Comment by davexunit | Hacker News Reader

Comment by davexunit | Hacker News Reader

Woodworking is a hobby I really enjoy, but I've found nearly every public figure in the community to be pretentious and exclusionary (I don't actively watch Matthias' youtube channel, I just know him as the "wooden band saw guy", so I'm not applying this to him), much more so than other hobbies I've tried, programming included. Seems like everyone who is a "real" woodworker has a giant dedicated shop space filled with Sawstop and Festool brand everything, massive planers and jointers, a wall of expensive hand planes, and an elaborate dust extraction system. Going into a Woodcraft or specialty lumber yard for the first time sucks because some old white guy makes you feel dumb. Am I a "real" woodworker if I just have part of a basement/garage and a few Ryobi tools? Am I a "real" woodworker if I make things out of pine instead of black walnut? What if I use pocket screws or rabbet joints instead of hand cut dovetails? Steve Ramsey's Woodworking for Mere Mortals youtube channel and his online courses (costs money, but quite affordable, IMO) are the best resources I've ever found for lowering the barrier to entry. I would have given up long ago if it weren't for his stuff.

>Going into a Woodcraft or specialty lumber yard for the first time sucks because some old white guy makes you feel dumb.

I've found people to be generally really helpful and patient. My experience is that they really love newbies coming by - there's fewer and fewer people doing woodworking, so the chance of getting a long term repeat customer is a pretty big deal.

I'm sorry you've had poor experiences like that. I've not been involved in the community for an extended period of time, and have found people to be generally incredibly helpful and patient.

Agreed. Love the people at my local Woodcraft and Rockler.

You should check out Paul Sellers' videos and blog. To me he is the opposite of what you describe, preferring hand tools over machines. He describes himself as a lifestyle woodworker rather than someone trying to create results as efficiently as possible.

I guess woodworkers fall into one of 2 groups: Those that are into it primarily because they enjoy the process and those that enjoy the results. I'm mostly interested in the results. I like the process, it's a hobby after all, but I want to take the shortest path to complete my project. I tried using a handsaw before I ever picked up a power tool and getting a square cut is way harder than it looks! When you try and fail to cut a joint with a handsaw over and over it can be pretty demotivating. Power tools gave me some quick success that motivated me to keep building. The only hand saw I have right now is a small flush trim saw.

imo you are a real woodworker if you build something, regardless of the tools you utilize. "A Tool is Only as Good as its Use"

I've gone down the rabbit hole of finding perfect tool to accomplish a task, be it in software realm or woodworking realm, only to realize I lost sight of the end goal in search for THE tool.

Thanks for pointer to Mere Mortals channel!

Pocket holes are one of those non-intimidating techniques that have kept me in the game too. I was pretty impressed by Kreg's mission: https://www.kregtool.com/about-us/mission.aspx props to them and any one else leveling the field for novices.

"Kreg products are designed to make wood projects less intimidating, to build confidence, and inspire success." I've been very satisfied by their pocket hole jig

Pocket holes are so controversial in the woodworking world and I think it's a form of gatekeeping. I love my pocket hole jig. It's so much quicker to put together a cabinet box using pocket holes instead of setting up the dado stack and cutting rabbet joints.

I see no reason to not use pocket holes for something like cabinet carcasses or other projects where your primary goal is making something square, especially if it's not going to be readily visible.

Anyone who would argue that pocket holes are unacceptable for cabinet work is someone I would argue you should ignore.

There are snobs in every hobby. Don't let it get you down. I've been "woodworking" for 3 years now and I'm still holding my projects together with bubble gum and paper clips. But I've built a handful of things that get used.

Hilariously, around like the third sentence of this I thought to myself "I bet this guy would like Steve Ramsey". He really is head-and-shoulders above anyone else making content in the hobby.

I'm gonna sound like a paid shill if I praise him anymore than I already have but there's no way I'd be building my own cabinets if I didn't try making his BMW (basic mobile workbench) back in 2017.

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