On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 22:23:47 -0700, charlie b wrote:

My woodworking goal is to be able to develop the knowledge,
skills and abilities necessary to design, build and finish
furniture I can't afford to buy.

(BTW - Tom Plamann's done it - so there's hope.)

What're you shooting for?

charlie b

well, my goals seem to change a lot, Charlie...
They used to be things like "learn to build cheap stuff that we can't afford to
buy"..
Evolved into "if I had the tools, I could build nice stuff..

I got back into woodworking when my wife started law school, figuring that since
she was going to be either busy or sleeping 24/7, I could spend a lot of
guilt-free time in the shop..

My original goal was pretty clear.. to improve my knowledge and skill, and
eventually make very nice jewelry boxes for the wife and friends... with a sort
of "maybe goal" of building things like china cabinets, display cases, etc...

After about 4 months of building shelves, cabinets and drawers for the shop, I
got side tracked into wood turning in a big way..
My wife has been almost too encouraging, probably because this keeps me home and
sober, and has just bought me my 2nd lathe. well, 3rd, if you could my trusty
old shopsmith..

I still have the goal of fine woodworking some day, but my present goal is to
improve my turning and finishing skills as much as possible, as long as it's
fun... I sell a few things, but that's not the reason that I work wood...
So far, I've spent at least 4 of every seven evenings in the shop, have a few
hundred turnings and not only have not burned out, but still want more time to
turn..

BTW: I have a lot more patience and drive to do things right in my late 50's
than I did in my late 20's/early 30's....
When I worked wood before, I would either skip a step or "mickey mouse"
something to get it finished quickly... now, I'm at the age where I can not only
hear the phrase "it's not the destination, it's the journey", but I can know the
difference and enjoy the journey..



mac

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