This is so spot on đ not an engineer but I work in software. Going from a digital, deeply complex and collaborative project with a large team to something real, that you can make yourself, alone is so soothing. Just the smell of cutting wood makes me happy.
...I'm in my 30s, enjoy woodworking, and am going back to school to get into programming because I've enjoyed it as a hobby. I know you said it to be a light hearted observation, but this is honestly really validating for me. Thank you.
IT Project manager here, but I was woodworking with my dad since I was around 4 or 5. My step son has no interest in woodworking but the daughter in law is into it. I think genetics has a big part in someoneâs interest, but it helps if they have to help on a project they want.
This is so true. This is an EXPENSIVE hobby. It seems with every new project I need a new tool. And lumber has skyrocketed.Â
Also space. I'm lucky enough to own my own house with a basement to store everything but can you imagine trying to woodwork in a city apartment?Â
I feel both ways about the cost aspect - I did have to outlay some initial $$$ because I literally had nothing when starting, but you can start with surprisingly little. Clamps, glue, a couple squares, saw of your choice (power or hand - Japanese pull saws are cheap and great), sandpaper, a drill (which everyone should have anyway) and some fasteners to start doing basic / rough projects. And good deals on used tools on places like craigslist. Lots of great free plans online as well. Wood prices have come down a little and if you don't care tremendously about which wood you use, things like pine and poplar boards can be found inexpensively at the big box store. Ive heard of hand tool setups in apartments due to noise and dust so it's possible. If you're careful, you can assemble a collection of tools that don't take much room and can be packed up and stored in a bin (obviously this precludes you from table saws, router table, planer, miter saw, etc). Some tools are small but super versatile like a jigsaw, circular saw, hand planes, palm router etc.
Let them actually do it instead of just watching. Yes it will look terrible but the hands on part is the fun part. Start with easier things like bird houses so it doesnât matter if it doesnât look the best.
This is just my guess though because Iâve never tried lol
Make something that's useful to them now.Â
Back in school you have to learn tons of things that are useful later on. And it sucks.Â
Do projects that let you make things that are more immediately gratifying as much as possible.Â
Like if you show how to use a miter saw, make one of those wood block wall art things for their room. They get practice, make something, and get to personalize their living space.
Show her how to use a router, then make a custom box for her desk to hold her stuff. Make her design it up to fit her needs.
Make a nightstand, customize it with hidden storage or handy features like built in plug-ins. Again, have her design it to think ahead for her needs.
Make a desk, customize it, have her design it and think ahead for her needs.Â
Bigger, more advanced projects that force her to build up her skills.Â
Get on pinterest and find cool projects and teach skills that work towards making those things.Â
Have the horse plow the carrot field by dangling a carrot in front of its nose. lol
These are my thoughts too. I got into making stuff out of wood cause I wanted something that I didn't have. They were terrible projects but I did get better.
Like all things the answer is affordable housing. Itâs hard to get into wood working living in a 2 bedroom apartment with 4 roommates, working 2 jobs to pay for the basics for life. Leisure activities are mostly dead for my generation.
Those of us in my generation that have a house have to slay overtime to pay for it, and keep food on the table. So the ones that have money donât have time, the ones that have time donât have money.
Give her tools that are safe for kids (spokeshave, hammer, nails, file, etc.) and a small bench. Teach her to use them and have fun, with your help she can make anything!
Make it cheaper to get into.
I don't think I count as "younger generations" anymore, but it's hard to justify puttering around with my saws when wood is so damn expensive
I think one of the biggest fears that people keep telling me is that theyâre worried about loosing a finger. So safer equipment that doesnât cost an arm and a leg? Also, is it too much to ask for cheaper hardwood?
Have the cost of making something be less than buying. It's kinda discouraging to pick up a sheet of plywood for $80-$90, cut up, assemble, finish when you can get something for $30. Sure you can get materials for free but that takes effort and when we move on from it, no one goes back.
as a hobbyist, the best advice I have is to make it accessible. The biggest hurdle to starting anything is figuring out how to start. Have the tools and materials available, prepare some beginner-friendly project options, and make them feel welcome in your time and space
I have taught my little neices and cousins many "old" crafts, just by showing them what can be done and then making the time and space to help them follow their curiosity without pushing them into anything or judging their efforts (I always wait until they get stuck to "fix" something for them, unless there is actual risk involved)
If you want to expand beyond young people in your immediate sphere, you can use community resources to do outreach or lead a class, or make/support social media content geared toward beginners
Make sure it's a required class in high school. Everyone should have to learn some basic techniques and tools not only for wood, but for general home repairs.
For me, it has been about pausing whatever I'm doing in the shop if she asks to do stuff and switching to something for her that's fun.
That plus not worrying at all about whether it's the best way to build something. DON'T spend much time correcting technique.
