What is it folks? What do you ultimately wish to accomplish in life as a woodworker? As you grow into the world of woodworking and learn new techniques, and discover new tools, or morph into your own style of woodworking and use tools that suit your style, after all, what is your goal as a woodworker?

In reality, do we need to have a goal? Isn't it enough to just go out and make "Stuff"? And as we make our stuff, do we learn more?

Some folks get stuck making a specific style of "Stuff". If you make nothing but picture frames, how far is your woodworking skill set and knowledge base going to expand?

And it's not a bad thing to be focused and great at one thing, woodworkers who do so make a good living.

But as hobbyist or hobbyist/pros, what do we do to expand our knowledge of this wonderful art.

I'll start. I have a goal. My ultimate goal is to revert my shop back 100 years, and use the same tools they used 100 years ago to build anything I want. Now I'll admit, there is one machine I will not be able to do without, the table saw. But I have thought long and hard about this, and I have mentally put myself in this shop I want and how I would execute the builds of my favorite pieces. At this point I can honestly say my skill set could not make it in a 100 year old shop. I am not as proficient at traditional joinery as I would like to be, and my complete knowledge of hand tools is not there yet. It will be years. Maybe after the kids fly the coop, it will be then that I can concentrate on my 100 year old shop.

So my question back to you all, what is your ultimate woodworking goal in life? Where do you see yourself 5, 10 or even 15 years from now in your woodworking? Or, where would you like to be?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your feedback!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Oh boy John,

Tough question ,  but if your talking 10-15 years from now alot of my machines will be getting close to being apropriate for your 100 year old shop theme.  Wow I'm better than half way there myself now!

As far as what I'll be doing with the woodworking, I'll have to wait and see where the adventure takes me. I know it won't be big projects, just the type of things that will keep me busy, and try to preserve what little sanity I have left.

There are a few things that I would like to try such as Intarsia, and other things with the scroll saw, drillpress, and bandsaw. A little bit of cabinet making to keep the table saw, radial arm saw, shaper, and jointer from feeling neglected. Some turning for the lathe ( wood and metal) I'm sure you get the picture.

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

Wow John, what a question.  I suppose my ultimate long term goal is to keep all of my fingers but that probably doesn't count as an answer.  Even as long as I've been doing this I still learn something every time I'm in the shop so I want to keep on learning.  At this point of my life I focus on the areas I enjoy and avoid those areas I don't.  Perhaps time will alter my likes and dislikes though.  I'm learning to never avoid a project becasue it seems too big and scary because that's when you learn.  In fact, my winter project is going to be building all new kitchen cabinets with raised panel doors for my wife.  A bit scary but doable.

Thanks for asking.

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Ron Dudelston
Site Host


Above and Beyond WoodWorks

To build ANYTHING I want, whenever I want.

Not too much to ask, is it?

I'd like to just get really good at ONE thing. 

But, intarsia and marquetry are a couple things I want to try.

Done all the furniture and larger case work I want to do. 

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Joe,

Amen to that. 

Larry 

Joe Lyddon said:

To ME, this is getting to be more important...

I like This goal too...

I would add one more item to it...

"... and to be able to AFFORD to pay for it! "    

Joe

dragon1 said:

I love to make things for my home (which means for my wife as "Happy Wife=Happy Life" ) as well as making gifts for people and for church. But what I am hoping to do over this next year is to get a few specific items that I can make and sell to generate enough income to not only pay for my wood and necessary tools, but also to put some money aside to pay for things beyond our typical monthly needs. My plan is to start making higher end patio furniture in an adirondack style. I have a couple of good plans to work with and I had started to make some prototypes in April, but then I came down with pneumonia which put me out of the shop for 2 months. So now that we are into summer, I decided to table the prototypes until after Christmas as I have a lot of stuff to make for my wife and for Christmas gifts.

I am also along the same lines as Ron as goal #1 is to keep all 10 digits attached to my hands.

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

http://www.awcreationsandwoodcrafts.com

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

In 15 years, hopefully still above ground!

I only frequent 2 sites dealing with woodworking. I am amazed at the number of folks sharing John's view of returning to those thrilling days of yesteryear.

And then I think of the Shakers, their fondness for simplicity and their propensity for improving/developing more efficient tools. Seems even the folks "living the dream" dreamed of  making things easier and faster.

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Lew,

 I guess it's just a yearning for the simpler times when big brother wasn't looking over our shoulders so much.

 I can't imagine what folks will be thinking of us 100 years from now, or how much differant things will be

 Maybe I'm better off not knowing

Larry

 

 

 

John - great discussion topic.  Just one comment for YOU sir regarding "Now I'll admit, there is one machine I will not be able to do without, the table saw."  Think peddle power - I did.

 

My long term goals are pretty much the same as my short term goals.  Being able to share my talents with other folks around the country through the pieces I make.  Yeh, a little $$$ to pay for the wood and tools is good too.

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Fred
aka Pop's Shop
www.pops-shop.com
EX-21
'Soooooo many patterns - sooooo little time'

Great feedback guys!

I guess I am a romantic in the sense that I love things old and warm. I have this vision that someday I'll be in this shop on a property up in the mountains. It will be an old cabin with an out structure that is over a hundred years old that I'll use for the shop. We'll be retired, my wife will be reading her favorite books on the front porch at times and she'll be working nearby with me making her beautiful pottery that she turns out on a wheel, we'll be in this old shop with a wood burning stove, and nothing but old hand tools of all sorts, and the knowledge to use them to make beautiful furniture for my kids and their kids. And yes, I'll have a few mountain dulcimers hanging off the walls that I can pick up and join my wife on the porch and strum away. No TV, just a radio or player to play our favorite music with. It's just a dream at this point, but ultimately our ultimate goal, a simple life. Living in California my entire life and most of my wife's life, it has gotten old, and we just want a simple life, with simple people around us like us. And would it be too much to ask for a church that doubles as a one room school house?

