Old but new

[GweithdyDU]

Hi people. Old bugger, but new to here. I Don't use Social media of any kind, on the grounds that the world has enough pictures of people's cafe meals, hence reason for lack of contact details. Have spent a life living on very little but ever-so-much as well, I overall feel quite lucky to have made it this far. Have always been hands-on as well as 'bookish' and the two together have allowed me to mess-up so, many projects but in a way that was always at least fixable. Big proponent of John Seymore's approach to lerning things: 'Have a bash, at least you'll know how not to do it next time. Have another go and it'll be pretty rubbish, BUT it might at least work!. Keep that up, and by the time you've done loads, you'll be able to either become brilliant or at least show somebody ese the basics'. This approach has served me well with things like mechanical-engineering (did that professionally in the end), Metal-fabrication, (ditto), building (rarely ditto), Forestry(ditto), slaughtering my own meat-animals (from small to blooming huge), farming (more desperate small-holding really!) and so on. The one thing it has not worked on for me though is woodwork. I do site-joinery type stuff for myself, using a belt-n-braces approach, it certainly exceeds Building Control regs (but then we get weekly 60-70 mph winds and gusts of 100+), but if it needs to look nice, I'm scuppered. As well as being Autistic, I'm beginning to consider that I may be Dyspraxic, as I seem to often make perfect cuts, angles etc, but 90-degrees out. I also do this when plumbing but am a wizard solderer so I just 'cut-turn-n-solder'. Wood is less forgiving! However, neurological challenges aside, I usually have successful projects that 'come true' in the end.

Despite getting things 90-degrees out sometimes, I am quite a dab-hand with power tools (scars to prove it!) and having managed to transform my site joinery with a bench-saw, feel it is time to learn more. I was good at using a wood lathe as as lad, so I am hoping to purchase a router table and a hand-held router that if I practice lots, will allow me to construct things for my home. First project will be a pair of doors for a Victorian school book cupboard that I was given years ago, minus doors. After that? Well some rustic internal house doors and windows if I have still got all my fingers left. I'll likely be asking the daftest questions on the forum, and seeking very basic info if I can't find it easily via my books, YouTube etc., but bear with me and I will learn eventually.

Thanks/Diolch

 

[AES]

Welcome. A lot of friendly, helpful and knowledgeable folk here.

 

[MARK.B.]

Hi and Welcome

 

[Daniel2]

Hello @GweithdyDU ,
Welcome aboard.
Lots of interaction to be had here, just be careful of any threads
to do with sharpening.
Cheers

 

[GweithdyDU]

Thanks all and forgive typos in original post! I must have typed it in my sleep!

 

[TRITON]

Welcome to the powertool scarred aficionados club

 

[GweithdyDU]

I knew there were comrades out there somewhere! Perhaps we should have a power-tool injuries thread so other people learn from our daftness! lol. I think that daftest was abdominal surgery with a 115mm angle grinder with a metal cutting disc on, whilst holding a steel chain in one hand and the grinder in the other dressed only in a T-shirt and jeans, (it kicked). If I'd of seen anyone else doing that I'd give them the lecture of all time whilst sorting them a vice, or at least a clamp and bench. Momentary loss of something, but I've still not worked out what!

 

[TRITON]

An angle grinder catching the jumper or shirt about the stomach area has always been one of the scary scenarios for me. I did it once with a belt sander to no injury, but a tad scary.


My last one was while using the router. Finished, put it down on the bench in front of me then reached forward for a square I knew was there and came into contact with the slowing down cutter.
Only 15 parallel cuts, nothing bad and 1/2 of them didnt draw blood. Thank goodness for gnarly hands.

 

[baldkev]

Hi, welcome to the forum,
Kev

 

[quintain]

Welcome GweithdyDU
You have a lively past and an exciting future with many questions answered by the good & knowledgeable folks on this forum as I have found.
I like the rundown of your past experiences including your farming (more desperate small-holding really!) 15 yrs back I was speaking to about 10-15 group of Americans and Canadians telling them about my past experience of small holding farming and I said with much (false) determination there was a sure fire way of becoming a millionaire in the UK farming community. They all sat up and paid attention at that point and it took some moments for their faces to register & understand my words when I said "to become a millionaire in farming in the UK you simply need to start out as a multi millionaire".
Again welcome to this supportive & knowledgeable forum.

 

[GweithdyDU]

Thanks/Diolch all. Love the millionaire observation Quintain. Just need to find out how to upload my drawing of an internal door that I want to make by the end of 2022, to see if I'm living in fantasy land or not! I 'm obviously starting with simpler stuff first but here's hoping!