Where did YOU learn....

[Steve Hamlin]

Just did a year of woodwork at school (age 11, 90mins a week.) Nothing after that until at 40 I decided to build a mandolin - that first one took two years - hardly knew which end of a chisel was which. Did a two week intro to hand tools, which taught me how to sharpen jig free, and basic chisel/saw techniques, essential work holding jigs, dovetails, prepping a board to exact dimensions, setup and correction of hand tools. Then a weekend with a fellow correcting bad habits I'd developed and M&T. Beyond that, reading, DVDs and lots of suck it and see. Lots of instruments, plus doors, shutters, sticking replacement mouldings etc for others. Not much middle sized stuff except for myself.

[fredhargis]

I did Industrial Arts in my freshman year in high school, after pretty much self taught. My dad had no interest in woodworking (that I knew of) and while my F-I-L was quite a good craftsman he didn't actully pass on any skills. So it ws trial and error following plans in magazine articles and making some stuff up as I went.

[Tom Wiarda]

My early influences were:
1. Inheriting my grandfather’s tool chest full of old tools which got me interested in collecting them
2. Watching The Woodwright Shop and reading Roy Underhill’s books 
3. Finding a copy of “Make a Chair From a Tree” in the public library and making my first chair from a log

More recently, taking chairmaking classes from Greg Pennington and Elia Bazzarri, watching chairmaking videos by Curtis Buchanan and online forums like this.

[MarkSingleton]

Doubtless my journey started with assisting my parents in various construction projects around the
house and barn.  There was not really any formal instruction in that, but I picked up the right tools when
called for, time and again.  I remember helping Dad set fence posts and then put staples to hold the fencing
material. 

    Have a memory also of him using the nail "clenching" technique.  I did not know what it was, and at the
time probably thought it was kinda 'hokey' but it worked.  Many years later I learned the term from reading
some of Chris Schwarz stuff.

    As I got older, Dad gradually allowed me a pocket knife.  Then to use a power drill.  Then a jig saw. Etc.
Soon enough I was using every tool we had available.

    I was able to take wood shop in high school my freshman and senior year.  Safety was of course the very
first thing learned. And keeping the shop clean, tools organized, etc.  I vividly recall a very large cabinet that
had wheels on the bottom of the doors that opened out. All the smaller ( hand ) tools were kept in there.

    Made a few very ugly things, and passed. Looking back, it was worth it because it sparked a lifelong wish for
a shop of my own someday. A goal I reached in stages, culminating in the shop I have now, a seperate 400
square foot building that only I have the key to.

    FWW magazine (have been a subscriber for thirty+ years).  Norm.  WoodSmith.  Popular Woodworking
( when it was good ).  Internet/youtube, etc. rounds the rest out.


    I do not kid myself that I am all that good.  But I have fun.

[Bill Wilson]

Like many others, I learned the basics from my Dad.  He worked most of his life in the building trades.  He wasn't a woodworker, in the classic sense of the word.  He was just pretty good at building & fixing stuff.  From him, I learned how to measure and cut a board to length, how to drive nails using either hand, what square, level and plumb meant and why they are important, as well as how to mix mortar, build scaffolding, sweat copper, run ductwork, do some simple wiring (wish I had learned more about that.  Dad was primarily an electrician, but that skill didn't transfer to me, so much).

I took woodworking in HW shop class, but ironically, I didn't have a lot of interest in it and wasn't very good at it.  It wasn't until I got married and moved away, getting my first full time job as a carpenter for a building contractor that I started to develop my interest in working with wood.  For the next 2 years I worked in just about every aspect of homebuilding from laying out & pouring the footer to framing, roofing and trim work.  I realized I liked working with wood better than copper pipe, ductwork & Romex.  

As a young newlywed, there were simple things we needed that I decided I could make myself, so with the few tools I had, some that I borrowed and my FIL's garage space, I started making sawdust.  Over the past 46 years, I've accumulated a lot of tools of my own, have my own basement shop space and have made stuff ranging from Christmas ornaments to furniture.  I'm still not very good at it, but I've made my share of sawdust over the years and figure WW'ing will help keep me occupied in my retirement.