I would like to reply to each of your responses but I am off to work now, so when I get back in I'd like to hear more of your dreams or goals as a woodworker.

In addition to our goals that you all stated above, can we talk about dreams? Your dream shop, your dream goal? Or are you happy right where you are? I realize I am coming from a different time in life that some are on here. Some of you are already retired and living that dream you have or have been blessed with something unexpected on that way that put you in your dream or goal ahead of time. I know there are a few on here that had a forced layoff thus forcing retirement, and I have heard you claim that was the best thing that happened.

I am interested in your replies, thanks for humoring me on this subject.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

I guess it's a lot more mundane for me...I just want to have fun. Retired, and trying to find a way to stay out of my wife's hair, the shop is a retreat where I go to enjoy.

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No Ref

Fred,

Your not alone, and it's pretty much the same for me. I'm sure quite a few of us retreat to get out of the wifes hair.

Larry
Fred W. Hargis, Jr said:

I guess it's a lot more mundane for me...I just want to have fun. Retired, and trying to find a way to stay out of my wife's hair, the shop is a retreat where I go to enjoy.

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No Ref

Well sometime I feel stuck in the "making the same thing" while making cutting boards. But I look at the first one I made sitting on our counter and look at the things I do now and realize how much better my skills are today in making those than a few years ago. For me I like a challenge. I like taking on other projects to push my skills. To make me learn new ways of making something. There are so many different pieces I would like to make. But I want to make pieces as good as the Shakers that stand the test of time. That 100 years from now my pieces are still in use and holding up as well as many of the fine pieces from 100+ years ago.

Dream shop would be  huge. Then I would be dreaming of an even bigger one and the process goes on. I don't know if  you ever have enough room in the shop. I would like to be in a shop with more power than I currently have. I would like to have most of my machines a little bigger and running 220 instead of 110. I do have some tools on 220 now, but I am pushing my limits without doing some re-wiring.

As for the traditionalist I love the old hand tools, but when I look at a piece I cut dovetails in with my router and jig, they look fine with me and I don't know that I could tell I didn't cut them by hand. As a matter of fact, I had one of Cedar Chest on display and several guys coming by ask if the dovetails were hand cut. So if you have to ask, does that mean you can't tell? If you can't tell, is it bad that they were cut with a jig and router? Where is the chicken and egg in all of this. I do wish I was better with some of the old hand tools, but I have no problem running a board through my planner with the spiral cutting head instead of pushing the hand plane across it. Don't misunderstand, I like to hear the sound of the hand plane sometimes, but when I need to get a job done my planner is where I would most likely turn.

I guess in the end, I would like some of the pieces I make to be passed down to children and they be able to tell stories of their relative that made that piece using his spiral cutter head planner when they will be planing with some new toy of the time. Now that will bring a smile to my face.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

wow not sure how to answer this. so many things I would like to make so little time to do it all in. I guess I would like to get my skills back up to where they once was before losing my shop I once had. also to be able to build that one musical instrument that will live on and get better with age.

I guess it's not a goal, But it's more of a love or a need from somewhere deep with-in to take some raw material and to create something of usefulness or a thing of beauty out of it.

Good topic here....

I'd like to be able to have time and get back into building the things I started adding to my building collection and be proficiant at it again. (time consuming projects like Humidors)

 

I'd like to also get my glueing/clamping station completed so I can start building gun cabinets and other cabinets etc...

 

I bought a mini lathe back in 2003-04 thinking I'd get it set up and be able to tool around and learn more working with it... I played with it one weekend only and it is collecting dust since... One of these days

 

I'd really like to see my Family (brothers/sisters and even Kids get more involved with my business and learn the things in the shop I do along with the other aspects of running and keeping it going.. and eventually I want to teach my grandkids some woodworking skills as well...

 

But I do know my ultimate adventure in woodworking is still around the corner with sawing my own logs and setting up a kiln for drying the lumber

 

for now though I just keep building my displays and keep up with supply and demand...

 

Thank you for continuing the thread guys, this is great stuff. John, Phil and Russell, thanks for keeping it alive and all the others too. It's great to read about what we don't talk about often. Or dreams and goals.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Russell - great idea of the animated gif.  Gives us a super view of how it's built.

Great looking humidor - the recipient is going to love it.

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Fred
aka Pop's Shop
www.pops-shop.com
EX-21
'Soooooo many patterns - sooooo little time'

Fred,

Thank You... but those Humidors went to Raffle and Auctions along time ago.. I've got two more glued up and been sitting on my shelf now for years... one about 3-4 yrs and the other at least 2 yrs now... I have been in search of an artist who can line draw the graphic details for the engraving to go on both of these... to date I have not found anyone who would take on the challenge not even Tattoo aritist shops locally around here... Thus they sit and draw dust

I enjoy fine cigars and we used to have get togethers here locally and across the country and do events for places like St. Judes childerns hospital and Ronald McDonald house in St. Louis. the Shriners here in Springfield IL. that is where the Abe Lincoln Humidor Auctioned off for..

 
Fred Wilson said:

Russell - great idea of the animated gif.  Gives us a super view of how it's built.

Great looking humidor - the recipient is going to love it.

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Fred
aka Pop's Shop
www.pops-shop.com
EX-21
'Soooooo many patterns - sooooo little time'

To screw around in my wood shop playing with my tools and lumber and make neat stuff, much of which I'll give away to people I care about.