Beginners Syndrome

[Bill]

I was reading Chris Pyes, book, "Woodcarving Materials, ...", Vol. 2, recently and he brought up the topic of "Beginners Syndrome". He's wrote that it's common enough phenomenon that he thought he should say something about it. Apparently it's characterized by reading a lot of books and buying a lot of tools, and not making so many wood chips. I haven't bought "that" many tools, but I can still identify a little with the poor suckers he's talking about. So instead of hovering over the new Marc Adams (School of Woodworking) catalog, that I just received, like I usually do (they are rather out of my budget anyway), I scanned it more quickly without hovering, determined to get my shop in order : ).

It has started to occur to me just how much stuff is sold to people, in various hobbies or pastimes, that might similarly suffer from "Beginners Syndrome". Just regard this as a PSA message. You might possibly know someone suffering from BS.... ; ) Toss them a hammer and a nail and ask them to make the knife--and to get on with it! When one has work that takes all that you'll give it (a feeble excuse!), it's all too easy to fall into the BS trap! I think I need to learn how to cut a pizza...into 7 slices... ahhhh!! Maybe 6 slices...okay.

Bill

[Leon]

That describes a great number here.

[Keith Nuttle]

I think there is another factor to consider. Buying tools is one thing, but buying materials is another.

When a person sees this piece of furniture he like, he goes out to buy the materials. He finds the materials is a couple of hundred dollars. wood, finish, handles, etc. He then see something similar for the same price at a local store.

His choice is, buy the similar item, or try to build it himself. Because he is unsure of his skill, he is most likely to buy the similar item, rather the messing up it up and have a couple of hundred dollars worth of expensive firewood, or an unfinished piece of furniture sitting in his garage forever and still buying the similar piece.

I have been there done that.

[John McCoy]

Keith Nuttle wrote in news:n2n5np$leg$ [e-mail]:

That is certainly a big part of it in our hobby, maybe not so much so in others.

But it's definately true for a beginner in woodworking, not only because the lumber, etc, is expensive, but that being a beginner he's likely not even aware that rough lumber exists, let alone has the tools to make boards of it. Also, the guys with more experience (not necessarily more skill) are likely to stuff stashed - the lumber left over from a project, the dozen hinges bought for pennies in a closeout sale, the screws or sandpaper or whatever bought in bulk-pack because it'll get used eventually.

Being cost-efficient is a skill, just like using the tools.

John

[Leon]

FWIW I began my serious woodworking when I was 25, in 1979 I used common 2x4, 2x6, 1x8 pine. CHEAP! I did mill the 2x's to have square corners. Once I got better I moved up to the hard woods about 2 years later. We still actually have a small pine shelf unit that I built way back when. That said I have never seen furniture, that I could buy cheaper than I could build, that I would want in my house.

[Swingman]

Yep, not just poetic that the initials are also descriptive of its manifestation.

[Michael]

And then for us the awesome sight of cheap woodworking tools at rummage sales.

[Electric Comet]

they described some symptoms but not the real problem the real problem is fear of making mistakes and it is the thing that prevents a lot of people partaking in a lot of different endeavors definitely not limited to working with wood

[Puckdropper]

Electric Comet wrote in news:n2ngjg$dns$1 @dont-email.me:

My favorite concept in building model railroads is that of the "chainsaw layout." It's a model railroad that you build with no other purpose than to be a learning experience. Go, screw up, make mistakes. Make ugly holes in the table if that's what it takes.

When you get to the point you've learned what you need to, take a chainsaw to it and cut it out. Start fresh.

You can apply that concept to just about anything. I do it often, sometimes I call it "iteration 1" and repeat the process 3-4 times until I have something I'm happy with.

Puckdropper

[-MIKE-]

I think I still have a box full of woodworking books, from our move. Whenever I'd get a new tool (lathe!) I would get books and read up on techniques and safety, etc. There's a healthy amount to it, but yes, one can get immersed in reading and learning about it so much that they never end up doing it.

Reminds me of the tenured professors where I used to work. I called them "professional students," because many of them never had any actual, real world, work experience. They went from high school to college, to grad school, to being a doctoral candidate, to teaching and never did anything else in their lives. (Think: the professor from "Back To School" with Rodney Dangerfield.)

After a few decades of hands-on experience, I now often see a book or website giving "expert" advice on how to do something and it's often either wrong or very inefficient. I remember learning these "wrong" ways and also remember figuring out the *better ways* by simply doing it instead of reading about it.

Nothing wrong with learning by reading/watching. But learning by doing seems to be a much more fruitful and enjoyable endeavor.

[nailshooter41]

Well... I think we all have things we intend to do, and just don't get arou nd to doing them. For many, buy the accoutrements is the most fun, learnin g to use them, not so much.

I think too, how long it took me to develop fluency with the tools I use al l the time, and honestly, to use them well took years. So I sympathize wit h the guy that dreams of being a cabinet builder, gets inspired by watching Krenov video, looks at Karl or Leon's work, or looks at a magazine and say s to himself "hey, I think I could do that". Sadly, they don't understand that it isn't the tools that make the craftsman, but the years spent using them to gain proficiency.

