Thread: Not sure if I like woodworking/cabinetmaking

Stick with it but understand that any skill demands practice and knowledge.

Learning from 'First Principals', the basic 'Fundamentals' and learning to read the wood and the use of handtools are all important - If you want to be a cabinet maker, not just a bench assembler in a factory.

It's like maths, until you understand how numbers work you can't make the calculations you want equal the answers you need.

Any fool can push buttons on an electronic calculator but unless you know what you are doing you'll believe whatever answer you get,

And lets face it a calculator is only a device for getting the wrong answer to a very high degree of accuracy!

Originally Posted by pjt

If you just want to use machines find yourself a run of the mill kitchen shop and you can cut up melamine panels to your hearts content.

Pete

If that is what you want, you will find yourself replaced by a CNC in no time.

Thanks for the responses guys. I just want to add some more information to see what you guys think.

On the second or third day of the program, the teacher handed us the newest catalogue of "Lee Valley", filled with fine woodworking tools. I flipped through the pages and had little to no interest in what I saw, even when the teacher was explaining products in the book. I just looked at it again and I'm only somewhat interested because I recognize some of the tools I used in class.

Another thing, when we're doing the theory work in class and teacher's talking about the different woods, trees, forestry and stuff like that, other students in my class show more interest than I do and some even have prior knowledge on the subject, I think even when the teacher was discussing the catalogue products. Some of the students even have experience working with wood since they were young kids, it makes me feel kind of left out...

And lastly, I don't feel like I even belong there anymore. I don't really know how to explain it better, but I feel like I just don't belong in this class. I think whoever here suggested that the novelty of the machines will wear off later on is right.

I was thinking of another option before starting this program, and that is the printing course offered in same school. I just started considering it again lately after how I've been feeling in this program, and I think I'm going to take it since there's a new class starting in a few days. But I'd also like to hear what you guys think of how I felt what I described above, and if I should really consider leaving.

If you can't get carried away with the latest tool catalogue then maybe woodworking is not for you.
I believe everyone has a talent, but sometimes it can be difficult find.
I suggest you keep searching until you do find it.
There is nothing worse than spending a lifetime working at a profession you hate.
It is not about the money it is about the satisfaction of doing a job you love.
If you love your job you will almost certainly be good at it.

Go for the Printing course. Woodwork just isn't your thing.

It might seem silly but do you have any friends in the course? Do you have any friends in the printing course?
Cheers,
Jim

No, I just started the woodworking course but I do get along with people. And I know people who took the printing course. Why?

Originally Posted by Wood101Work

No, I just started the woodworking course but I do get along with people. And I know people who took the printing course. Why?

You kept on about how you felt alone etc. in the class. I wondered if that was the problem rather than the content.
There are a great many people involved professionally in woodwork. Some do it because it is a job and brings in money and at the other extreme you have the true craftsmen/women who are there because it enables them to work with wood. You'd have to decide for yourself whereabouts you might fit in this spectrum. The only proviso is to recognise that a bored woodworker is at risk to himself and perhaps others.
This forum is perhaps the wrong place to answer your question in that most are enthusiasts. Try talking to the course co-ordinator one to one.
Cheers,
Jim

One of the areas often most lacking in woodworkers is a good understanding of the material they use... Wood. To be truely competent any knowledge gained in this area is a plus. Backsawn vs quartersawn vs riftsawn? Equalibrium moisture content? Air dry or kiln dry? Insect resistance? Strength? Durability?
To name but a few. As a tradesman with 42years experience may I say, patience would be one of the most desireable qualities followed closely by focus. At this stage you appear to show neither

I have just 45+ yrs academic & career interest in woods. Anatomy and working qualities.
Testing mechanical properties with a hydraulic ram did have it's amusing moments.

This winter (Nov - Apr) will be a major exploration of woodcut printing. I have wanted to do this for decades. I realize that I have made many decisions about the wood, the wood that I needed and the wood that I bought. Including the various printing papers, this is an applied piece of Botany that I'm very excited about.

So: what goes on around you which you find really intriguing, really interesting, really worth exploring? What turns your crank about printing?

Whenever my now grown up and graduate children asked me for advice about courses, I always posed the same question. What are you good at? And what do you like doing? The two almost always go together in a vocational context and the answers are within you. Try a vocational counsellor for some testing if you are still confused.

Mick

Sorry bro but I'm gonna be blunt with you, only coz I was like you when I was young(er). Grow up, but at the same time remember you're not grown up yet!

It seems you want the prestige that comes with the big machines etc but that's all. Whatever man! The satisfaction comes from the effort put into the project, not the time spent pushing buttons & guiding slides & controls. And in my opinion EVERYONE should learn to be good with hand tools 1st, then do it the lazy way on machinery.

Maybe the course for you is machine operator, not cabinet maker? Or maybe you should go do some labouring work for a year or so then decide what you really want to commit to.

It took me 5 yrs in the work force & about 20 jobs before I found a trade I wanted to do long term which to me involves being the best I can & knowing as much as I can about it. In fact I was 3 yrs into my motor mechanic apprenticeship when I got into the building trade. I loved cars. I wanted to be a mech since I was 12. But after 3yrs of doing it day after day, I really didn't enjoy it. I wanted to go straight to the top too. Well, now 11yrs later I work for myself & have people working for me. I'm still learning things & I wanna know more.

You've got your whole life in front of you. Try a few things & if you don't like it, keep moving on & in the mean time, your learning things you keep with you forever.

Good luck.

If you are thinking of printing trades, you will forever be at the mercy of being replaced (at least in larger shops) with automated equipment. In the last 20 years it has gone from skilled trades position to someone who does the bits too variable to efficiently automate.

Modern presses do all the alignment of printing plates automatically, they compensate for paper stretch, moisture content and all the stuff that used to be part of the skill of the trade. It's worse that button pushing, it's more like sweeping up after the machine has finished!

If I where you I would stick with it for a while, is there any reason you would like the other stuff more? When you start to master some of the aspects of woodworking it will most lightly become fun. If you have dropped out of more than 1 course prior to this…. Stick with it!

I can relate to the feeling that learning about wood before working it is boring. Build something and see if you like it. If you don’t get any satisfaction out of the result or the process, and you don’t feel like you want to improve you skills, then perhaps you should try something else.... or man up and try harder!


If you study hard and get more knowledge and skill than the other students, perhaps you will find some joy and pride in it prior to the power tool part.


Good luck