Getting Myself an Interest/Hobby

[Arran]

Hey All,

As some of you will know from a few posts I have made recently my Wife and I have bought a new Victorian house and although there is loaRAB of DIY work for me in the house it has become apparent I am rubbish at DIY (However that is a discussion for another day).

I have decided I want to get myself a useful hobby that may be of some use. Now I plan to do a plastering course soon but that is not a hobby. I have therefore decided I want to be able to make furniture both for use around our home as well as just being more confident when working with wood.

I have therefore decided I am going to take a cabinet making / woodwork class at my local college as a night class. However the next in-take is not until Septeraber and as I am quite excited about my new hobby I want to try and learn more about it.

I was watching YouTube Videos about Mortice and Tenon joints and I wondered what sort of tool/machinery do you need to create these joints? I am not sure if these are created by lathes and if you get hobby/shed sized versions?

[antoinette2190]

The craftsman's way would be with a tenon saw and chisels. The machine route would probably be with a router and a jig. eg: Mortice & Tenon Jigs products from Axminster

[randyj4ever]

May I also suggest you consider learning to make stained glass windows? I did a short course a couple of years ago. It's very easy to do and the tools you need to be able to do this at home are very inexpensive, the major expense is the materials themselves. If I had a Victorian house like yourself (I don't) I think I'd be making umpteen stained glass panels for it.

[Jo =)]

Good for you Weegie. I love working with wood (heh) - I come from a family of boat-builders so I suppose it's in the blood.

Not that I am questioning your capabilities, but unless you have access to some quality tools and have the know-how to use them, the type of joints you are referring to are probably some of the more complex ones for an amateur to be thinking about. I would suggest you build yourself up by learning how to do butt joints and simple overlap joints at first - it will get you used to working with a router (doing it by hand is a dying skill and takes years to master). There are woodworking sites out there that show you the basic tools you need - it is probably worth investing in some basic but good quality tools rather than going for one of these all-singing all-dancing things that's cheap but doesn't do anything particularly well. There are also plenty of sites with free woodworking plans for the amateur right up to the most complex stuff you could want.

Doing a class will be very helpful but there is no substitute for your own trial and error. My advice would be to seek out a plan for something straightforward if uninspiring - an end-table or something like that. Bear in mind that preparation is 80% of woodwork - only 20% of your time is spent on the asserably and finish. If you take your time in the creation, the asserably will be so much smoother.

Also, be prepared for lots and lots of facepalm moments as you overlook the most obvious things and in the process ruin perfectly good pieces of wood (and entire jobs in some cases!). It's all part of the learning process. Good luck, and remeraber, measure twice, cut once.

Edit: if you like woodwork porn, seek out "New Yankee Workshop" on youtube or tv somewhere - the guy is a master craftsman and his seeing him at work is really impressive. I want his workshop so badly.

[VIGILANTE]

Some wood chisels (a mortice chisel believe it not), something to tap them with, a ruler, a pencil and surprise, surprise, a Tenon saw.

Cheers,

Nigel

[reddevilbloodymary]

Oh god this brings back memories of school woodwork classes, and getting dovetail joints to.. well, dovetail properly

[Trumpet Trousers]

Ah yes, you get shown those beautiful 28 point dovetails in a piece of the woodwork teacher's cabinetry and then it's your turn...

Don't remind me...

[UHHiloveyou.]

only thing i was good at in woodwork was using the glue and sawdust to fill gaps in my joints

[matotek184]

Can I suggest plurabing, assuming you'd like some DiY component in what you learn?

Please don't let me put you off, but IMO woodworking will be very difficult indeed to acquire the skills to make something you'd be proud to call furniture. Or you could do it whilst awaiting your cabinet-making course.

Plurabing is just as useful a skill to use around the house (believe me, it is!). The tools and components are not that expensive, and there is definitely a pride in making a neat set of pipework, repairing a leak or installing a tap or two. Also, I would say that it would pay for itself in the long run against getting a pluraber in every time.

[taran r]

I agree with you & would love to better at plurabing & electrics & general builders work. However, on the plurabing front, I cannot find any plurabers classes in the Glasgow area that I can go to once-a-week to get better at it. Likewise for electrics.

Also I want this to become a hobby which is different from being good at stuff round the home.