Thread: Looking for a teacher

You could try Richard Crosland School of Fine Woodwork at Alexandria. Give him a call on 9313 4142. He does have a website that you can check out just google the above name

Look up local mens' sheds. Could be just what you are after.
TM

This may not be the sort of answer you are after, but may provide a bit of food for thought.
Sam moloof (famous American woodworker) was asked what he thought about schools or institutes that taught woodwork. His response was along the lines of he would prefer to spend the money otherwise spent on tuition buying tools and timber and teaching yourself.
I'm sure many of the fellow forum members are self taught in one way or another.
There are plenty of good books and magazines that would provide you with what ever knowledge you should ever need. You tube is another good resource.
Have you given any thought to what tore of woodworking you are interested in? Cabinet making, turning, box making, furniture....

on all counts

You have taken a first step, I like yourself did woodwork etc at school prior that some with my father and others. I did do a trade which covered woodwork yet I joined up here to reignite and gain valuable knowledge from many of the fellows who grace and have graced this forum.

Your in luck being that the Sydney Woodshow is around the corner in July 26th to 29th at Homebush come along and meet the fellows or some off this forum as well as others who have been through the same thing. The internet and this forum is a great source ask and generally you'll get replies to stupid questions we all have asked or thought of asking.

Originally Posted by jrock_au

This may not be the sort of answer you are after, but may provide a bit of food for thought.
Sam moloof (famous American woodworker) was asked what he thought about schools or institutes that taught woodwork. His response was along the lines of he would prefer to spend the money otherwise spent on tuition buying tools and timber and teaching yourself.
I'm sure many of the fellow forum members are self taught in one way or another.
There are plenty of good books and magazines that would provide you with what ever knowledge you should ever need. You tube is another good resource.
Have you given any thought to what tore of woodworking you are interested in? Cabinet making, turning, box making, furniture....

Im largely taking this approach, and the results are ok so far, but the thing that worries me is power tools, specifically a table saw. Spending an hour with someone who knows what they are doing and can tell you the hows and more importantly the whys could save me (1) Time (2) money and more importantly (3) fingers.

Matt,
There is no substitute for a good mentor. Yes, you can be your own teacher, but you may find you have a fool for a pupil. Having completed two trades in woodworking and entering my 44th year in the trade, I look back with fondness and respect for some of the mentors along the way. Of course there were the tor mentors as well.
We are a long way apart, but If you think I can be of assistance send a PM and we can go from there.

What Rusty said.

I'd recommend Stuart Faulkner at the Splinter Group in St. Peters. He'll be on the NSW Woodworkers Association at the TWWW show, as will other teachers.

Originally Posted by DonIncognito

Im largely taking this approach, and the results are ok so far, but the thing that worries me is power tools, specifically a table saw. Spending an hour with someone who knows what they are doing and can tell you the hows and more importantly the whys could save me (1) Time (2) money and more importantly (3) fingers.

You can never be too careful with machinery and you make a good point re getting someone to show you the best way to use things. used correctly machines are completely safe.... I've taught myself the hard way to keep fingers out of harm's way..... I'm come close to only being able to count to 9.

Thank you everyone for your comments and advice.

I've put my name down with Croslands but still on the waiting list. I think this would give me at least a good foundation for a beginner like me. I'm also a firm believer that experience can't be bought however my concern is if I've learnt the basics and just left it up to myself to develop the skills at my own pace without the discipline of working in the industry every day, I may not get very far or learn about the trade as much. I guess being so new to woodwork and having no experience what so ever, I can't really say which area of woodwork I would enjoy but like all things in life, I think we all start from zero and then progress towards which ever digit our passion takes us. The hardest part is starting at zero especially when opportunities just don't permit. Like all of us that are born equal but the only thing that's not equal are the opportunities that we get.
I'm also keen on attending the wood show when I found out there was one happening while reading the call out for volunteers, posted on this site.

Again thank you to everyone that replied. There's many ways to skin a cat (just an expression please don't inform the RSPCA) but all the comments have been very helpful.

Another vote for the 'spend money on tools and materials' brigade - at least until you know what your interests are. There's plenty of videos on youtube to speed your learning.

Table saw safety:
Table Saw Safety Tips - YouTube

This is a good thread and was me a year ago.

The ONLY way to learn is practice. Wake up early, go to bed late, know what you want and study the absolute hell out of everything.

I now have a mountain of books, magazines, links and YouTube videos bookmarked.

There is also the "do a thing a day". Every single day do a job. No matter what. Everyday. Not part of a job, but the whole thing. Work hard, work fast, make mistakes, learn and re-embed the learnings into the next job. Vary the work, do many things.

Start simple. Get familiar with Rockler, carbatec, Lie Nielsen and other quality tool suppliers and KNOW their catalogues. Look at each tool offered and think about how you might use it. Use the time when you are not woodworking to think about woodworking. Get obsessed. Look at furniture and dismantle it in your head.

Wonder at how they built it, the short cuts they took and WHY. If its commercial furniture they have valuable lessons.... Price points, material choice, finish used....

If you really want to get into it, just do these things. If you don't do these things then you cannot really be into it enough.

I'm now pseudo commercial and I'm taking orders, commissions and repairs.

1 year. It's like Kung Fu. You have to really want it to get good. You must be obsessed.

My 2 cents.

Ah, one last bit of advice, use the library. The Canberra system is unreal. They have most titles. I'd imagine Sydney is much the same.

I suppose this says more about me than our sport, but I'm a serious, serious scrounger. If I need something I'll put it on a list and haunt the market place, eBay and wait for the various sales.

Drive with an eye open to what people toss out. I've found some mind boggling timber from garagesales and shed clean outs. Also house demolitions. In my area the whole street looks like Bosnia in the 80's... I have my dragable cart and ask the builders if I can get the old roof beams. It's all hardwood here and it's HUGE and 30 years old. I have many massive beams for free.

I'm seriously money constrained due to my wife's severe illness, but I have a great shed full of the good stuff built up bit at a time. Money isn't the main constraint, it's time!

Ah, get a copy of The Anarchists Tool Chest by Schwartz. He has a severe minimalism that I should have known about before I started! It's packed with solid advice (and a good bed book....as I said in a previous post, think about wood always, you will end up dreaming about mortises and sharpening chisels

Maybe it's a Freudian thing

Evanism is right. I can’t agree with him more. He’s just uh, brilliant.

Regarding learning how to use power tools and especially machinery, they deserve the utmost respect at all times...be confident but never cocky. Recklessness and lapses of concentration can cause things to get ugly very quickly.

Craig.