Ask HN: Resources for woodworking fundamentals including design | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Resources for woodworking fundamentals including design

4 pointstmnvix7 comments

Woodworking seems to be a popular hobby amongst HN users so this seems like an appropriate place to ask. Hopefully if this question receives some good responses others will benefit too.

I am looking for good introductory resources for basic woodworking. Ideally this would include the basics of design (e.g. different joints, etc). Ideally this would be a book - though suggestions of online resources would also be appreciated.

For context, I have a nephew that has a lot of free time on his hands, hasn't fared well in the education system so isn't ready to move into tertiary education, but is very capable when it comes to working on anything mechanical/hands-on.

I'd like to encourage him to get started on a productive path. I'm sure that if he were to make something that others appreciate enough to pay for it would be invaluable for his sense of self worth and - quite frankly - help keep him out of trouble (he's had his fair share).

I've broached the subject with him and he seems keen so I'm prepared to help him get started by pointing him in the right direction and providing him with the basic tools and resources necessary. If he commits to it - which I'm pretty sure he will - I'd even help him find prospective customers.

I'm not suggesting that he throw himself into making immaculately finished furniture here. I'd like to suggest that he get started by designing and making custom sized planter boxes for the many apartment dwellers in the area with a small courtyard or balcony. Ideally I'd like to see him come up with a design that lends itself to flat-packing and easy assembly - hence the interest in resources that cover the basics of design and not just the practice of woodworking.

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

Considered signing them up to a men's shed or equivalent? We have them in Australia - no idea what they're called in other countries.

Over here - they have a community focus and the folk that run them are retirees and will spend time with folks...i think person to person instruction is excellent for stuff like this.

The men's sheds also have a component where they teach you, and you can use the work areas for your own work - provided you participate in the community efforts like "make 50x cutting boards for veterans next weekend" etc.

EDIT: cost is also minimal...tonnes of good tools..etc

This is a great suggestion. Thanks. We do have these in New Zealand.

that's great :) as a personal note, i signed up to a lapidary club which was a similar sort of thing to a mens shed. Also retirees, ex-engineers teaching lapping, stone setting, jewellry design and so on. It was a great experience.

I have the form for our mens shed down the road, they have heavy duty large work area benches, CNC cutters, table saws, hand tools and so on.

The guy i met was super into building guitars - showed off his work - and was really cool when i went down. Made it a good point to tell me there was some sort of training/compliance where the people who run the joint needed to ensure your competance before letting you loose on the tools :)

EDIT: two other things....considered buying them a broken down car, bike or lawn mower and tell them to get it running? :) Or - buying them Ben Eater's "Build an 8 bit pc" and get them to build that?

Results from a ThriftBooks.com search for woodworking:

https://www.thriftbooks.com/browse/?b.search=woodworking

One thing that is easy to do, has a ton of tutorials online, requires minimal tools, and sells really well is cutting boards.

Based on your goals I think you are over complicating the situation.

The Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking three volume set is excellent and fairly comprehensive, although it doesn't cover modern tools as much.

Paul Sellers for books and YouTube, a great introduction.

Lost Art Press has books and videos, Mortise and Tenon Magazine and online courses.

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