Replies

1. 
   Rennie | Jul 10, 2006 11:25pm | #1

   Hello and welcome to the fold. You will find woodworking (WW) to be a tremendously rewarding endeavor. For starters, check out these two current threads.

   http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=30732.1

    

   http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=30686.1

    

   Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.
   Frank Lloyd Wright

2. 
   pzgren | Jul 11, 2006 05:59pm | #2

   Howdy!

     Welcome to woodworking and to Knots!

     My recommendation would to be to do some reading before you lay out any money for tools, etc.

     A couple of places to find good books on woodworking:

   http://www.cambiumbooks.com/books/hand_tools/

   http://www.astragalpress.com/

   http://www.blackburnbooks.com/

   http://www.amazon.com

   Magazines: Fine Woodworking; Popular Woodworking; Woodsmith, are just a couple of the better ones (IMO), with a good variety of articles oriented toward a wide range of skill levels and interests. There are also "specialist" magazines, covering turning, carving, etc.

     Any ideas on what you might like to build? There's a wide range: boxes, tables, chairs, and book cases; high and low boys, chests of drawers, clocks, built-ins; inlay, marquetry, and intarsia work; carving - canes & sticks, relief scenes, architectural, 3-D, caricatures, etc; turning cups, bowls, spindles, parts for other furniture, etc; various styles - Shaker, 18th century or older styles, Arts & Crafts, modern, etc. No end of things you can do that all qualify as "woodworking." You'll eventually need to decide what you might want to try first; you can always "expand" to other areas later.

     Another possibility is to visit a Woodcraft or similar store, if there is one in your area, and talk with the people there about woodworking; they can be very helpful. If there is a community college or a technical-vocational school in your area, those would also be good places for info and may offer classes.

     Ask a lot of questions on forums, like this one; you'll get no end of answers, some of them seemingly contradictory. Like many other things, there are many approaches to woodworking, and the answers you'll get will reflect that. You'll also find that there are some pretty dogmatic personalities here, as well as (many more) folks who are pretty relaxed, sort of a "here's how I do it, I hope that it may be of some use to you" approach.

     I wish you the best of luck in starting woodworking; you'll find it fun and rewarding. And don't hesitate too much...just jump in there and build something; your skill level will increase and the results will improve with each new project.

   Mit freundlichen holzbearbeitungischen Grüßen!

   James