Hi, new here, very interested in woodwork/crafting :)

[nayngnottz94]

infact, I'm that obsessed, I collect different woods, and would love to start making stuff out of them.. , I'm 22, and see my future in the woodcrafting business, cant wait to see some great creations on here, and also I find the tools people use are great, also is carpentry what I need to look in to? ie within 15 years, I could have mastered woodwork by then, and somebody can ask me to craft a certain thing for them? is that called a wood crafter? not sure which course I need to take in college, cheers

 

[Mr_P]

Welcome to the forum

15 years, wow thats along time you should be amazing by then.

Stolen from Custard a well respescted member and full time cabinet maker

Seems to fit pretty neatly with most makers I know, and also with traditional apprenticeships.

About a 1,000 hours of dedicated application gets you to the stage where you can make most basic, rectilinear hardwood furniture. Say the majority of Shaker style furniture for example.

About 10,000 hours of dedicated application gets you to the stage where you can handle curves, free form laminations, jointed chairs, veneered pieces, and you can make pretty much anything that you can draw.

Beyond that there's a third level of skill (where I'm not but would like to be) where you have the imagination and ingenuity to invent the complex fixtures and jigs required to make things that have never been made before.

We don't tend to use the word craft very often on here, we are wood workers of varying degrees of skill, I'm a master procrastinator and have a nasty habit of starting things and then leaving them unfinished and moving onto the next.

Good Luck and ask away, plenty of skilled folk on here happy to answer questions.

 

[heimlaga]

There are two philosophical approaches.
The wannabee and the wannadoo. I don't think they need any explanation.

I am an extreme wannadoo. I also don't care if my craft has a name nor if the job to be done even belongs to my craft. I just want to find a way to get the job done and learn in the pcocess so that I can get the job done with less effort and better result next time.
I am often sidetracked into other crafts. This means that I never have a chance to become very good at anything but on the other hand it frees me from limitations and allows me to solve problems.
I learned planemaking because I wanted to use decorative profiles and as a hobbyist I couldn't afford a spindle moulder with tooling. I learned wooden boat repairs because I had an old rotten boat. I learned to forge and to weld in order to be able to make custom tools when I needed them. I learned to build and repair scribe fitted log houses because an employer said "you can repair boats and here's a job reqiring the same sort of skills" and that log building job was followed by others. I learned to make custom doors and windows because customers asked for them when I did log house work. I learned to rebuild old machines to finance the necsessary machines for making doors and windows.....and so on......
I am 35 now and at this rate I will have a rather comprehensive skillset when I become old.

Go forward with an open yet critical mindset and a wee bit of humbleness and a lot of drive and enterprisng spirit and willingness to learn. Then you will be at least where I am some 15 years from now.
GOOD LUCK!!!!!

 

[nayngnottz94]

Welcome to the forum

15 years, wow thats along time you should be amazing by then.

Stolen from Custard a well respescted member and full time cabinet maker

Seems to fit pretty neatly with most makers I know, and also with traditional apprenticeships.

About a 1,000 hours of dedicated application gets you to the stage where you can make most basic, rectilinear hardwood furniture. Say the majority of Shaker style furniture for example.

About 10,000 hours of dedicated application gets you to the stage where you can handle curves, free form laminations, jointed chairs, veneered pieces, and you can make pretty much anything that you can draw.

Beyond that there's a third level of skill (where I'm not but would like to be) where you have the imagination and ingenuity to invent the complex fixtures and jigs required to make things that have never been made before.

We don't tend to use the word craft very often on here, we are wood workers of varying degrees of skill, I'm a master procrastinator and have a nasty habit of starting things and then leaving them unfinished and moving onto the next.

Good Luck and ask away, plenty of skilled folk on here happy to answer questions.

cheers bud

 

[graduate_owner]

Just wondering - do you have a plan for generating an income during these 15 years? Also, I suspect many on the forum would agree that making a living in craft work is not easy since you would be competing with cheap, mass produced items.
Not trying to put you off your ambition, more like trying to be realistic up front.

K

 

[Bm101]

Start small. Don't overbuy tools. Stretch yourself and know you have an absolute mountain to climb in terms of skills and knowledge. If these things dont put you off, then you're on the right track to learning a bit. Advice from a a complete amateur who enjoys the journey. Good luck and most importantly enjoy the climb. If you enjoy yourself thats all that really matters. Mountains are there to be climbed and I mean that in the best way, we just all find our own pace.
Welcome to the forum.

