Where did YOU learn....

[bandit571]

Ok..I'll start this thread, but..it is up to ALL of you LURKERS to keep this going...

Rule No. 1:   This is NOT the place to attack ANYBODY...period...
Rule No. 2:  This is all about how YOU learned woodworking, and from whom....and..when.

Rule No. 3:  You can not change Rule No. 1.....and we will act like Gentlemen and Women here...even though it took an Act of Congress to make me one.

Mine started in Freshman High School..and included all 4 years of IND ARTS...although.I did not do very well as a welder...wood and metal lathe work seemed to do very well..still can't do very well with Drafting...started up the first year being allow to only use hand tools...Sophomore Year, We started to used SOME of the Power Tools, supplied to the School from the local Rockwell Factory...

And THAT is how I got a start...

Next?

[GaryMc]

Ok..I'll start this thread, but..it is up to ALL of you LURKERS to keep this going...

Rule No. 1:   This is NOT the place to attack ANYBODY...period...
Rule No. 2:  This is all about how YOU learned woodworking, and from whom....and..when.

Rule No. 3:  You can not change Rule No. 1.....and we will act like Gentlemen and Women here...even though it took an Act of Congress to make me one.

Mine started in Freshman High School..and included all 4 years of IND ARTS...although.I did not do very well as a welder...wood and metal lathe work seemed to do very well..still can't do very well with Drafting...started up the first year being allow to only use hand tools...Sophomore Year, We started to used SOME of the Power Tools, supplied to the School from the local Rockwell Factory...

And THAT is how I got a start...

Next?

It all began from Dad being a carpenter as a cash source while starting up a large farm.  Boyhood spent in the farm shop (TS, old planer, hand tools, and tons of lumber from the farm).  Entered HS in the VoTech program including woodshop before switching to academic pursuits.  Been at it in 5 different states ever since.

Gary

[bandit571]

Sounds great!   Anyone else want to add to this thread...feel free!

[Tapper]

Began early in high school. My dad was a machinist by training and trade and also had an interest in woodworking. I grew up on the Gulf Coast so water activities were important. We couldn't afford to buy a 14' boat with a new outboard motor, so dad decided to build one. One of my dad's cousins worked at Higgins Boatworks over in Louisiana so we got the plans from him. My job was to be dad's helper, actually the "gofer." I learned by observing as my dad had little patience for teaching.

This was a speed hull that we fiberglassed from the chines down and had mahogany plywood decks. Dad could make them look like glass brushing on a varnish finish. We built them under a detached carport so people would ride by and see the boats under construction. Eventually, some stopped and inquired about them. We actually built at least a couple for customers. We used our boats for duck hunting in the winter and for fishing and water skiing in the summer - great fun!

Dad had a Delta bandsaw, 3 handsaws (they are in my shop), a Stanley #4 and a Stanley block plane (I still have both) and various other chisels and miscellaneous hand tools; also a Craftsman electric drill. I remember dad installing brass screws in the decks by hand (no variable speed drills back then.) After college when I was on my own and getting started I always tried to have a little shop space to do some projects. Over time as my career grew and I moved around my space grew and I began to accumulate more tools.

I am fortunate to have a generous shop space now and still enjoy the hobby immensely. I also recently got into metalworking, i.e. machine work and have an area for it. I tell everyone I never got the metalworking or machine shop training but did get the gene!

Doug

[Bob Barkto]

Began early in high school. My dad was a machinist by training and trade and also had an interest in woodworking. I grew up on the Gulf Coast so water activities were important. We couldn't afford to buy a 14' boat with a new outboard motor, so dad decided to build one. One of my dad's cousins worked at Higgins Boatworks over in Louisiana so we got the plans from him. My job was to be dad's helper, actually the "gofer." I learned by observing as my dad had little patience for teaching.

This was a speed hull that we fiberglassed from the chines down and had mahogany plywood decks. Dad could make them look like glass brushing on a varnish finish. We built them under a detached carport so people would ride by and see the boats under construction. Eventually, some stopped and inquired about them. We actually built at least a couple for customers. We used our boats for duck hunting in the winter and for fishing and water skiing in the summer - great fun!

