Woodworking as a hobby -- is it dying out?
#79
(12-20-2019, 07:46 PM)Edwin Hackleman Wrote: All the time? So, you run a table saw and talk or text on the cell at the same time. Gasp!

I am not on my phone all of the time but when I am stuck in a waiting room somewhere or waiting in a line I tend to bring up my ww forums (also antique tractors, farming, trucks, rvs) and read those while waiting.

As a matter of fact I came in from the ww shop to eat lunch and am sitting here eating and reading the forums. LOL

Earlier this morning I was trying to coil a bandsaw blade back up. Asked google and had the answer in a few seconds.

I am 57 BTW
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#80
I disagree. 

Yes, clubs may be fading, but woodworking and other trades education are expanding in schools, both high school and even middle schools.

The “maker” movement is tangential to “pure” woodworking, but brings a lot of interest from younger people. 

I work with both Rockler and Woodcraft. Both are growing online and on the bricks and mortar level.

And even a quick check of YouTube will show you a vast audience of woodworking videos.

The methods of sharing are changing, but the interest is still there.
Ralph Bagnall
www.woodcademy.com
Watch Woodcademy TV free on our website.
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#81
I work for an engineering firm and we have probably 20 out of 200 that are wood workers. Probably another 30-50 that are doing work on their first houses. We also have a few maker spaces in town. I think there are more ways to be creative than in the past. Coding, electronics, 3D printers, all in addition to metal and wood working. We have a couple guys at work that have gotten 50+ year old tools and have referbed them.

We did have a woodworking club at work but it kind of pittered out. I think there are so many other ways to make a community that it may feel like the clubs are slowing down. Total number of people interested could be going up.

I have the day off tomorrow... I'll be spending some time in the shop cleaning up from my last few projects getting ready for the next one.
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#82
I'm doing my best to pass it on to the younger generations 
Yes

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Greg

It's better to burn out than it is to rust

Danchris Nursery
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#83
(12-02-2019, 06:39 PM)MsNomer Wrote: I think WW is at a turning point similar to when power cords came into the shop.  This time, it’s  CNC, etc., which seem ordinary to the youngsters, but are alien creatures to me.  Hand tools and ordinary power tools will survive, but they will fall out of the mainstream.  This is happening in sewing, too, with the computer-controlled machines that thread themselves and wipe their own butts.

The desire to create will survive.

I agree.  There is a very active reddit for woodworking with some stunning work.  Lots of activity.  However, the plurality of that work is CNC and funky epoxy flll based.  Not much in the way of bombe or exposed dovetail type projects there.

I'll also note that there are very many very innovative youtubers that are 30's age range.  They are showing to make very interesting jigs on traditional tools and how to solve traditional problems with traditional tools but in new ways.  That's a signal of...something?  

Problem:  lower marriage rates + small town decline = mas gentes living in apartments and thus zero opportunity for the impulse purchase of starter tools.
MAKE: Void your warranty, violate a user agreement, fry a circuit, blow a fuse, poke an eye out...  www.makezine.com

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

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#84
(12-09-2019, 10:08 PM)daddo Wrote: 20 years from now- a 20 year walks into my shop- he asks; "What is all this stuff"?  
Me; "they are called tools".
He; "Wow, I didn't know you had a private museum".
Me; "It's not a museum, it's my shop".
He; "What does it do"?
Me; "It doesn't do anything- I use the tools make stuff like furniture and parts".
He; "Yeah, I read of something like that in a history book".
Me; "You want to see how some of this works- perhaps the processes"?
He; (Standing there with his phone looking down) "Naw- I'll google it".


Smirk
Smirk

LOL

This isn't 20 years from now.

This is TODAY.  I've got twin 40yo BILs.  This is them.  One is a little more "google it" than the other, but both have NO interest in anything to do with tools.

One year at Christmas time I was replacing the plugs in my truck when my wife came back home from a trip out with one of the brothers.  He didn't even look my way while walking from the car to the house.  Nary an interest in why I had stuff scattered out and the hood up.  A late 30's male, no interest in shiny tools.
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#85
My BIL is the same. I seriously think he doesn’t know which end of a screwdriver to hold.
It’s amazing what he has to spend getting someone out to do simple repairs.
He’s got the money, tho’ since he’s a Vice President and dean of students at a “Large Nevada University”
VH07V  
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#86
WW isn't dying out, but the way folks learn and exchange ideas is. 25 years ago you had to join a club to talk with others about a shared interest - now there are so many options - like right here - that "joining" is dying out. I was president of a professional estimators society in Chicago 15 years ago and the number of estimators has increased while our membership has diminished. I think the problem is the same across most industry and hobby groups or clubs that do not use an online presence as the main interaction.
The sooner you get behind schedule, the more time you have to make it up.
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