|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I would like to start with just a little philosophy. I have often been referred to as a carpenter and a woodworker. I wonder what people see as a difference between the two or if it really matters.
I believe that there is a difference and it has to to do with
the mind set of each. Most carpenters can be woodworkers but as
I have observed over the years few woodworkers can be carpenters.
As a carpenter I had to make do with what ever
I could put in the back of my truck with what ever tool I could
afford at the time and still have enough left over to pay the
bills. For many the carpenter's day begins worrying about the
weather or the location of the job. A carpenter makes his living
at working out the problem of the day, not unlike the professional
woodworker, but in a different dimension. If you noticed I am
a little prejudice on the side of the carpenter. The woodworker
have thier problems also. You know, is the coffee hot or will
I be able to get the glue off my fingers. I am just kidding, but
I think that more respect should be given to the carpenter that
frames up the house, installs the cabinets and installs the trim
in the houses and commercial building of this world.
A future CD will provide a look at woodworking
from the eyes of a simple carpenter that has been given the opportunity
to also be considered a woodworker. I will try to bring down to
simplest common denominator the topics that we will be talking
about. I hope that this will be a help for the beginner as well
as the life long woodworker. For me, I have never stopped learning.
In the past we would hold, one night a week, what were called board meeting on woodworking for $10 for about 21/2hrs. and we talk about projects we had in our shop at the time or tools and equipment. I had one experienced woodworker in his mid-fifties at a show I was doing that informed me there was nothing that I could teach him for the ten bucks that I was charging. He was right, there was nothing that I could teach him, but I sure learned from him. I was not charging enough, it must of seemed to cheap and it had no value. We changed our policy and began giving them for free. Our philosophy was that the value is in the giving and the receiving and you have to make out of it what you can.
My hope is that what ever we talk about, does not come across
as the only way of doing it, because that would be wrong! I have
only been doing carpentry and woodworking for about thirty-five
years and I still have much to learn. I learn from the apprentices,
books, project and the old and young farts that think they know
it all. I what to empower, much over used word today, you to get
started or to be a better woodworker.
Ok, enough on the philosophy; lets get started in the right direction. You have to start somewhere and I suggest that if you have never done any woodworking, that you take a class before you go out and buy a basement or garage full of tools. You should get a taste of the sawdust and see if it is really something that you might want to do or eat(the sawdust). We will start with some basic tools and the woodworking tips should help familiarize you with many of these tools of the woodworker. If you decide that making sawdust for a hobby or a living is not for you, you will still have some very useful tools for around the house or apartment.
I will try to regularly update and fill in the blanks. So, please check in when you have a chance. Oh yes, if you disagree, let me know or if you would like some information about anything(in woodworking) I try to find a answer for you. Contact me at, tobect@earthlink.com
Terry O. Bruns