Hello all, and have a grand long weekend if you're in the UK. And massive thanks to Mark for sifting me out from all the algorithmically generated simulacra.
I started woodworking 10 years ago when I moved back to northeast England to get a flat. Handtools only by necessity, as it was a groundfloor Tyneside flat with a retiree in the flat above. I didn't want to distrub the peace, and I also didn't have room nor the cash at the time for any machinery, so I built a small bench for the "middle room" and set to work. Those first couple of years there were shavings in every room, but I churned out enough bits and bobs for the back yard that my partner just about tolerated it.
After a couple of years of getting more obsessed and spending more and more time woodworking I was lucky enough to find a workshop that I could rent locally. Also luckily, it was just a few doors down from a brewery. As a kind of apprentice task for myself I downloaded some plans from Mattias Wendel and built my first bandsaw, and also got my hands on an old metal working pillar drill, thus immediately falling into the trap of filling the extra space I had with more stuff, and ensuring I could never move the workshop back into the flat.
More recently, after being fortunate with work, we were able to get a new place to live in the north pennines. It needs a lot of work, but it has a big (for us) garden rather than a 2x3 m yard, space for a temporary workshop, and in the future space for a proper workshop. It was researching the whys and wherefors of workshop building that first led me here, where I've since found all kinds of wisdom. So thanks to everyone who contributes their knowledge here. I've already learned a lot, but there are a good few fundamental voids in my knowledge left to fill. And hopefully I'll be able to pass something on in turn.
Sorry for rambling, and thanks for having me.
Dave
I started woodworking 10 years ago when I moved back to northeast England to get a flat. Handtools only by necessity, as it was a groundfloor Tyneside flat with a retiree in the flat above. I didn't want to distrub the peace, and I also didn't have room nor the cash at the time for any machinery, so I built a small bench for the "middle room" and set to work. Those first couple of years there were shavings in every room, but I churned out enough bits and bobs for the back yard that my partner just about tolerated it.
After a couple of years of getting more obsessed and spending more and more time woodworking I was lucky enough to find a workshop that I could rent locally. Also luckily, it was just a few doors down from a brewery. As a kind of apprentice task for myself I downloaded some plans from Mattias Wendel and built my first bandsaw, and also got my hands on an old metal working pillar drill, thus immediately falling into the trap of filling the extra space I had with more stuff, and ensuring I could never move the workshop back into the flat.
More recently, after being fortunate with work, we were able to get a new place to live in the north pennines. It needs a lot of work, but it has a big (for us) garden rather than a 2x3 m yard, space for a temporary workshop, and in the future space for a proper workshop. It was researching the whys and wherefors of workshop building that first led me here, where I've since found all kinds of wisdom. So thanks to everyone who contributes their knowledge here. I've already learned a lot, but there are a good few fundamental voids in my knowledge left to fill. And hopefully I'll be able to pass something on in turn.
Sorry for rambling, and thanks for having me.
Dave
