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

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

#71

Post by pawelk » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:33 PM UTC

pen2l wrote: post #5

It seems so fulfilling, being able to make such beautiful things. But also a bit expensive eh... to get the woodworking skills (presumably by taking classes at a technical college?), the equipment, and the time involved. If any folks here are capable of doing this stuff, would you please share details of your journey, I feel inspired to learn some of this myself. Did you feel it was all worth it, what would you do di…

I started when we bought our first house and there wasn't much money left for kitchen furniture. But we needed a kitchen, so I decided to get some big box store pine, hinges, drawer slides etc to build some temporary cabinets. I didn't know much and I made many mistakes, but the kitchen I built lasted us... 7 years, and is gone now mainly because we're renovating the whole house.

All the tools I had back then were a cordless drill, two hand saws, some chisels and a sander. You don't need much and you should only buy new equipment if the project requires it. Also I did not "design" anything, just did some sketches on paper then improvised on the spot.

Woodworking instantly became my hobby and after watching some Youtube videos - including ALL of Paul Sellers videos - I made a decision to go the unplugged route.

If I were to start over I'd read a book about the basic principles of woodworking and joinery, especially how the wood behaves and how to apprloach it. I sort of got all of this by intuition, however an introductory book would be a better start. Also I should have mastered sharpening way earlier in my journey.

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

#72

Post by Robotbeat » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:33 PM UTC

bardworx wrote: post #35

wegs wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's less expensive than pre-made furniture. A good place to get started is construction lumber -- just 2x4s. They're not bad once you clean them up with a sander and potentially planer and finish them, and they have a certain industrial aesthetic raw. They're cheap enough that if you mess up or change your mind, you can throw them away and try again. And if you want to redo a piece of furniture, you can do that too.…

You probably know what you're doing but for a beginner, 2x4 isn't a good choice because: 1. 2x4 are not 2" x 4" and when you start, you make a lot of assumptions that land you in hot water. 2. A beginner will not know what does "green" vs. "klin" mean and will have a hard time getting anything to be straight. 3. Construction lumber is made for construction and not interior use because of many different factors. I wou…

I’ve been using 2x4s (1.5” by 3.5”) as a beginner, and I’m happy so far. They’re a very nice, convenient shape for a lot of things and aren’t very heavy and are very cheap.

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

#73

Post by furyofantares » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:36 PM UTC

orliesaurus wrote: post #52

What a nice thing to do! However I couldn't not notice the typical anonymous mob commenting. Some of the comments on that reddit are so mean. How evil can some folks be when someone just went through his wife's passing.

Do you have comments sorted by controversial or something? It took me quite a while to find the comments I think you're talking about in any other sorting method.

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

#74

Post by IgorPartola » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #57

gummydog wrote: post #47

My woodworking journey started when I was quoted $2500 to fix my porch railings. $1000 in materials, $1000 in tools mix in youtube tutorials and patience and now I'm hooked. The sliding compound mitre saw was the life changing tool for me. It was what was holding me back all these years from doing my own projects. I was always outsourcing this type of work for simply the cutting of lumber and thought I could do bette…

YES! This is why it's SO important to keep this sort of stuff in schools. 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…

Why specifically MIG and not something like flux core? Also, what resources do you recommend for learning to weld? I wish I could take a class on this but all I see is like two year old programs for becoming a certified welder and I am just looking to do it for random odd jobs.

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

#75

Post by EasyTiger_ » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:41 PM UTC

propogandist wrote: post #22

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've had a number of reorganizations over the years to get rid of the more toxic subcultures on there.

the reorganizations were primarily to appease advertisers, and they've also increased all sorts of tracking, including outbound link click tracking, pushing their POS mobile app etc. There's also serious censorship [2] and narratives that are pushed, especially messaging that's pro-CCP, mostly thanks to the recent $150M investment from Tencent https://old.reddit.com/r/undelete/top/?t=year https://www.reddit.com/r/nex…

Don’t forget things like this being promoted on the “Popular” section:

https://reddit.com/r/pics/comments/j2q1g8/standback_and_stan...

