[Charlie]

Where should I start? Any ideas on a small project that will be fulfilling?

Topic

[Sides]

#2027455

Not An Easy Answer

What do you know how to do, and what do you want to learn?

When I wanted learn to dovetail, I made some dovetail boxes. I made a couple to hold tea bags. You can have fun with the wood. My favorite one was made out of maple and cherry, I gave it to my sister.

Small end tables are fun and will help you learn mortise and tendon joinery.

A foot stool can come in handy.

Start with something you know, and try and learn something with each project. The more you try the better you will get.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Charlie

[Charlie]

#2027575

An end table sounds like a great idea. Mortise and tenons and practice dovetails for the drawers. Laminating and planing the top…perfect! Thank you!

[Chuy]

#2027492

Gifts

Make small gifts, pencil holders,  business cards holders,  salt shakers,  desk items, etc…

Post pics here

[Juliadeer]

#2027520

Toolbox

What about the toolbox, Joshua has a video series about making a toolbox.

[Anonymous]

#2027537

If you’re really really really just starting out, I’d suggest just watching lots of videos to get a hang of how things should be done. WoodandShop, and Paul Sellers’ youtube channel are my favourite places. Then, just dive in to something small, that wouldn’t be a huge disappointment, should it not work out.

I started out just doing very basic stuff; a single dovetail joint, for instance. It allows you to practice, with little risk. Lately, as I’ve gotten the hang of things a little, I’ve graduated to pencil boxes, and right now I’m making a box for my chisels, and planning to build a set of japanese-style sawhorses. Not having a bench is a huge obstacle for me, and it makes everything far more difficult; so I’m hoping two sawhorses with a nice thick top-piece (perhaps with a wood vise or two attached) could remedy my problems, for a while, at least.

Also, try some whittling and ax work. It taught me more about grain behaviour than anything else has. And it really helped me understand how wood works and behaves, without having to learn the hard way so often.

[Mike in TN]

#2027538

 
<p style=”margin: 0in 0in 10pt;”><span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;”>Hi Charlie,</span></p>
 
<p style=”margin: 0in 0in 10pt;”><span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;”>It’s especially nice to be able to welcome a young lady to the group. One of the wonderful things about woodworking is that there are so many specialized areas of interest and work, each having some similarities and differences. Furniture work, decorative crafts, creating musical instruments, and wood carving (just to name a few different areas) requires some unique tools and skills. As the other posters have indicated, the first thing you need to do is determine which (it could be several) of the many areas appeal to you personally. Look the magazines and videos over, pay attention to your other interests (music, home decoration, wooden boats, etc.) and what items appeal to you when out shopping. Libraries are a great source before you start investing in your personal reference collection. That should help you determine the areas that should be initially pursed.</span></p>
 
<p style=”margin: 0in 0in 10pt;”><span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;”>We currently live in a golden age of woodworking information and videos free EBooks will give you a good idea of the tools you will need to start with and the skills you need to develop. Start small because that will give you the greatest return in knowledge from the time and money spent. Ask around among friends and relatives for people you may already know that have some skills and resources you can draw on. Go to craft shows, historical craft demonstrations, museums, and similar sources, not only to look at what others are doing but to make contacts with similar interests in your area. Even if they can’t help directly they can often point you to someone who can. Regardless of which woodworking area you pursue, do spend some time simply taking limbs of different species of trees and enjoy cutting and splitting them, and do some of the same activity with dried woods. It will help in the understanding of all of the qualities of wood, such as differences in weight, smell, working qualities, strengths and weakness, not just from one wood to another but often within the same piece of wood. </span></p>
 
<p style=”margin: 0in 0in 10pt;”><span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;”>Once you have decided on the direction you will want to go the projects usually become obvious.</span></p>
<span style=”font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: ‘Calibri’,’sans-serif’; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;”><span style=”color: #000000;”>Above all else, have fun with it.</span></span><b></b><i></i><u></u>

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