Thread: What's the attraction

For me it is the grain, the feel and the smell of timber coupled with the ability to make beautiful and useful objects.

I suppose growing up around timber helped to form my attitudes. Dad and my uncles we all in the timber game and we often used to go to the sawmills to see what was going on. This was done under strict supervision!! It was too dangerous to go out in the bush as we were only small at the time.

Later dad had a banana plantation so we would go to a sawmill to collect the shooks of timber for the cases. Later dad decided to remove the electric stove and hot water systems and put in a slow combustion stove with a water heater.
Firewood was needed so we spent weekends collecting and cutting timber.I never ceased to be amazed with material, the colour, the grain, the way it burned the way it would or wouldn't split easily.

High school!! beauty!! I got to learn about tools and to make useful, and decent looking articles. still have the Tallowood mallet I made. Was lucky to have a great teacher who appreciated things the way I did and appreciated my knowledge.

I still love the stuphph for the same reasons.

For me its seeing half a dozen big ugly rough sawn boards being off loaded from the truck, then two - three weeks later, an object of beauty (in the eye of the beholder) has been created.

Plane, cut, shape, join, clamp, scrape. To see something grow and take shape is inspiring. So satisfying to sit back after a job has been completed with a cold beer in hand and enjoy your latest effort. Woodworking is the BEST

Originally Posted by Lignum

For me its seeing half a dozen big ugly rough sawn boards being off loaded from the truck, two - three weeks later an object of beauty (in the eye of the beholder) has been created from it.

Yep _ I agree but I really like starting the process even further back.

From


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I think you get the picture by now

All that was just from a scraggly face cut off the top of the log - I still have the majority of the milled log to play with.

For me, it's the feel of it....there is no other natural material that even resembles it.
There is nothing better than picking up a few old planks or turning blanks that look un-useful and putting life back into them, from cutting down the tree, milling, drying, re-sawing, stabilising/settling, designing, to building and final finishing.
Then there is the grain and color and how the timber sometimes dictates what can be made of it which is all the more challenging and stirs the imagination bringing out the creative abilities in the artisan.
Also how it can be worked with well tuned and sharp hand tools...those fine shavings a polishing plane cuts to leave a lustre no power tool can ever produce in preparation for a finish to complete a piece to be used and admired.
And lastly, the immense achievement satisfaction of creating something useful and the involvement of using your hands and mind doing meaningful work which never is the same and makes woodcraft unique from the design and methodology perspective.

I can't say what first attracted me to working with wood
but so much of it gets thrown away only to be replaced
with plastic coated substrates which have a shorter life.

I can't stand the waste.

So to take a piece of discarded furniture or a board
and give it a new life gives me much satisfaction.

cheers
col.

Originally Posted by BobL

Yep _ I agree but I really like starting the process even further back.

That’s brilliant Bob

Originally Posted by Lignum

That’s brilliant Bob

Cheers Lignum, I have an example that goes back even further, 30 years ago we planted 5 50c River Red gums on out tiny suburban block. 20 years later we had 4 of them cut down to make way for a major renovation. I did manage to have one slabbed (I didn't have a mill then) and some of the rest cut up for firewood. I have made some many things from this timber and still have quite a bit of it left.

Why do I enjoy woodwork?

I love timber, and all things made from timber. The colour, variety, grain, density, the fact that it comes from a living thing.

I like the connection it gives me to the past, knowing that my ancestors all worked with timber.

I love the feel of timber in my hands.

The work itself is theraputic for me - it enables me to use my hands to make something, rather than using my mind constantly.

I love the enduring nature of things made from timber. The fact that they can be used for generations and then recycled when the time comes.

And I love learning how to use new tools and new techniques. There is an endless learning curve to woodwork.

It's a great excuse to go out in my shed and get away from SWMBO.

I also love the peace, tranquility, smell, creativity, tactile sensation, use of nice tools, the process, etc etc.

When I stuff up, I can burn the evidence?

I grew up around mills and cabinet makers, then got into computers, pre-IT. Decided chair-jockey wasn't for me and went into earthmoving. Now, I'm back at my grass roots, hacking away at wood... not particularly good at it, but loving every second.

With hindsight, I keep asking myself why did I ever even consider anything else? All those wasted years...

My maternal grand father built his house and all the furniture - when I was a baby he showed me his work and I "blame" him for my addiction. My particular pleasure is the feel of worked timber. My adult son is fascinated by the tools and is anxiously waiting to inherit - he reads all the magazines and books I've gathered, but, so far, hasn't created anything.

soth

For me it is the tactile feel and smell of the wood. The feeling of creating something out of a pure, natural resource. Sure it's had stuff done to it on the way to you, but only stuff that makes it smaller! I guess being in IT also helps drive it. IT is completely non-tactile and when all said and done, completely useless to mankind. We coped for millenia without it, whereas woodworking has been parts of our lives since day dot...

Cheers,
Dave

There are many things that attract me to woodworking but the main reasons are the different smells, colours and feel of the timber. The variety in what can be made from a slab is really, neverending.
My entry into woodworking was helped along by my Dad who built furniture for our home as a hobby and my subsequent interest in the different styles of furniture produced over the last few hundred years.

I find it very satisfying, from the small achievements along the way, to the ultimate goal of making something nice. Which then continues to satisfy. The medium it's self is also satisfying due to it's beauty and methods of working.

IMHO