[Tapper]

Like many others, I learned the basics from my Dad.  He worked most of his life in the building trades.  He wasn't a woodworker, in the classic sense of the word.  He was just pretty good at building & fixing stuff.  From him, I learned how to measure and cut a board to length, how to drive nails using either hand, what square, level and plumb meant and why they are important, as well as how to mix mortar, build scaffolding, sweat copper, run ductwork, do some simple wiring (wish I had learned more about that.  Dad was primarily an electrician, but that skill didn't transfer to me, so much).

I took woodworking in HW shop class, but ironically, I didn't have a lot of interest in it and wasn't very good at it.  It wasn't until I got married and moved away, getting my first full time job as a carpenter for a building contractor that I started to develop my interest in working with wood.  For the next 2 years I worked in just about every aspect of homebuilding from laying out & pouring the footer to framing, roofing and trim work.  I realized I liked working with wood better than copper pipe, ductwork & Romex.  

As a young newlywed, there were simple things we needed that I decided I could make myself, so with the few tools I had, some that I borrowed and my FIL's garage space, I started making sawdust.  Over the past 46 years, I've accumulated a lot of tools of my own, have my own basement shop space and have made stuff ranging from Christmas ornaments to furniture.  I'm still not very good at it, but I've made my share of sawdust over the years and figure WW'ing will help keep me occupied in my retirement.

Nice story Bill - thanks for sharing! My guess is your last sentence reflects the views of many here. The older we get the more we need to be challenged to keep the old synapses clicking.

Doug

[tomsteve]

  For the next 2 years I worked in just about every aspect of homebuilding from laying out & pouring the footer to framing, roofing and trim work.  I realized I liked working with wood better than copper pipe, ductwork & Romex.  

i was very similar to you. just add concrete into the things I liked working with wood better than. wasn't a bit fan of shingles,too. they're great on a house but not on a back.

[Bill Wilson]

i was very similar to you. just add concrete into the things I liked working with wood better than. wasn't a bit fan of shingles,too. they're great on a house but not on a back.

Back in those days about the only thing I did with concrete was push it around in a wheelbarrow.  You know the old phrase; Strong back, weak mind? 



I was smart enough to figure out that I never wanted to get into the concrete business.

[MarkSingleton]

Roofing guys and concrete guys earn every dollar.  Been a helper a few times in the past.
Never again.  Lol.

[goredsus]

Got started in college working for my brother who was a general contractor.  Built houses from the ground up (I helped poured foundations, driveways, framing, painting, some roofing) and found out I enjoyed looking back at the end of the day and could see what I had accomplished.  Also realized I wasn't good enough at it to earn a living at it but knew it was something I enjoyed.  Helped my future (now late) Father-in-law put up drywall in his two car garage shop and learned from him - he also came to our house a year or two after my wife and were married with a coupon to get a Shopsmith for something like $999 and told my wife that I needed one.  (My wife grew up around tools and she would go shopping with him to buy tools at Christmas for me.)  I started watching Norm and Roy on Saturdays and picked up a lot from them put didn't do much for years as raising kids took a priority. 

Slowly started to get back into via this forum 10-15 years ago (I have learned so much from this site).  I've always subscribed to a few magazines and  went to a couple of the Woodworking In America when they were held in Northern Kentucky; took some classes at Hardwood Lumber & More (boy, I wish they were still around, Steve was golden for finishing information).  I now will look for content online if I'm interested in a technique or a specific 'how to'.  I tend to learn better seeing someone do a task and then try to do it myself versus reading on it (although I do have quite a few of LAP's books).  I tend to be a hybrid using both power and hand tools.  Now I'm retired and putter in the shop a couple of times a week.  The stuff I make is for family and while I can see improvement in my work, I still have a long way to go to be where I'd like to be.  And I'll try to post some of my past builds - I figure any post at all will help keep this forum going.