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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

#121

Post by mtalantikite »

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 built a huge built in bookshelf for my wife, just without all the lighting like this article. I had very little experience with woodworking and did all sorts of things wrong at first, but just adopted an attitude of play with it.

It took nearly a month to get all the oak that I needed ordered and delivered (who knew there was huge demand for oak from artisanal whiskey distillers), so in that time I just spent hours watching YouTube videos, sketching things out, getting tools I needed, etc. The process wasn’t much different than when I’m building a software system, it’s just a different medium.

After the bookshelves I felt comfortable redoing my entire kitchen, including doing the plumbing. Just be fine with things taking you an entire afternoon that might take a person with experience an hour.

I’d say just play around with it, realize there will be many frustrating unanticipated things that come up as a beginner, and get curious about solving the problems that crop up!

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

#122

Post by mturmon »

mauvehaus wrote: post #114
adsjhdashkj wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I do this (edit: build furniture) for a living. I have a roof rack on my Civic for getting lumber, and I occasionally rent a cargo van for deliveries. Be aware that nominal lengths are usually approximate. I busted a windshield in the Civic because I knew I could fit a ten footer. Turns out my ten foot board was 10' 2" and when I was wiggling it to get the back end in the trunk, I wiggled it into the windshield wrong…

I had that happen.

I knew I had successfully put in a 10' piece of plastic conduit before. I tried it again, wiggled a little too hard, and crack. The 1" conduit is not as flexy as 1/2" and that was enough to cause a problem. I use a towel on the windshield end now.

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

#123

Post by wmock »

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

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

#124

Post by dwighttk »

Arainach wrote: post #113
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…

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).

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

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

#125

Post by refurb »

dwighttk wrote: post #124
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).

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.

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

#126

Post by Aeolun »

refurb wrote: post #125
dwighttk wrote: post #124

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.

That’s very noticeable in the price though.

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

#127

Post by mettamage »

random_visitor wrote: post #85
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.

This kind of comments are really difficult to get rid of, especially so in a site that doesn't strictly tie with your real self. Also, that kind of behaviour is extremely hard to curb. If moderators lay guidelines on what kind of talk is and isn't allowed, people attack the mods and the subreddit for taking away their freedom. If mods are lenient, this and much worse happens. I used to moderate a popular sub (top 100…

> especially so in a site that doesn't strictly tie with your real self.

I never realized it so clearly, but this is definitely the case for me on HN and probably for more commenters on HN.

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

#128

Post by dugmartin »

fatnoah wrote: post #112
larrywright wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really is sad that most schools have discontinued these programs. I have a cousin who makes knives. When I visited his shop in Ohio last year, he commented that a lot of the workbenches and tools that he had in his shop were bought at auctions from schools getting rid of their shop programs. It’s a shame.

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)

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

#129

Post by joshstrange »

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 without moving it back). Does anyone have any good starter-projects or good things to do to "flex" the "muscle" of woodworking?

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

#130

Post by hindsightbias »

codegeek wrote: post #76
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 am intrigued. What is the minimum age requirement for this workshop ? Do you have a website for this ?

Not the op, but in the Bay Area The Crucible does classes for all ages

https://www.thecrucible.org/

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