There are many in the thread of Jewish faith asking it to be taken down, feeling that it promotes Holocaust denial /minimisation. If you read the horrendously uncaring Moderator sticky post dripping with sarcasm you get a good feel for the state of Reddit in 2020.

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

#76

Post by codegeek » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:42 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #57

gummydog wrote: post #47

My woodworking journey started when I was quoted $2500 to fix my porch railings. $1000 in materials, $1000 in tools mix in youtube tutorials and patience and now I'm hooked. The sliding compound mitre saw was the life changing tool for me. It was what was holding me back all these years from doing my own projects. I was always outsourcing this type of work for simply the cutting of lumber and thought I could do bette…

YES! This is why it's SO important to keep this sort of stuff in schools. 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…

I am intrigued. What is the minimum age requirement for this workshop ? Do you have a website for this ?

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

#77

Post by Jeremy1026 » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:43 PM UTC

gummydog wrote: post #47

My woodworking journey started when I was quoted $2500 to fix my porch railings. $1000 in materials, $1000 in tools mix in youtube tutorials and patience and now I'm hooked. The sliding compound mitre saw was the life changing tool for me. It was what was holding me back all these years from doing my own projects. I was always outsourcing this type of work for simply the cutting of lumber and thought I could do bette…

Just bought myself a new 12" dual bevel sliding miter saw. Such an amazing upgrade from my cheap 7.5" single bevel sliding miter saw I had. I didn't want to spend $450 on it, but damn I'm glad I did.

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

#78

Post by adsjhdashkj » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:48 PM UTC

codingdave wrote: post #30

pen2l wrote: post #5

It seems so fulfilling, being able to make such beautiful things. But also a bit expensive eh... to get the woodworking skills (presumably by taking classes at a technical college?), the equipment, and the time involved. If any folks here are capable of doing this stuff, would you please share details of your journey, I feel inspired to learn some of this myself. Did you feel it was all worth it, what would you do di…

I'm a bad woodworker. My furniture has bad joints, gaps between pieces of wood. I don't use good wood. I do a poor job painting or staining it... and everyone still just sits down on my chairs and says, "This is so cool that you make your own furniture." Start small, start bad, improve on each project... and give it time.

Stupid question - would it be sane to get involved in this stuff without having a means of transporting large objects?

Every time i look into wood related work, be it home repair or artsy stuff, everything is huge. I have a Prius. I'm not too thrilled at the idea of buying a 2nd car (truck), and i don't want to drive only a truck.. so how am i to get the supplies?

Sounds like a silly question, but yea - things are just big. And i always thought i can't bother if i don't have a truck. Especially with the ~$70 overhead on shipping i see from lowes, home depot, etc. And i'm not aware of any local (wood) places that deliver.

Am i missing anything obvious?

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

#79

Post by blackearl » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:53 PM UTC

adsjhdashkj wrote: post #78

codingdave wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a bad woodworker. My furniture has bad joints, gaps between pieces of wood. I don't use good wood. I do a poor job painting or staining it... and everyone still just sits down on my chairs and says, "This is so cool that you make your own furniture." Start small, start bad, improve on each project... and give it time.

Stupid question - would it be sane to get involved in this stuff without having a means of transporting large objects? Every time i look into wood related work, be it home repair or artsy stuff, everything is huge. I have a Prius. I'm not too thrilled at the idea of buying a 2nd car (truck), and i don't want to drive only a truck.. so how am i to get the supplies? Sounds like a silly question, but yea - things are ju…

Near me we have U-Haul (not sure if they're a national company) and you can rent a truck for $20 and then it's something like $1 a mile.

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

#80

Post by beervirus » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:54 PM UTC

pen2l wrote: post #5

It seems so fulfilling, being able to make such beautiful things. But also a bit expensive eh... to get the woodworking skills (presumably by taking classes at a technical college?), the equipment, and the time involved. If any folks here are capable of doing this stuff, would you please share details of your journey, I feel inspired to learn some of this myself. Did you feel it was all worth it, what would you do di…

You can learn everything you need to know from YouTube videos. Start small with some hand tools, and it won't cost much. If it's something you enjoy, buy more tools as you discover you need them.

It's a fantastic hobby.