popper Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Hi all. I'm a newbie when it comes to woodworking but did some when I was in middle school over 20 years ago. I'm an at home dad and looking to make woodworking my new caree if I have the woodworking ablity to do so. Luckily for me I have my wife full support, which from what I read on forums I will need alot of. I was a chef for over 15 years before we had kids. So this is where I need your guys help. As a chef I was able to have my newbies do things in the kitchen to hone their skills with out wasting product. I.e. dice vegatables, mincing garlic and herbs, making stocks and breaking down meat and fish. So I was wondering if there are things like that in woodworking I can do to hone my skill in the begain so that I can set aside for use later? I was looking at prices of wood around my area and don't want to spend a lot of money just to mess things up and waste good wood. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Welcome to the forums Popper! Unfortunately, to practice the skills you're looking for, you'll need wood. Doesn't have to be expensive wood, could even be free wood. There's a lot of good wood workers who do some amazing things with pallet wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Welcome, this is a place of learning! It matters not how much experience you bring with you, you will learn something regularly! You need tools to start with, what do you have at your disposal and then we might be able to get you started on a journey, that will confuse, befuddle and thrill you as you grow in the hobby. Again welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popper Posted September 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Thanks Tiods. Sorry I think I didn't make myself clear. I know I need wood. I was thinking of making things that will be used in later projects. Like in the kitchen I might not need 10 pounds of carrots small dice that day but I would use them over the next couple of days but it taught my new staff how to cut a small dice 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/4 perfectly. Thats more of what I was asking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 It's not quite the same in the shop. You might mill some lumber for later use but, that's not really much of a skill builder. Building shop furniture is always a great skill builder. Allows you to make mistakes that will only be in your shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Poplar is affordable hardwood . Welcome to the Forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popper Posted September 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Thanks guys for the warm welcome. Thanks Tiols I was afraid of that. I will go over broad then when building my shop furniture and shelving then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Thanks guys for the warm welcome. Thanks Tiols I was afraid of that. I will go over broad then when building my shop furniture and shelving then. Lots of us did that in the name of skill building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Thanks guys for the warm welcome. Thanks Tiols I was afraid of that. I will go over broad then when building my shop furniture and shelving then. That's the way to find out, you didn't need that big of something.... Then, you find a use for it.... But, you learn along the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Building a stack of shop drawers is great skills practice. You learn how accurate all the parts have to be to get a decent fit and have the drawer run smoothly. Accurate stock preparation is the key to building almost anything from wood. It has to be flat, square and a consistent thickness. Joiner, planer and tablesaw are key to stock prep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindsayannB Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Im with them.. Build your shop furniture and learn as you build those things. You're going to have to actually MAKE things in order to learn to make them. Building stuff is an integrated process where each step informs the next unlike cooking where it's an additive process (first this, then that, then this). You NEED to know every step of your project and why it's being done a particular way in order to do it, so you can't just chop a bunch of wood. Actually, you can think of woodworking more like designing your own recipes and less like cooking. You can't just know that carrots and cauliflower taste good together to make a dish..You have to know what ways to cook them, with what seasonings, etc etc. This all comes with actually doing it and testing and failing a few times. I would think to make wood working a career would be VERY difficult as an absolute beginner and starting a business always costs money the first year or two anyways. If you;re looking for a way to supplement income, wood working might not be it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 I tend to agree to a certain point.. Yes, shop furniture is awesome for learning new skills and techniques. However, if your shop needs 15 cabinets you get to a point where you've got it figured out and it's time to move on to something else and you've still got a bunch left to build. I think the better shop projects are things like router tables, out feed tables, some extra drawers, etc.. Items where you're not batching out multiples just to get the job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Welcome, Popper! I hope you find everything you are looking for here. This community houses a great bunch of people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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