Rules of a Hobby Woodworker

[rjboch]

I had the great fortune to spend half the day in the garage/workshop today with the doors open and a beautiful San Diego sunny day outside. Anyway, after I cleaned up my workshop I started reflecting on the trials and tribulations of my current project (building a modern Scandinavian style credenza with exposed Baltic birch edges). I then decided to list out on my white board a few basic reminders and realized it would be a cool thing to share with this community.

Rules of a Hobby Woodworker

1.) Always spend the time to create detailed plans (never try to wing it)
2.) Envision the build in your head (rehearse)
3.) Measure three (3) times, and then do it once more
4.) Always dry fit a build
5.) Walk away when you get frustrated
6.) Nothing in life is ever 100% perfect
7.) There are many ways to get there
8.) Enjoy the journey (super cliché…but true)
9.) Always learn from the experience and your mistakes (it makes you a better woodworker…and human)

I would be interested to know if any of you have any additions to the list. Thanks for reading!

 

[WillAdams]

Decide if you are a tool user or collector.

If a collector, buy tools with an eye towards improving one's collection and understanding of the tools in question.

If a user, only buy a tool when ready to begin a project, and when certain the tool is useful for said project and justifies the expense in terms of either savings in effort, time, material, or surety of production (i.e., David Pye's craftsmanship of risk).

 

[ChuckM]

Thanks for sharing.

Rules of a Hobby Woodworker

1.) Always spend the time to create detailed plans (never try to wing it) -- Never built any furniture based on detailed plans except when I first started hobby woodworking.
2.) Envision the build in your head (rehearse) -- Sometimes (i.e. when doing an unfamiliar project or using new and complex techniques)
3.) Measure three (3) times, and then do it once more -- Yes in general
4.) Always dry fit a build -- Yes, yes, yes!!!
5.) Walk away when you get frustrated -- Easier said than done, unfortunately
6.) Nothing in life is ever 100% perfect -- Agreed
7.) There are many ways to get there -- True
8.) Enjoy the journey (super cliché…but true) -- Frankly, I enjoy the final result more, especially after a long period of construction time
9.) Always learn from the experience and your mistakes (it makes you a better woodworker…and human) -- The Festool Forum is an additional source of experience.

10.) Use Old Brown Glue or the like when the project (glue-up) is too important to fail.

 

[deepcreek]

Safety first!
Buy the best tools you can afford.
If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
Pay close attention to the details.

 

[bkharman]

Never give up!  (But if you do, put that project in the fire so you never, ever, have to see it again or have proof of your failure!)

A little bit of ribbing there, but I will say, learn to be patient and slow down. Hobby is not production.

Cheers. Bryan.

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[Sparktrician]

11.  Do not ever be afraid to fail.  It is in failure that we learn our best lessons toward success. 

 

[jeffinsgf]

I like all of these except #1.

Some of my favorite things I've built have been "design on the fly".

 

[simonh]

Always spend any money saved by Doing It Yourself on more tools

 

[morggan25]

5.)  Walk away when you get frustrated

Totally agree on that one. Woodworking should be fascinating occupation of your own, not frustrating. By the way, if you would look for router lift, I can highly recommend this JessEm Rout-R-Lift II ( from this website:https://www.woodroutersreviews.com/best-router-lift/ ). It's made my wood working hobby much easier after I've got this.

 

[sancho57]

1) Never drink beer before starting a project or 9am which ever comes first
2) all screw ups are customization of the project
3) When in doubt buy a new tool
4) use a label machine label all your tool cabinets and dont forget to relabel everything after reorganizing your shop
5) Drink beer after reorganizing your shop.
6) Play loud music while in shop to make wife think you are busy working on her honey do project
7) Go to your lumber supplier/ hardware supplier frequently to get you out of the house.
8) Every now and then work on the project to justify to the wife why ya bought all those fancy tools

 

[Michael Kellough]

[member=10147]jobsworth[/member]    This N fell off #1.

 

[threesixright]

Well. Definitely disagree on point #6 ;-)

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[threesixright]

Well. Definitely disagree on point #6 ;-)

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Maybe replace it with:

Good is good enough!

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[thender]

I would add: 

Always verify any changes to a router or router table setup with test cuts on scrap before using on real project...

 

[Jesse Cloud]

When marking or cutting joinery, always mark the reference side for the measurement - especially with the Domino!!

Always make a cut list - the best way of finding out what you forgot.

Don't build projects to show off how many different kinds of joinery you know how to make.

Don't have more than three major design features - more looks too busy. (Thanks Michael Fortune!)

 

[TSO_Products]

Folks - lots of good stuff to pick from and make your own.
Can I suggest one more:

"Always practice using a new-to-you tool or first-time-joinery on something other than real live project material".

Hans