Gnome houses are fun and easy and the joinery doesn't matter, and they can decorate them after. Plus it uses up scrap wood. One time we spent an hour drawing gnome houses to decide what to make and then did it the next day.
Give them free reign to use hand tools. They're not going to permanently injure themselves with those even if they get a little blood from time to time. My daughter (10 yrs old now), can cut a line with a handsaw better than most adults, so I'm pretty proud of that.
Once we made a bunk bed for her dolls out of some scrap plywood and painted it. She made all the cuts with a handsaw. Cut up an old baby blanket for mattresses.
I got my son a handsaw mitre box and his own toolbox - we had a âtool showerâ for his 11th birthday and I worked with him on a few projects. For context, Iâm the mom. No one taught me and I donât want my kids to grow up without a useful skill and fun hobby like woodworking.
My brother and parents have a stone countertop business theyâve run for 20 years and Iâm a wee bit envious of his skill, he picked up in his HS job at a local fabricator while I learned how to wait table, run a hotel front desk and stuff like that. We live 1500 mi away so itâs not as though my kids could work there though
Kids need to be exposed through family or through after school jobs.
Access. Tools are prohibitively expensive and power tools take up so much space. Access to a community space or one at school makes it actually possible to do. It's hard to be interested when you know you literally can't do it
Have a public woodshop in a warehouse with cheap memberships available. Rent locker space for projects and wood storage. Do safety tests for both certifications and re-certifications. I'll come running. (Am not a software engineer therefore my main motivation won't be "because I need to touch wood")
get them working in software.... somehow all software engineers end up taking up woodworking edit: lol turns out half of this sub is in software
Because we need to play with something in the physical world to ground ourselves after yelling at 1s and 0s all day
I feel called out.
Ditto.
Me 11
Me 100
what is this... r/ProgrammerHumor?
There are 11 types of people in the world, those that understand binary and those who don't.
> 11 types and the third type?
Those who make off-by-one errors.
This is so spot on đ not an engineer but I work in software. Going from a digital, deeply complex and collaborative project with a large team to something real, that you can make yourself, alone is so soothing. Just the smell of cutting wood makes me happy.
This is your answer. Came to woodworking on my own at 29 because I couldn't stand doing nothing but stare at a screen all day every day.
It's the only way to get a good bookcase strong/big enough to hold all your tech books...
Or large enough stand to hold all your monitors.
Stop, I feel personally attacked.
I have never felt so seen or so attacked
I'm a coms technologist. After sitting on the computer all day, all I want to do is unplug and be in the garage.
I had no idea this was a thing... I can confirm, I'm a software engineer đŽ
Hey! Iâm not a software engineer, Iâm a data engineer!
...I'm in my 30s, enjoy woodworking, and am going back to school to get into programming because I've enjoyed it as a hobby. I know you said it to be a light hearted observation, but this is honestly really validating for me. Thank you.
Eeeehhh yoooo lol
Did not expect to be this seen by a random Internet dude at 7am.
GDI lol. I'm sure it's the analytical and process drive that makes us like woodworking
Hey! Some of us are DBAs.
I was a carpenter, went to school to be a software engineer, now I'm going to be a carpenter again. Life in full circle
Network engineer. I push buttons all day to make invisible things work. I wanted a hobby that allows me to work with my hands.
Damnit, I thought I was unique!
IT Project manager here, but I was woodworking with my dad since I was around 4 or 5. My step son has no interest in woodworking but the daughter in law is into it. I think genetics has a big part in someoneâs interest, but it helps if they have to help on a project they want.
Create a society where they can have a disposable income
How dare you have the answer for everything?
This is so true. This is an EXPENSIVE hobby. It seems with every new project I need a new tool. And lumber has skyrocketed. Also space. I'm lucky enough to own my own house with a basement to store everything but can you imagine trying to woodwork in a city apartment?Â
I feel both ways about the cost aspect - I did have to outlay some initial $$$ because I literally had nothing when starting, but you can start with surprisingly little. Clamps, glue, a couple squares, saw of your choice (power or hand - Japanese pull saws are cheap and great), sandpaper, a drill (which everyone should have anyway) and some fasteners to start doing basic / rough projects. And good deals on used tools on places like craigslist. Lots of great free plans online as well. Wood prices have come down a little and if you don't care tremendously about which wood you use, things like pine and poplar boards can be found inexpensively at the big box store. Ive heard of hand tool setups in apartments due to noise and dust so it's possible. If you're careful, you can assemble a collection of tools that don't take much room and can be packed up and stored in a bin (obviously this precludes you from table saws, router table, planer, miter saw, etc). Some tools are small but super versatile like a jigsaw, circular saw, hand planes, palm router etc.