 

[nayngnottz94]

Just wondering - do you have a plan for generating an income during these 15 years? Also, I suspect many on the forum would agree that making a living in craft work is not easy since you would be competing with cheap, mass produced items.
Not trying to put you off your ambition, more like trying to be realistic up front.

K

sorry mate, just seen your reply, yep I work as a personal trainer, but would like to start learning about wood and making projects as a hobby, I enjoy reading up about wood, and learning all the different kinds you can get, I also want to start some college courses in carpentry, and anything wood related.

 

[graduate_owner]

Now that sounds to me like an eminently sensible way to proceed, and it is what I would have loved to do myself ( but financial and other committments just always seemed to get in the way), so I struggled on by myself. I am retired now and my skills are limited to really basic things like garden planters. I look upon some of the pieces of furniture created by forum members with admiration and sometimes awe, knowing I could never hope to achieve such a level of expertise.

I think you have taken a very sensible first step by joining this forum. There is a wealth of advice available here. On the subject of tools, I think the advice already given not to overspend at the outset is very wise (it is tempting though) and since you are starting out, do yourself a really big favour and get quality tools. I know it is not always affordable to go for the very top of the range kit, and many of us have to settle for lesser brands than Lie Nielsen etc, but at least try to avoid the likes of Clarke, Silverline etc (usually anything branded as 'pro' such as pro-user, pro-am, etc) and be aware that the expression 'heavy duty' is often totally meaningless. Unfortunately it is not always easy to know if something is poor quality just by country of origin. I have a Stanley wrench which is a combination of an adjustable spanner and a Mole grips. It is a really nice tool, currently costs over £50, but is made in China. Also brand names are not as reliable as they once were. Wolf power tools were solid and reliable, but now Wolf is another Chaiwanese brand. Problems, problems.

Remember though that quality tools will probably last you a lifetime, and still be worth handing on to your children. There is a suitable comment in the Whole Earth Catalogue ( anyone remember that ) which says "Cheap tools are shi----t, they may not smell but they are stinkers to work with".
Anyhow, essay finished. Good luck in your enterprise.

K

 

[custard]

Every woodworker at your stage is faced with a decision. Do you want to fill your spare time with wood related activities in a pleasant and engaging way? Or do you want to actually learn a wood related craft to a reasonable standard? A small number of people on this forum seem to manage to combine the two, but it's really a very small number, so they're the exception rather than the rule. Most people need to choose, one or the other.

There isn't a right or wrong answer. It's your time and your money so you do with them as you wish.

If you want woodwork to be a time filler then you don't need any advice from me, just follow whatever catches your attention until you tire of it.

If you want to learn the craft of furniture making then look for a City & Guilds two or three year course at a well regarded institution like Chichester or the London Building Crafts College. Most of the C&G courses are billed as full time although in fact many are in reality only part time, so you could easily combine it with a paying job. Alternatively put your hand in your pocket and pay for a nine or ten month intensive "long course" at a reputable paid for training workshop like Waters & Acland or Peter Sefton. Beware, there are some not so great colleges and workshops out there, so do your homework and pick carefully.

If neither of those options works for you then there is a third route, but it will place enormous challenges on your personal discipline and dedication. Sign up for Paul Sellers internet training. Then buy only the tools he recommends, use only the timbers he advises, sharpen and fettle your tools purely according to his instructions, and work your way through his projects in strict order and precisely following his guidance. If you're really serious you won't read any other woodworking books or magazines, you won't surf through Youtube woodworking videos, and you won't even hang around woodworking forums like this!

The reason I emphasise that single minded focus is because furniture making is a funny old business. I've got a method of drawer making and fitting that produces pretty decent results, I know other craftsmen who follow different methods but achieve equally good results. However, put a bit of my method together with a bit of their method and you'll end up in a complete mess.

So take your instruction exclusively from one source, Paul Sellers or Peter Sefton or Chichester College, don't mix and match.

Traditional apprenticeships recognised this, you served you time in one single workshop, sticking to their methods. Then you spent a few years as a "journeyman", seeing how other workshops went about the job. But you didn't expose yourself to those alternatives until you had a thorough grounding in one coherent method that then allowed you to make informed choices. That's the problem with the internet age, you'll get so much conflicting advice, often from people who have even less of a clue than you, that your head will spin and you'll find it difficult to make progress or to understand what the solution really is to the many problems you'll encounter.

Good luck!