Dad had a Delta bandsaw, 3 handsaws (they are in my shop), a Stanley #4 and a Stanley block plane (I still have both) and various other chisels and miscellaneous hand tools; also a Craftsman electric drill. I remember dad installing brass screws in the decks by hand (no variable speed drills back then.) After college when I was on my own and getting started I always tried to have a little shop space to do some projects. Over time as my career grew and I moved around my space grew and I began to accumulate more tools.

I am fortunate to have a generous shop space now and still enjoy the hobby immensely. I also recently got into metalworking, i.e. machine work and have an area for it. I tell everyone I never got the metalworking or machine shop training but did get the gene!

Doug

Awesome, Doug! What a wonderful way to get a start.
My dad was no woodworker but "inspired" me in an odd sort of way.

[Bob Barkto]

Not sure, exactly.

As a child we lived in a self built house, constructed with dubious lumber. Nothing was graded, all hand sourced. I could write a book about what was done wrong.

My father did an admirable job trying to keep the house going, make it livable, and look nice. But he wasn't very adept.
Memories of burning wood, screeching saws, smoke and cursing, will never leave my memory. Honestly, I can still smell the burning plywood 50 plus years on.

He had some some hand me down tools, and some that he bought, and a few myself and siblings had given him, which I still use and cherish. 
And probably, most importantly, a bookcase full of books.

Upon his passing I had to learn to keep the house going,
So I started reading the books, and learning.

At about 13 or so, my fathers brother decided we needed to fix the sagging floor in our dining room. It was pretty bad!
The carpenter we hired was a gem. Older, very knowledgeable and a great teacher. He hired me on, I guess. But left me to do some of the work.
Talk about a boot camp! Learned more in two weeks than maybe the next ten years.

[Bill Holt]

Learned welding as a freshman in HS.  Loved it!!!  Never had the chance to advance.

Took a shop class as a sophomore and built a mahogany nightstand.  Seventeen years later, 1978, we had a new house with an oversized garage, and I built 14' long workbench/cabinet with a 1954 DeWalt RAS.

My first "woodworking" was an end table about 2001, I borrowed a Shopsmith to turn a leg.  At that point I was hooked; I no longer have a garage, but I do have a well-equipped shop.  To date I have completed 124 projects for family, friends, the shop, and church.

I must be honest in the "Hand Tool Forum", hand cut dove tails are/is my only hand tool accomplishment.  I took two, one day, hand tool classes where I learned sharpening, dove tails, and card scraping.  Everything else I have learned, I learned from WOODNET.  Derek's blue tape tip has yielded perfect dove tails every time!!!!!!!!!!

[bandit571]

had 2 Uncles..one worked for ODOT in the Road Sign Department....He also built quite a few homes over the years..and could sharpen any handsaw you'd hand him...the other Uncle served as a "Troubleshooter" for Monarch Lathes...and had a full shop in his own basement of woodworking tools.  IF a Client would call in about a "problem" with one of the Lathes, it was his job to pack up a tool box, and head out to wherever that Lathe was....these were Lathes that were shipped on Railroad Flatcars...factory had it's own siding that ran through the place.

Been working with my hands since I was 15....I am now 71 yrs old....and my hands show every bump, bruise, and scar along the way.

Over the years, have built and SOLD about 130+ Chest of Drawers, forget how many end tables, blanket chests, Bunk Beds, fancy Shelves, Porch Benches and swings...and always by word of mouth....and all this ever was ..just a side job to make a wee bit of extra $$....with most of this being done BEFORE any Internet was around...

Best teacher?   3 words...Practice, Practice, PRACTICE....learn from every mistake, and work to get better the next time.

[tomsteve]

I'd say it started 7th grade woodshop. mr braisted was the teacher and he was great. he would emphasize safety with every new tool we would be introduced to. he would show the right way to use it and how injuries could happen not using the tools properly.
I worked on a lot of projects with my dad,too. idk if it would be considered woodworking but I was laying shingles when I was 12. at 14, I was walking walls setting trusses on the house we were moving into. I helped dad with a lot of the work on it, which I came to like doing the trimwork. we also did quite a few woodworking projects in the basement, which was the workshop and a walk out.

im still learning all of these years later but it all started with 7th grade woodshop.

[Nordic]

My daddy always said "I taught you everything I know, and you still don't know a d@mn thing!"

Proud to still be living up to that.