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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

#181

Post by aaronblohowiak »

Arainach wrote: post #169
globular-toast wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Not necessarily in ways that matter. If I use equivalent materials (MDF), it's still more expensive for me. If I use good plywood (which is usually the right choice) or solid wood (which despite common perception is the wrong choice for almost anything involving large flat panels), it may be more durable but becomes significantly more expensive. IKEA stuff may not last centuries, but it often lasts fine for its inten…

> is the wrong choice for almost anything involving large flat panels

This is not at all a common or majority opinion among the fine woodworking community. There certainly are advantages to engineered wood products, but the shortcomings of wood as an organic material (it moves with respect to humidity, regardless of what you coat it with) can be overcome through successful furniture design.

Also, IKEA is not the comparison for my DIY projects. I compare quite favorably in cost to Thomas Moser, West Elm, etc.

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

#182

Post by robocat »

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…

In NZ the majority of modern plumbing is done using https://www.buteline.com/nz/nz/buteline or similar.

The tool and connectors are relatively expensive, but it is super simple to do your own plumbing reliably. I have done a few odd home plumbing jobs, and it doesn’t take a lot of skill to do something as reliably as a plumber would do. I’m not sure I would trust the similar push-on connector systems.

I think the search keywords is “pex fittings”, but just go to your hardware store and see what they stock.

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

#183

Post by ErrantX »

lsiunsuex wrote: post #177
ErrantX wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Best lesson learned on plastering - thin it out a bit with water and add a little dish soap - helps keep bubbles out. Google it (where I got it from lol) Ceilings are the hardest part :( So much reaching :( Eventually I got good at corners but that took effort.

Ah good tip thanks!

I did some external plastering with cement once and it was horrible! So I'm steeling myself to have a go :)

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

#184

Post by tradertef »

wmock wrote: post #123
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…

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

See if your neighborhood adult school has any classes. I have taken a woodworking class in local adult school. Courses were done in the workshop of a high-school.

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

#185

Post by dekhn »

elboru wrote: post #160
dekhn wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Miter saw (even without sliding) was transformative for me as well. A cheap table saw complements it nicely (I then splurged and got a CNC router, too, which opens up a wide range of techniques). AFter that I ended up playing with chisels, which I always thought were very primitive, but you can do a surprising amount of nice work with just a chisel and a hand saw. I'm a computer programmer but I expect that more and…

That’s the exact reason I (as a programmer) want to start doing some wood work, there’s something about creating tangible stuff that web programming just doesn’t fulfill. You talk about the table saw as a complement. I thought it was a must have, legit question, how do you make precise long cuts without a table saw?

I clamp both ends of straightedge to the work, and use that to guide a handheld circular saw's edge.

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

#186

Post by leonardteo »

For me, I find woodworking and more specifically cabinet-making to be a very full-brain activity much like programming. It requires both left and right brain - technical and creative sides working simultaneously. It's become a joy and passion. I don't do it to save money (though the pieces I do turn out cheaper than if I'd hired someone) but just because I have a vision, and I want that vision to be precisely my vision, not what the contractor wants to do to get their job done cheaper and faster.

If anyone's interested: https://leonardteo.com/woodworking/

I picked up woodworking only a few years ago after buying this place. Watched YouTube videos, attended a workshop where they taught some of the tools and safety. Then did the rest on trial and error.

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

#187

Post by function_seven »

dugmartin wrote: post #128
fatnoah wrote: post #112

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)

This is uncanny. I have the same exact story from 25 years ago.

Before freshman year, I had to sit down with my guidance councilor to select my electives. I chose Spanish and Drafting. She said both of those were a "bad fit for an honors student"; that I should take French and Art instead.

I acquiesced, not too happy about it but also trusting she knew what was better.

A few weeks later I got my schedule. Apparently French was booked up so I got Spanish. But still had to go to Art class.

I dropped that a week later and switched to drafting, which I did all four years of high school. The first two years were technical drawing and the next two were architectural drafting. This is when I convinced the teacher to let me fire up the 386s in the back of the room. They all had Generic CADD[0] on them, which remains one of my favorite CAD programs of all time. Simple, but wicked fast with two-key commands for everything. (i.e. "ZB" for zoom to box, "C3" for a 3-point circle, etc.)

[0] https://winworldpc.com/product/generic-cadd/60

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

#188

Post by mcguire »

blhack wrote: post #88
malwrar wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a really honorable and amazing occupation you've found for yourself and I'm glad folks like you are out there changing people's perspectives and lives. Do you have any resources you'd recommend for learning welding? That's been a skillset that I've wanted to pick up for awhile.

Just buy a welder. Seriously. The machine I learned to weld on was a lincoln 140, and the machines we have at our space are miller 210s (which are LUXURY imo). There are probably thousands of videos on youtube that will show you how to use it, but here's the thing: if you use it wrong, who cares? You really can trial and error your way to it.

A $99 Harbor Freight stick welder, a cheap grinder, plus mask, gloves, long-sleeve shirt and what-not. Then go to a local metal supply place and ask if you can buy some scraps to practice welding---I ended up with a box of pieces of 1/4" steel plate for free. Technically, I should take them back to recycle when I am done, but I'm too ashamed of the horrible welds I did on them. I still can't scratch-start worth a damn.

Just be sure to watch some videos or read up on on how to do it safely.

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

#189

Post by lsllc »

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…

Always get the best tool you can afford! During the lockdown, I got a new DeWalt table saw with a proper rack-and-pinion fence. It can make the most accurate cuts and is an absolute joy to use! Worth every penny and then some! I've already used it for a number of projects.

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

#190

Post by mcguire »

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.

I have that same problem, too.

I got a cheap stick welder and some plate and played around until I could kinda do it. Then I fixed my mailbox. It looks horrible, but it doesn't move anymore.

Most MIG machines can run flux-core wire without any problems. Gas-shielded welding (MIG/TIG) produces cleaner welds with less slag that needs to be cleaned off, but doesn't work outside with any wind.

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