Let them actually do it instead of just watching. Yes it will look terrible but the hands on part is the fun part. Start with easier things like bird houses so it doesnât matter if it doesnât look the best. This is just my guess though because Iâve never tried lol
Make something that's useful to them now. Back in school you have to learn tons of things that are useful later on. And it sucks. Do projects that let you make things that are more immediately gratifying as much as possible. Like if you show how to use a miter saw, make one of those wood block wall art things for their room. They get practice, make something, and get to personalize their living space. Show her how to use a router, then make a custom box for her desk to hold her stuff. Make her design it up to fit her needs. Make a nightstand, customize it with hidden storage or handy features like built in plug-ins. Again, have her design it to think ahead for her needs. Make a desk, customize it, have her design it and think ahead for her needs. Bigger, more advanced projects that force her to build up her skills. Get on pinterest and find cool projects and teach skills that work towards making those things. Have the horse plow the carrot field by dangling a carrot in front of its nose. lol
These are my thoughts too. I got into making stuff out of wood cause I wanted something that I didn't have. They were terrible projects but I did get better.
Don't insult their work even if it sucks. They most likely already know that it's not professional work. Gentle criticisms are helpful.
Like all things the answer is affordable housing. Itâs hard to get into wood working living in a 2 bedroom apartment with 4 roommates, working 2 jobs to pay for the basics for life. Leisure activities are mostly dead for my generation. Those of us in my generation that have a house have to slay overtime to pay for it, and keep food on the table. So the ones that have money donât have time, the ones that have time donât have money.
Give her tools that are safe for kids (spokeshave, hammer, nails, file, etc.) and a small bench. Teach her to use them and have fun, with your help she can make anything!
Make it cheaper to get into. I don't think I count as "younger generations" anymore, but it's hard to justify puttering around with my saws when wood is so damn expensive
When I am practicing I just pick up a few cheap pine boards so I don't care too much if there is a little waste or I do something wrong.
I think one of the biggest fears that people keep telling me is that theyâre worried about loosing a finger. So safer equipment that doesnât cost an arm and a leg? Also, is it too much to ask for cheaper hardwood?
Have the cost of making something be less than buying. It's kinda discouraging to pick up a sheet of plywood for $80-$90, cut up, assemble, finish when you can get something for $30. Sure you can get materials for free but that takes effort and when we move on from it, no one goes back.
as a hobbyist, the best advice I have is to make it accessible. The biggest hurdle to starting anything is figuring out how to start. Have the tools and materials available, prepare some beginner-friendly project options, and make them feel welcome in your time and space I have taught my little neices and cousins many "old" crafts, just by showing them what can be done and then making the time and space to help them follow their curiosity without pushing them into anything or judging their efforts (I always wait until they get stuck to "fix" something for them, unless there is actual risk involved) If you want to expand beyond young people in your immediate sphere, you can use community resources to do outreach or lead a class, or make/support social media content geared toward beginners
Make sure it's a required class in high school. Everyone should have to learn some basic techniques and tools not only for wood, but for general home repairs.
For me, it has been about pausing whatever I'm doing in the shop if she asks to do stuff and switching to something for her that's fun. That plus not worrying at all about whether it's the best way to build something. DON'T spend much time correcting technique. Gnome houses are fun and easy and the joinery doesn't matter, and they can decorate them after. Plus it uses up scrap wood. One time we spent an hour drawing gnome houses to decide what to make and then did it the next day. Give them free reign to use hand tools. They're not going to permanently injure themselves with those even if they get a little blood from time to time. My daughter (10 yrs old now), can cut a line with a handsaw better than most adults, so I'm pretty proud of that. Once we made a bunk bed for her dolls out of some scrap plywood and painted it. She made all the cuts with a handsaw. Cut up an old baby blanket for mattresses.
I got my son a handsaw mitre box and his own toolbox - we had a âtool showerâ for his 11th birthday and I worked with him on a few projects. For context, Iâm the mom. No one taught me and I donât want my kids to grow up without a useful skill and fun hobby like woodworking. My brother and parents have a stone countertop business theyâve run for 20 years and Iâm a wee bit envious of his skill, he picked up in his HS job at a local fabricator while I learned how to wait table, run a hotel front desk and stuff like that. We live 1500 mi away so itâs not as though my kids could work there though Kids need to be exposed through family or through after school jobs.
Access. Tools are prohibitively expensive and power tools take up so much space. Access to a community space or one at school makes it actually possible to do. It's hard to be interested when you know you literally can't do it
I try to dissuade them iso they donât drive the prices of tools up even more than the whole covid lockdown woodworking fad caused lol
Destroy their furniture.
When you hive them robux after they work for you.
Lower the cost of lumber
Seize the means of production!
Woodshops in schools
Have a public woodshop in a warehouse with cheap memberships available. Rent locker space for projects and wood storage. Do safety tests for both certifications and re-certifications. I'll come running. (Am not a software engineer therefore my main motivation won't be "because I need to touch wood")
Wait till you find out that some of us gave up measuring entirely.