Why woodworking

I've never written a blog before. Not really sure why - may well stem from the fact I'm not a huge fan of the word Blog. Despite it containing the word "Log" which, as a woodworker, you would think I'd enjoy the potential for a pun ridden blog title, I just dont like the word. It seems as if it is an abbreviation or portmanteau for something else, but then again isnit? Or is it a word in its own right, either way it's unnerving.

The above paragraph is the actual reason I have never written a blog before. The real reason is I do things like start a blog, write something innane and then immediately go down a rabbit hole, over analysing a specific word, getting distracted, looking up how to spell the word "Portmanteau" and if I am indeed using it right and ultimately forgetting what my point is.

This is why I am a woodworker not an online sensation.

But to get back to the point of this post, I want to start this blog with an introduction as to why I am a woodworker. The truth is it is an entirely accidental career.

I grew up on the coast at a time without internet, everything was connected with physical wires (so most forms of entertainment had to be plugged into walls and immovable aerials) and children were constantly bored. But being bored was brilliant becasue you had to find something to do. I was generally bored a lot of the time, so I did things, I went places, I explored and I made things.

Generally I made things out of wood as it was available and easy to cut or manipulate into whatever fantastical gadget I needed. Summer holidays were particularly productive times - one summer on a whim I decided to build a rudimentary hang glider based on a picture I had seen in a book (the pictures in question were failed attempts at flight...). I made the frame from wood and covered it with I think some left over damp proof membrane what was knocking about in the garage and off I went to the highest hill I could find. It weighed a ton, looked ridiculous and didnt fly. However I dont remember the end result that much nor its inevitable failure - I remember the making.

I am a woodworker because I like making things. Wood is the medium I have chosen because it is quick and accessible. It only requires a couple of tools to work it a few skills that are easy to learn. Wood can be shaped and moulded into everythnig from a utilitarian shelf, to a climbing frame; a simple stool to a boat; a toy sword to a hang glider.

Sometimes its a good idea to remember why we do things. I make things because it's fun. Sometimes they go wrong, sometimes I get frustrated, sometimes I loose interest (if you have ever take one of my courses you may well have seen a number of half finished pieces lying about the workshop...). Generally however, itnis the process of making where the fun lies. This is why I am so passionate about getting more people woodworking especially with hand tools. Yes you can go a buy the thing. But then all you have is the thing. What if you made the thing? Spent time and considered every aspect of the thing? Then yes you have the thing but you also have new skills, new memories and ultimately not just a thing but an heirloom and a story that goes with it.

I have never looked back fondly on the time I bought the laptop I am typing this on, but I often look back fondly at the time the wheel fell off the go-kart I made as it careered uncontrollably down an incredibly steep hill. I can see vividly the long days I spent that summer crafting my own car because I was bored and there was nothing on the telly.

Thats why I'm a woodworker.