woodwork/carpentry & masonry

[fmoore200]

Hi all,

TBOT is full of people with vastly different experiences and skills. I was wondering if anybody here is a woodworker or carpenter or mason. Not necessarily a master, but with any skill and knowledge would be great.

A little background:

While living abroad I was helping to build a house, basically from scratch. I found the work extremely rewarding and wished I could have done more, but my skills (or lack there of) reduced me to a mere helper. To be honest, I am a quick study and my responsibilities gradually increased. But I wanted to do more.

The house that I helped build was by no means a work of art - it was a basic 3 bedroom 1 bathroom with am open layout for the kitchen/dining room/living room. The only part of the construction, for me, that really stood out was a wrap around balcony that went from the front of the house all the way around the side.

I guess what I'm getting at is that creating something, even the small part I played, was an extremely rewarding process. Every day I would look at what we accomplished and take a great deal of pride in the skill and effort it took to build something from nothing more than an idea in someone's head.

I would like to get better at working with natural materials and the skills necessary to see a plan from the starting stage through to the completion. I don't want a career, but I would love to live in a home that I plan and built myself.

[Phendyr_Loon]

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, though it is true that woodworking can be a rewarding activity.

If you seek to expand your skills in the trades that you mentioned I would suggest looking into enrolling in a vocational/trade school.

IME most county operated vocational schools offer education programs to beyond high school aged students.

[fmoore200]

I guess I could have made my post a little clearer, lol.

I don't really have a specific question, the post is really just trying to generate some discussion about some field(s) that I find rewarding and underrated. I was hoping some other TBer's had some similar experiences and would be willing to share. Maybe even get technical discussions going, too.

Thanks for the input, but I don't think vocational school is a path I want to take. I would like to get into carpentry, masonry and woodwork more as a hobbyist and my ultimate goal is to build my own house and live out my high school Walden fantasy of living off the land and working with what the earth provides.

[()smoke()]

growing up, i worked summers with carpenters, plumbers, electricians, roofers, metal workers, groundskeepers--so i got a really broad experience, with the only real depth coming from the carpentry since i did more of that

...later, i worked with steam mechanics in college, which allowed me to use some of the plumbing skills i'd picked up and taught me a great deal more about steam systems

...still later in college, i framed houses on a crew--mostly large, luxury homes. learned a lot here as well, became a 'cut man', doing all the compound miter cuts for roofs after learning how to use a speed square and a circular saw well enough that i could do it

...these days, i design buildings, primarily larger, high-rise towers, as an architect

i am thankful for the opportunity to work with my hands all those years and get a little bit of the experience, it is very rewarding work and can be very hard work too

you could definitely learn enough to design and build a house if you commit to doing it and find the necessary means of learning the essential skills and knowledge for both aspects of the design/build

[Tat2dHeart]

I'm not a builder, contractor, or any number of other things related to woodworking or construction, but when my company sponsored a Habitat for Humanity house, I got to help with the building process. It was an interesting and rewarding experience. If you're considering more of the hobbyist route, you might check out your local Habitat office to see what projects they have going on and volunteer.

[James Hart]

My maternal Grandfather was a farm raised handyman type (and a guitarist)... my Father a Mechanical Engineer and a tinkerer. I was raised in a family that fixed broke things and did upgrades ourselves instead of hiring others to do it.

As a musician... I've done a lot of odd jobs, briefly ran a painting business and spent a couple years as the 'fix it' guy for a local zoo / humane society shelter.

I've been in computers for the last decade+ but have recently undertaken a major construction project that I've been documenting here Home - Our Home Renovation

It's taking forever because I'm doing 95% of the work myself. The wife tries but she tends to hinder more than help. I also have a local guy that helps some, but he only helps when he needs cash and I don't generally have any for him

[fmoore200]

Thanks for sharing guys... That habitat for humanity idea sounds intriguing Tat, as it would be rewarding not only for the experience of building, but for helping people also.

Smoke, my father in law also was an architect. In fact, it was his design that we were building. I always found architecture to be a fascinating career. I learned how to read blue prints in high school and how to draw to scale but never pursued any further studies..