Welcome to The Hobbyist, a newsletter about people’s hobbies and how they discovered them. Today we’re talking with Brian about woodworking and furniture design - creating pieces like the bench featured below.
How did you first get into this?
I've always been interested in woodshop projects - the first thing I built was a picture frame with my dad in 2014. Since then, working on projects solo has always come from some necessity in furnishing my house. When I finished grad school in 2016, I was hunting for a desk at second hand stores and quickly realized how expensive cool furniture was. This led me to buy an old twin-sized headboard and some hairpin steel legs. Two years later, I was in need of a larger record cabinet so I built one using cheap paint grade wood from Home Depot. These smaller beginner projects piqued my interest for fine woodworking, which I started learning from YouTube and trying my hand at it in my garage in 2019. In January 2021, a friend reached out about splitting a space in a local artist studio warehouse so I've been working there since.
Why is this worth anyone spending their time on? Give us your best pitch…
While it can be frustrating at times, the process of taking raw materials and turning them into something interesting is quite special. I buy rough sawn lumber which is cut into boards but hasn't been dimensioned, so you can't see the grain pattern yet. Every time I pass a board through the planer for the first time and see the grain reveal it's like opening a present. Applying finish to a piece has the same effect, seeing the grain pattern pop and shine is a fantastic reward for all the time you've put into the build.
How would you advise someone new to stick their toes in the water?
There are many levels of woodworking and the deeper you go, the more specialized tools you need (and space, and patience) so taking a lesson or course at a makerspace is a great way to "try before you buy". For instance, not many people have a lathe in their shop but if you want to get into wood turning and make bowls you need a lathe. See what corner of the hobby you're interested in and then starting buying tools for that type of project.
Where can one connect with others that are interested (events, groups, social media, etc)?
Instagram and YouTube have been great for learning both technique and aesthetic. I buy my wood from Joe, my local lumber monger, who is beyond helpful for bouncing ideas off of when I'm trying to bring a concept to life. Most of the time local shops are comprised of full-time experienced craftsmen who are eager to share knowledge, so don't be afraid to ask questions to learn from them!
Tell me your best or worst story related to your hobby…
Best: Delivering my first commissioned piece to a client was pretty memorable and made my feel more legit than a hobbyist woodworker.
Worst: Having a piece of wood get ripped from my hands and thrown across the room by my router table. A router is a machine with a high-speed spinning bit which you can use for profiling shapes into wood. I was using white oak which is a very hard species of wood and the bit grabbed the end grain, sending it out of my hands and hitting a wall. Afterwards I turned the machine off, locked up the shop, went home and watched three hours of router safety videos to make sure I didn't lose a finger next time!