From: Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca (Nick Janow)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Re: Want to get started in woodworking...
Date: 9 Apr 92 08:23:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: mindlink.11335
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada

colaluca@cs.utexas.edu (Mark Colaluca) writes

> If someone like myself wants to get started in woodworking, what would be the
> best route to go?

There is no "best" route.  For me, I took Krenov's "The Fine Art of
Cabinetmaking" out from the library, and it prompted me to sharpen an old plane
and try it on a piece of plum firewood.  The beauty of that freshly-planed wood
caught me, and I ended up buying a bandsaw, a set of Japanese waterstones and a
few hand tools (small investment).  With those, I built a nice hardwood cabinet
(dovetail joints, rabbetted back, knife hinges I made myself out of brass).
I've since harvested some nice local hardwood (now nicely air-dried planks and
beams) and built a couple of other cabinets.

I can't say that this is the "best route" for you.  I wouldn't have liked
taking a woodworking class; I needed that experience of planing a piece of fine
hardwood with a newly-sharpened plane.  I do recommend Krenov's books though.
:)

> Also, it appears to me (by watching shows like the New Yankee Workshop and
> others) that a significant monetary investment in tools and equipment must be
> made to produce any appreciable woodworking project (that is, produce it
> efficiently, rather than hand-sawing, etc.).

Nonsense.  Power tools are nice, but not necessary.  If you want to learn fine
woodworking, rather than "constructing an item from plans from "generic wood
material"", I suggest constructing a few small projects from a nice hardwood
with properly-tuned hand tools.  This will give you an appreciation for wood.
After that, you can replace the tedious tasks with machinery.  If you start off
with machinery, you might treat fine hardwood as if it was waferboard or
plywood.

Also, I feel that starting off with inferior wood (cheap pine or luan) because
"it's cheap" is a bad approach.  I took woodworking in high school, using
"cheap pine, luan and plywood".  That experience turned me off from
woodworking.  It wasn't until I tried a fine hardwood (plum is beautiful) that
I appreciated wood and fine woodworking.  Acquire a few pieces of a wood you
think is beautiful.  Study it awhile; appreciate it's potential; think of what
it might look good as.  Sharpen a plane and plane the wood; see and feel the
smooth surface that results.  Apply some finishing oil, shellac or wax to the
surface (well, some people like varnish).  Cut some joints in the wood with
freshly-sharpened chisels and handsaws; feel how the chisel cuts crisply,
leaving a smooth finish.

For me, the most important thing is to appreciate the wood.  Hand tools allow
you to do that.  Later, when you feel confident enough to attempt a large,
complex project, like a display cabinet with drawers, you can buy a power saw,
jointer, router or whatever.  At that point, you will be able to appreciate the
time/effort saving of the power tools.  I have a feeling that power tools may
have spoiled more woodworkers than they have aided, by bypassing the wood
appreciation stage.

As I said, my approach to woodworking may not be the proper approach for you.
Perhaps a course, as others have suggested, might be better for you.  The
important thing is to try.
--

Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca
From: stevek@hp-ptp.ptp.hp.com (Steve Kite)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 14:28:22 GMT
Subject: Re: SCROLL SAW PATTERNS
Organization: HP Pacific Technology Park - Sunnyvale, Ca.