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

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

#131
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And in a year when it needs to be replaced they’ll sell you another.

Depends on the item. IKEA is known for it’s cheap and flimsy particle board furniture, but it also sells solid hardwood furniture that is quite solid and well built.

I have a $99 table and 4 chairs that i bought from them something like 8 or 9 years ago. Still holding up very well, though I can see how some of their other stuff wouldn't do so well.

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

#132

When I bought my house I told myself I was going to learn how to do woodworking so that I could build some basic things or improve some things. I bought a bunch of tools and built a workbench (err, well, I finished 90% of it, I never cut the final boards for the bottom shelf) and then... did nothing. I need to finish the workbench and move it to the back of my garage (once I move it I can't put in the bottom shelf wi…

Start doing the projects by Rex Krueger (YT), then some of foundations by Paul Sellers (blogs, YT), I'll leave here some manual woodworkers for your delight: - James Wright, Wood by Wright

- Mike Siemsen

- Rob Cosman

- Frank Klausz

- Shawn L. Graham, Worth The Effort

- Roy Underhill

- Joshua Farnsworth, Wood and Shop

- James Hamilton, aka Stumpy Nubs

- Matthew Cremona

- Jay Bates

- Shannon Rogers

- Simon James

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

#133

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…

I enjoy woodworking quite a bit, but before anyone gets any misconceptions, cost savings is NOT a reason to get into it. Unless you need very specific custom dimensions, IKEA can sell a piece of furniture significantly cheaper than I can get raw materials (even if my time is valued at zero).

But surely your raw materials will be significantly higher quality? Well-made furniture lasts for generations. IKEA is a consumable.

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

#134
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…

Woodworking does require a bit of equipment, room and expense. In the US, there was a bit of a resurgence decades back and the New Yankee Workshop inspired many.

https://www.newyankee.com/

While I don’t have space for a shop so not a woodworker, I think I could do many of those projects. I’ve done more carpentry, first volunteering with Habitat for Humanity decades back, then helping friends restore their old homes, picking up skills and eventually building a small timberframe after taking a class.

The first time you do anything, it will come out badly but like anything it’s just practice, reading books, watching experts.

For woodworking, it really is important to read about woods and finishes up front. So many people buy all the equipment and make projects but don’t know how to assess wood or just slap on whatever finish from the corner store. Beautiful work, looks like crap. There are countless restoration channels on YT with a wealth of experience that you would not ever learn on your own.

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

#135
post #123
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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'm a grown man and I would LOVE to be in that workshop and learn those skills!

If you are in the US and live near a Woodcraft store, many of them have dedicated training rooms with regular clubs and class schedules. 100% woodworking, but still valuable knowledge and experience. I know there's a pandemic on right now, but when we get back to mostly normal I suspect they will start their classes back up again.

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

#136

When I bought my house I told myself I was going to learn how to do woodworking so that I could build some basic things or improve some things. I bought a bunch of tools and built a workbench (err, well, I finished 90% of it, I never cut the final boards for the bottom shelf) and then... did nothing. I need to finish the workbench and move it to the back of my garage (once I move it I can't put in the bottom shelf wi…

I really like the the weekend wood worker https://theweekendwoodworker.com

He has lots of starter projects but for the first one he suggest building a box because every woodworking project is more or less a variation on the box.

I built a jewelry box for my wife. Made lots of mistakes but since it was small and simple I didn't feel stressed about wasting resources. (Wood isn't cheap)

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

#137

When I bought my house I told myself I was going to learn how to do woodworking so that I could build some basic things or improve some things. I bought a bunch of tools and built a workbench (err, well, I finished 90% of it, I never cut the final boards for the bottom shelf) and then... did nothing. I need to finish the workbench and move it to the back of my garage (once I move it I can't put in the bottom shelf wi…

Start doing the projects by Rex Krueger (YT), then some of foundations by Paul Sellers (blogs, YT), I'll leave here some manual woodworkers for your delight: - James Wright, Wood by Wright - Mike Siemsen - Rob Cosman - Frank Klausz - Shawn L. Graham, Worth The Effort - Roy Underhill - Joshua Farnsworth, Wood and Shop - James Hamilton, aka Stumpy Nubs - Matthew Cremona - Jay Bates - Shannon Rogers - Simon James

THANK YOU! I'm adding these to my "Watch Later" list. I'm hoping this helps break my "woodworking-block".

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

#138

When I bought my house I told myself I was going to learn how to do woodworking so that I could build some basic things or improve some things. I bought a bunch of tools and built a workbench (err, well, I finished 90% of it, I never cut the final boards for the bottom shelf) and then... did nothing. I need to finish the workbench and move it to the back of my garage (once I move it I can't put in the bottom shelf wi…

I really like the the weekend wood worker https://theweekendwoodworker.com He has lots of starter projects but for the first one he suggest building a box because every woodworking project is more or less a variation on the box. I built a jewelry box for my wife. Made lots of mistakes but since it was small and simple I didn't feel stressed about wasting resources. (Wood isn't cheap)

Thank you! I will check this out.

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

#139
post #2

What a story...

Quite. Thank you for posting.

I found it quite comforting that both the author and his wife both saw this as a project they wanted to get done. There just wasn't enough time to complete it.

Before reading the story, I feared the guy had always postponed it, only to start on it when it was too late...

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

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My high school was the regional hub for vocational training, so we had an entire wing devoted to these things. There was even a small restaurant and I remember one of the capstone projects for the year was actually building a house. Fortunately it has continued to be well-funded. Unfortunately, an honors-level academic load meant there was no time in the schedule to take many of these classes.

35 years ago I had to argue quite a bit with my high school advisor to be allowed to take drafting. She was adamant that a “college bound” student shouldn’t take shop classes. I use things I learned in that class to this day (it was all hand drafting but there was an Apple II sitting in the corner with a primitive CAD program that I was allowed to play with towards the end of the semester)

Hah, my Engineering School in college required drafting courses (one dedicated hand drafting course, one dedicated CAD course) as low level requirements for every major, including Industrial, Chemistry, and Computer engineering students that didn't always know how/where it would come in handy (but there are indeed lessons applicable to everything). It's a general knowledge communication skill, even if you aren't communicating mechanical diagrams, there are still plenty of carry-over to all the other sorts of diagrams we all see in every field.
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