My journey into woodworking started on accident. What started out as what I thought would be a simple re-finishing job on a free table on Craigslist turned into much more. Not only did that table kick my ass, it spawned an addiction. Soon all I could think about was wood, but I hadn’t actually built anything. I wasn’t allowed to until the table was done and once it was, I was ready to build. There was only one problem, I had no tools or knowledge on woodworking, I just knew I wanted to do it.
After some light reading from Woodworking for Dummies and some online articles, I felt like I was really for my first build. I found plans for a toy chest online and thought it looked simple enough. Well, as we all know looks can be deceiving. I remember looking at the steps in the plans and seeing words and techniques I don’t remember reading about. Through much trial and error, my first project was complete. While I do consider my first project a success (for my skill level), it was far from perfect, and I was hooked.
This is where the power tools began to build up. I wanted everything new, big, shiny, and powerful. That would definitely make my projects better, right? Well, with 3 kids, I was lucky to get old, small, and beat up. Anything new was usually the cheapest new. Anytime I got some extra cash, you can bet it went towards tools. Pretty soon I had a nice little set up on my side of our two car garage. Then I kept getting more and more and soon I had kicked my wife out and now had the whole garage filled with saw dust.
At this point I’m ready to hit the reset button. Rather than adding more power and less room to the shop, I’m doing the opposite. It’s time to sell off the power tools and trade in for some hand tools. Now we’re looking at a whole new way to work wood and basically relearning everything. Am I doing this alone? Heck no! I’ve enrolled in The Hand Tool School by Shannon Rogers. I will utilize his online classes to learn the basics of using hand tools. Follow along as I share my thoughts and experiences through this process
The Fameless Woodworker 