Over the last 40 years of doing all manner of wood working, I am surprised at a couple of things with wood workers. First, how many folks have thousa nds of dollars invested in shop tools, only to make a coffee table or a nig ht stand once a year. Sometimes a keepsake box for good measure. Second, I am surprised by the industrious few that do great work with very inexpens ive tools and at that, damn few of them. Hand me down saws used with homem ade guides, chisels that need to be sharpened every 20 minutes of use, no p neumatic guns (not even a brad nailer), just a few clamps, no drill/driver, etc., and yet they have a ball. And as mentioned, some really turn out so me nice work. Their only downfall is that it takes them months of their sp are time to do what it takes a pro to do in a day.

I think is like the guy that likes to play golf that reads a ton of magazin es, puts thousands into clubs, cleats, gloves, and occasional lesson, balls , etc., but only plays once a month. Never goes to the driving range, but thinks he can learn by simply playing more often.

No matter what it is, when you are doing anything that requires processes o f some sort, motor skills of some sort, and the confidence to use both of t hose skills, you don't learn without a lot of perseverance and practice. I know a lot of folks that have the money and the desire to do certain thing s, but as one of my amigos says, "then life gets in the way" and they never get to do the things they want.

But they can still read that magazine while sitting on the hopper first thi ng in the morning and keep their dreams alive.

Robert

[Bill]

He could/should start with something smaller. The quality of the "lesson" does not really increase with the size of the piece. I am being systematic about choosing my lessons. Hopefully, I'll create my second BBQ grill handle soon, this time using my (auction found, Stanley #51) spokeshave. I need to sharpen it first (small hurdle). Yes, the first handle I made, designed much like the original one, that it replaced, only worked right for a year, but it is/was not an expensive piece of firewood. And, I've since figured out a way to do better than the original, and my "duplicate". I will be adding a "set screw" (as the manufacturer should have used)! Hopefully, once this admittedly-tiny and cheap project is complete, I'll have some confidence with a spokeshave! Besides that, it sounds "fun"! FWIW, vegetable oil finish worked fine.

Bill

[Bill]

Yes, I agree with you. I think it may not be "fear of making mistakes" as much as "fear of the unknown". Who knows, "avoiding the unknown" may be part of human nature? Then we read to make it "less unknown"? To a point, knowing what we're up against is a good thing.

Bill

[Keith Nuttle]

What is scary is those people who have the advanced degrees and no practical experience think the world should run as it says in the book and the way academia thinks it should.

When they are forced into practical situations, they are not only useless, but can become dangerous to others when trying to make the practical world comply to the books and academia's ideas.

We have many examples of these people trying to run things in the US today.

[Scott Lurndal]

That might possibly be true for some social science professor. It is not even close to true for Engineering professors, most of whom do as well as teach.

In any case, blanket statement such as you've made regarding 'tenured professions' are nonsense, as all schools and all professors are not alike.

Getting your real-world knowledge form a comedy film doesn't help.

[dadiOH]

Yep, and it - AKA frugality - can be learned.

When I was young and in the Navy, my camera spent most of its time in pawn shops. Somewhere around my freshman year in college I started being more frugal.

Now - 60 years later - I save bits and pieces of wood...some offcuts, some knots cut out (I resaw the latter and make pulls from them, lots of swirly grain). At the moment I am making drawer dividers, all from "scrap".

I also glue up small pieces to make bigger ones. All our closet hanging rods are made that way from butternut offcuts from when I made all our passage doors.

I not only enjoy saving the $$, I enjoy finding a use for them.

[dadiOH]

The only way to learn and become better is to make mistakes.

[Swingman]

Leon might remember this:

Years back helped a dear friend sell off her ex's equipment out of his air conditioned, 3600 sf shop, after the divorce.

A shop loaded with every large tool (high dollar, 3ph commercial grade tools/machinery, too big for any shop I've ever owned), and every hand tool that could be bought from Rockler, WoodCraft and LV; a dust collector that would suffice for a lumber yard, a forklift, a spray booth larger than my current shop, and office space bigger than the ground floor in my home, among other things.

And it was well documented that the ONLY, and I mean ONLY, thing ever made with those tools were a half dozen pens put together with blanks from Rockler.

All the equipment was new, and, except for the small lathe used for the pens, had never been used when it was sold.

And no, I availed myself of none of it, except for some expendables ... simply refused to profit in any way whatsoever from our good friend's misfortune.

But, I do occasionally dream about what I could have done with all that space and all those tools. Oh well ...

Que sera, sera ...

[Swingman]

Just last night read a couple of articles from kitchen and bath magazines (featured on iPad's FlipBoard, so you know it casts a wide net) that purport to advise people on remodeling their kitchen and bath space, the different types of cabinetry, doors, etc.

Information is so false, off base and far from reality that it should be a criminal offense to have published it.

[-MIKE-]

Oh lighten up. Did I touch a nerve? :-) It wasn't a blanket statement concerning all college professors. If you notice, I wrote "the tenured professors where I used to work" which is a pretty narrow focus. And even then any reasonable person could assume i was talking about some and not all.

That's called an illustration to help to help make a point. I got plenty of " real-world knowledge" from working in academia for 15 years which is solely what I based my opinion on.