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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

#141

Post by anonAndOn »

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…

8' (or even 10', depending on your model) studs can probably fit inside the vehicle if you fold down the rear seats and use a towel to protect your dash. If you have a sunroof, it's even possible to transport a few 12' boards by sliding them up through the sunroof and out over the hood/bonnet (again, with a towel to protect the roof). It looks ridiculous, requires taking slower backroads and is probably best done when there is little/no traffic but it is doable.

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

#142

Post by ErrantX »

lsiunsuex wrote: post #20
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…

Not wood working, but I remodeled almost my entire last house. 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom, 2 bedrooms, a hallway and minor work to the dining room and family room. These were complete guts down to the studs with new windows, doors, electrical, plumbing, insulation. Expense wise, you need quite a few tools and obviously materials. Doors I always went with solid core doors (vs hollow) and double pane windows. We used fiber…

Agree with all of this.

People act really shocked at the level of DIY I get up to, but really the main secret is having a go.

You can definitely get as close to as good a finish as a pro, it just takes longer and is more fun for you!

The current project is a home office from scratch; which basically meant learning how to build a wood frame building. YouTube is a wonderful resource! (First fit is done, plastering next)

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

#143

Post by Arubis »

IgorPartola wrote: post #74
blhack wrote: 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…

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.

Depending on your location, you may have a local makerspace, tool library, or similar; oftentimes places like that will have beginner classes on the cheap. Granted, that may all be on hold presently for Covid-19, but could be a nice thing to bookmark for later.

Edit: as an example from my own locale, the Denver (Colorado, USA) Tool Library typically has a beginner's welding class for $150: https://denvertoollibrary.org/upcoming/welding-101-fjbkt-k4g..., though they've suspended all in-person classes while the pandemic rages.

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

#144

Post by etskinner »

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…

A Prius is one of the best compact cars you can have for this purpose, it can easily fit 8' lumber that's 2' wide, stacked 2' thick. In mine (2008), I drop the back seats, slide the front passenger seat forward and tip it all the way back, both extremely easy.

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm convinced with the right strapping and padding, and driving at low speeds on a non-windy day, you could also strap full 4x8 sheets on the roof.

You'd be surprised how many mom and pop places will deliver. And like others have said, for anything else, there's always the rental truck or a U-Haul.

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

#145

Post by benburleson »

frans wrote: post #139
jacquesm wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

I had the same thought, and I worried there would be more regret in the story. While it's not a (traditionally) happy story, I'm glad that wasn't the case.

It's still a good reminder to pull the trigger on those things that will impact your life. Don't wait for the perfect time, or when you'll have "more time" to do it right. It's cliché now, but Live Your Best Life; it's too short to put that off.

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

#146

Post by vkou »

globular-toast wrote: post #133
Arainach wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's difficult to generalize, given that they have an absolutely huge inventory, but the IKEA pieces I own (Two tables, two sets of cabinets) have held up for a decade, and are likely to hold up for at least two more.

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

#147

Post by reportingsjr »

globular-toast wrote: post #133
Arainach wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well made furniture can be pretty difficult to make. I'd guess for the average skilled person it probably takes a half dozen projects and lots of research before you start making pretty decent furniture, so keep that in mind!

On top of that, designing good looking furniture takes much more skill and time. Sometimes ya just don't have the knack either.

That being said, it's still super satisfying to make furniture, even if it gets cracks from expansion, has all kinds of weird defects, or doesn't look all that great!

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

#148

Post by war1025 »

wegs wrote: post #12
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…

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.…

> (GOOD) clamps

Any advice on what to look for or what brands you might recommend?

I bought a couple furniture clamps a few years ago and they are complete garbage.

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

#149

Post by anjc »

globular-toast wrote: post #133
Arainach wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Wood's expensive. High quality exotic wood can be very expensive. Someone making their first pieces of furniture will likely (should) be using MDF or pine, same as an Ikea item, but will still be paying more just for the materials than the finished item.

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

#150

Post by [deleted] »

Loughla wrote: post #51
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.

Woodworking is one of those skills where you can see literally every flaw about your finished product, because you know what greatness looks like and you cannot achieve it. 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, an…

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