a project without getting results I really liked. You can stain poplar but it will only resemble walnut or cherry; Red Oak will not pass for White Oak, etc. All those Youtube videos lauding pallet wood end up with a product screaming "repurposed pallet wood". I guess it is an okay approach for beginners, like I was, but it'll never be heirloom material.

Somewhat related, given some of the responses:
https://www.woodcentral.com/-/37-how-has-your-woodworking-changed-as-youve-gotten-older/

The above is one of the News & Views PDF scans from the old site converted to HTML. I find the News & Views columns still relevant today as it's interesting to compare how the questions posed by Ellis two decades ago might be answered today. Should we revisit one of them each month as a forum post where readers can update their replies to the questions posed?

I'll comment on live edge stuff.  I don't like it

There are some good ones - there's a reason this kind of work made Nakashima famous.  I think he was a fantastic craftsman across the board, he did a lot of very fine work that didn't involve live edges.  I think the thing that makes for a good live edge piece is appreciation of how the edge shape fits into the design.  Not every live edge needs to be it's own piece however.

I tend to like stuff that has graceful curves instead.  It can be minimalist or it can be fancy - so long as the builder got the curves right.

CNCs and laser cutters are making woodworking way more accessible. It's interesting how some traditionalists push back against it, while others fully embrace it as just another tool in the shop. Have you come across any innovative uses, like 3D carving or inlay work?

I have a nice little business making boxes out of pallet wood. There's a pallet shop right down the road from me and I have a great working relationship with the owner. 
My primary customer is a small local brewery that I make 12 and 6-pack boxes for.
I get paid in Beer.

chinchillawikinson wrote:

CNCs and laser cutters are making woodworking way more accessible. It's interesting how some traditionalists push back against it, while others fully embrace it as just another tool in the shop. Have you come across any innovative uses, like 3D carving or inlay work?

I just bought a mid-high end laser unit. It is a diode system thus limited even with a claimed 60W output and a working area of 40cm X 40cm. Still in the earliest stages of experimentation but I can say for certain that it will cut through 5/8" red oak quickly and precisely with a kerf I'd estimate at < 0.005 inches. Seems like it could have great potential if it ever gets beyond the "gee, a new toy!" stage in my shop. Right now the software is my stumbling block despite nearly 50 years of computer experience on my part.

In reply to Jim: I bought a Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W from Amazon. I had some connection problems at first with Lightburn and started using Creality's software which has severe limitations. Now that I've (I think) figured out what was going on with Lightburn I'm going to go back and try it again. There is a lot to learn with both the process, the materials, and the software. Like I wrote it will readily cut 5/8" red oak but that is a pretty unsubtle process and I'll need to get a lot more subtle to use it for serious work. Oh, the package includes their 'rotary' which looks like a little lathe but that part is backordered so I've not tried it yet but it looks like it would be good for turned objects.