Thread: 40% wish they could be a carpenter

I think if I had my time over, I’d be an electrician.

I like the way they are envious of the skills, but don't recognise this it being prepared to pay for the skills of others do it.
Plumbers and sparkies are somewhat protected by legalities and given some of the DIY solutions I've seen I can fully understand why
Woodworking wise it's even harder, I get asked often to make stuff but my stock reply is usually "I cannot even buy the materials for what a functionally similar Ikea piece sells the product for."

Woodwork wise not many things I've made turned out "visually" like first envisaged, but even fewer have actually worked in the way first envisaged.
The one thing I made that exceeded my expectations was the 2nd chainsaw mill I made, but I was important that I was able to practice making one first.

Hey Ev, ummmm, what have you been smoking??

The author specifically says:
"Perhaps betraying my own shortcomings at the intersection of saw, wood and nail, I was surprised carpentry didn't get much of a look in. Even tiling scored higher at 8 per cent."

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Arent these the things we love? When was the last time you have ANYTHING turn out like you envisaged? "yep, that turned bowl...perfect!!!" "yep, that box... spot on!!"

Oh how I can relate to this.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Tradie envy: The behavioural economics of DIY skills

Seems we have the skills in demand!


When asked why they hated DIY, 40 per cent chose "doesn't turn out how you picture it", 36 per cent said "time consuming", 19 per cent complained it was physically exhausting and four per cent answered that they don't like getting dirty.

Arent these the things we love? When was the last time you have ANYTHING turn out like you envisaged? "yep, that turned bowl...perfect!!!" "yep, that box... spot on!!"

Well...,

I'm 31 years of age and I've been a stagehand for seven of those years.
I actually started a carpentry trade course on the 20th of September...

Originally Posted by 44Ronin

Well...,

I'm 31 years of age and I've been a stagehand for seven of those years.
I actually started a carpentry trade course on the 20th of September...

Harrison Ford.

Break a leg

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Hey Ev, ummmm, what have you been smoking??

The author specifically says: "Perhaps betraying my own shortcomings at the intersection of saw, wood and nail, I was surprised carpentry didn't get much of a look in. Even tiling scored higher at 8 per cent."

Come now Sir, I've never been known to twist a news story to my intended use....

...What a behavioural economist might notice is that while carpenters' skills didn't make the top five most-desired, 40 per cent of the most-wished-I-could-do-it jobs are the realm of chippies. Your plumber's mate and fuse wire aren't much use for cabinets and drains.

...This leaves a vision of the would-be tradie hirer having been scarred by the experience of finding him or herself collapsed on a Sunday night in the wreck of an uneven and somewhat unsteady partially-built deck, covered in sawdust, blood and tears, with 48 hours of their life gone and precious little to show for it.



Some of us would actually consider this a bloody good and fun weekend....

I see! I got the impression he .....never mind.

What I find odd, Evan, is that you equate carpentry to what we do (or in my case try to do) ... fine woodwork is nothing like carpentry in my opinion. I'm sure that the general populace value fine woodwork even lower than carpentry (yes, them's fighting words I know, but they are sadly uninformed). I look at carpentry and think "I can't be bothered" but, give me some superbly figured timber and Im thinking ... cabinet ... fine box ... woodturning ... how can I make the most of that superb figure?

Having a deck I built collapse under me would be a nightmare, I am, after all, a perfectionist, but fortunately, unlikely to happen because I am happy to pay a carpenter to build it while I play with fine woodwork.

There are plenty of us who are more than happy to do both to the best of our ability and glory in the result.

Originally Posted by Xanthorrhoeas

What I find odd, Evan, is that you equate carpentry to what we do (or in my case try to do) ... fine woodwork is nothing like carpentry in my opinion.

This.

Whenever I tell people what I do for a living they say "Oh, so you're a carpenter?" and I'm very quick to make the distinction between the two trades. It's like calling a surgeon a doctor.

The grass is always greener...

Carpenter, woodworker, fine arts craftsman, artist. To many people these are all one and the same.

How many brain surgeons are regaled at parties with stories of gympie knees and asked their opinions of snotty children's diseases.

i was in IT for two decades in various capacities, but how to explain HFT, distributed databases, encryption and neural networks to people? You can't. I was constantly asked what the best laptop to buy, or whether I could fix the airconditioner (or change light bulbs!!! I was "the IT guy!")... Michelangelo painting a bathroom....

i thought the article had a bigger take away, that being that the average Joe has absolutely NFI about DIY and the finer arts are safe from their incursions

Very similar when I tell people I'm a carpenter - 'oh, so you're a builder'

Very different , but it's the way it is often perceived in society ....

But I guess whenever I meet an electrician I assume they're like Scrooge and dive into vast pools of cash every night ........