My wife recently passed away. I used my time off to build her a giant bookshelf

And nobody will notice but you, and maybe another woodworker. But generally they're nice enough not to say anything mean.

I like it because it keeps me humble. Just when I believe I have the largest amount of domain knowledge related to my job, and just when people are starting to view me as an expert. . . .

The god-damned half blind dovetails don't fit, and I know I made them right. I KNOW I DID.

Woodworking is a lesson and exercise in planning and preparation, more than anything else. The actual skills used are fairly basic hand-eye coordination. But the planning. Oh the planning. You absolutely have to see the steps laid out to completion, one at a time, when you start. Otherwise you cannot even begin the project with hopes of finishing.

I'm fairly certain there's a metaphor in there somewhere, but it's early in the day.

I saved up and bought a cheap, underpowered Craftsmen jigsaw and my production output increased. Then my parents bought an old farmhouse and had it renovated. I shadowed some of the carpenters and learned a lot.

When I was 17 I asked to work for a local furniture shop that made reproduction furniture. I told the owner that I would do anything, sweep the floors, clean the windows as long as I got to be in proximity to the equipment and expertise in the shop. Eventually I graduated from sweeping the floors to milling lumber, sanding case pieces, gluing up panels and then making full pieces of furniture. I was going to go to a technical school for fine woodworking but decided computer science would be a better career. I still miss having a shop.

Sliding compound miter saw is a magic tool.

Now just wait until you get a MIG welder and a bandsaw, you'll be UNSTOPPABLE and the world will suddenly look a whole lot different!

Sidenote: I'm the program director at a nonprofit where I teach/create curriculum. One of the workshops that I love teaching is a week long where we teach the following skills to a group of 12 kids:

Welding: learn to run a mig welder well enough to make art, furniture etc. Welding is easier than you think!

Woodworking: learn how to use a miter saw, and make 2x4s into smaller pieces and then reassemble them into larger pieces of different shapes!

Arduino programming: make lights blink on and off in exactly the way you want them to, and learn some C++ and core programming concepts in the process.

Laser cutting: learn how to take things out of your imagination and create beautiful things on the laser. Lasers always blow peoples' minds at how cool the the things they can make are, and how easy it is to use them.

These specific skills mean that these teenagers leave with a totally shifted perspective on the world around them. The experience you had realizing that the railing you wanted to fix was actually something that you can interact with and modify is what we're doing for these kids, but doing it with: things made of bits (computing), things made of wood, things made of metal, and things made on a computer (CNC). I'm really passionate about it. If you know of a group of kids that would enjoy this type of workshop, please email me!

I left childhood with a decent understanding of how to build things. After moving out I started to miss it and took a job working an entry level job at a joinery. We made cabinetry, some furniture, doors, windows - even made flooring and custom trim in the mill. It was fun, and I learned a lot that I hadn’t as a kid.

I taught myself to program while working there and took a job doing that instead after a few years.

I missed it again and began buying tools around 8 years ago. At first I used hand tools only and build small projects. I’d focus on learning techniques at first, and tried to really nail down my understanding of the fundamentals. I learned to select not only the right wood for assorted projects, but how to do so based on factors like species and moisture content.

Eventually I had too many kids to have time to be productive with hand tools. I enjoyed the activity, but actually getting projects done became too hard. Since I make things my family uses, I decided to grab a table saw, planer, and jointer.

These are sort of the trifecta of woodworking productivity. You can machine milled lumber to spec very quickly and easily. Make a cut list, machine it, cut to length, and start building.

My most recent project was a bed frame. Even with nice lumber and quite a bit of it, the project came in around $1800 - at least half of what we were looking at if we ordered it.

Other recent projects have been bunk beds, a bench for our home entrance, shoe racks, a toy chest, and a kitchen island.

If I was starting over again I’d learn the fundamentals first and then not hesitate to invest in power tools after. Buy used and learn about basic maintenance. I had a sort of purist bent for a while which really just kept me from making stuff me and my family loved. Hand tools are fun, but so hard to work with quickly if you aren’t very skilled with them.

I highly recommend the hobby if you’re interested. It’s been a lifelong thing for me. Holding your own work in your hands is very grounding. Solving and working with physical problems is extremely engaging. For me, wood working and gardening are two productive activities that (not joking) really make me feel alive and connected to something. Programming is great, but it doesn’t do that.

My next project is a speargun to replace the one I currently dive with. I’m very excited to build it.