We’re past the halfway point of Get Woodworking Week now, and the interest is running wild. The posts on other blogs have been top notch, and I’ve been happy to be a small part of this new endeavor.

Now, what do you think one of the biggest reasons people give for not trying woodworking? The cost? That they never tried it? Or… could it be the fear of making mistakes?

Believe me, when it comes to making mistakes, I’m the poster child. If there is a mistake I have not yet made in a woodworking project, stay tuned. I’m bound to do it at least once during my time writing the blog.  If you want to see one of my worst foul ups, check this out:

What the He%# am I doing?

Remember, though, it’s not important that you have failed… what’s most important is how you recover from your mistakes.  A child will fall down dozens of times learning to walk…  but, we celebrate when she succeeds at taking her first steps.

From D’Oh to Woah…

While you think about not letting your fear of mistakes hold you back, check out some of these awesome articles that have been submitted for Get Woodworking Week:

• The Joiner’s Apprentice: Preparing rough stock for a project
• The Penultimate Workshop: Peter Get Woodworking
• Matt’s Basement Workshop: Get Woodworking Week 2012
• The Digital Woodworker: Building a Japanese workbench

OK, everyone, it’s day THREE of Get Woodworking Week, and the posts keep coming in! I think we’re starting to generate a little bit of excitement out there.  Now, remember, Get Woodworking Week works when we spread the word, so take some time this week to talk to others about the craft.  Not sure what to say? Either was I when I spoke in front of my sons’ classes the past few years. Here are the videos of those events:

This was from my 2011 trip to the schools

And, this was from 2010.

Here are some of the blog posts that came in yesterday.  I hope you enjoy reading them!

• Digital Woodworker: Getting started in woodworking – Tools with a Japanese flair
• Stu’s Shed: Colour my (shed) world
• Woodshop Demos: Analysis paralysis
• The School of Wood: There’s a hole in the bucket! Getting started woodworking with hand tools.
• The Wood Whisperer: How to install a drawer knob
• The Woodwork Guy: The one-weekend bookcase
• A Slice of Wood Workshop: What to Build?

Now that we are in Get Woodworking Week, I guess the first question many new woodworkers may have is, “Where could I begin?”  Sure, there are plenty of websites to check out. Your library has tons of books. You can always go out to a local home improvement center or – if your town has one – a specialty woodworking store for more information.

But, there’s nothing like getting some face time with other woodworkers. Someplace where you can find a few other experienced woodworkers and ask them how they got started, where they can get wood for cheap or which tools are the best for the beginning woodworker.

When it comes to finding those folks, there’s just one bit of advice – get thee to a guild. Or a club.. there’s nothing wrong with those either.

In most civilized areas of the world, you will find folks with similar interests who have banded together to share the experience with others. Mom’s clubs. Biking clubs. Tennis clubs. Golf clubs – YES, pun intended! Just try asking around at your local library, hardwood store, woodworking store or community center. You’d be surprised how many woodworking clubs or guilds there are.

For instance, I was recently invited to attend a meeting of the St. Petersburg Woodcrafters’ Guild. For several years now, the folks at SPWG have been reading and commenting on my blog posts, and I was asked if perhaps it might be time to meet up. Not sure what to expect, I loaded my contemplation bench into the car, brought some business cards and headed on down to a local Lutheran church for the meeting.

When I got there, I was totally impressed. There must have been about 60 woodworkers gathered in the meeting hall. The age of the attendees was a very good mix – some as young as their mid-20’s through veterans who had a few years under their belts. There was excitement in the air – the excitement of friends who were meeting again to brag about some of their successes and ask lots of questions about how to do certain tasks.

President Joe Pettit called the meeting to order, and there was some business to attend to. The SPWG is a registered non-profit organization that has by-laws, and – as with any other similar body, there were financial reports, membership reports, updates on previous activities and future business that had to be conducted.  The discussion then turned to introduction of guests and – my favorite part – show and tell. Since this was the first meeting of the year, holiday projects for children and grandchildren many states away were shown proudly. Questions about building and finishing techniques were asked, and each member showing his or her experiences.

Within maybe 20 minutes, all of the business had been handled, and there was going to be a rather longish break. I was wishing the meeting would keep going on, but it was then that I discovered the real purpose of the guild meetings. Everyone got out of their chairs and started talking with other members about tools, wood and their shops. I could overhear several members asking others about the challenges they were facing, and getting several good suggestions on how to overcome them. I spoke at length with several woodworkers about their woodworking. Some were turners. Others worked extensively with veneer. Still more were scrollers. Marquetry. Band saw experts. Cabinetmakers. Chair builders. If there was a specialty, someone covered it.

The last part of the meeting was a discussion about the work the guild was doing at the Folk Festival, and old hand tools in general. We had a chance to go hands on with a beetle and froe, spokeshave and hosts of old hand planes that had been lovingly restored.

By the time the meeting broke up, I was energized – ready to get out to the shop and try some new techniques.

So, if you are interested in getting into woodworking, ask around and find a local club or guild. You’d be surprised how much that can help you on your path to woodworking success.

Oh, and here are some articles about Get Woodworking Week you may want to check out:

• Short Bus Woodworking: Get Woodworking Week – Pocket Holes?
• Tumblewood: Get Woodworking Week is here. Get to it!
• Woodworking in Paris: La semaine Get Woodworking du 5 au 12 fevrier… (en Francais)
• Close Grain: Jim Kingshott’s DVDs and Books
• Ravinheart Renditions: Get Woodworking Week 2012
• Uppercut Woodworks: Video Post #10: Get Woodworking Week with Red Toolbox Kits

The weather was gorgeous this past weekend – even better than normal. I was shaking off the remnants of a cold and needed to get out of the house for a while to stretch my legs. What could we do? A trip to the beach?  Ehhh, we’ve done that before. How about a romp in the park? Fun, but we’d only be there for a little bit of time.

How about doing something we’ve never done as a family, and go to the Heritage Village Folk Festival? Now we’re talking!

I’ve worked for the Pinellas County government for 18 years now, and Heritage Village is owned and operated by the government. They’ve held the Folk Festival for years, but for some reason, the idea of folk music didn’t do it for me.  They also have traditional crafting demonstrations, but there’s only so much work on the loom you can stand. And, when you’ve seen a few meticulously-restored Model A Fords, well, they start to blend together.  The kids really dig that they had kettle corn, so, that was a draw…

But, that was it. I had never gone to the event… Even though I live about a five minute bike ride away…

This year was different. I had been in touch with the folks at the St. Petersburg Woodcrafter’s Guild (more is coming on them… believe me!) about possibly participating in the event, and I heard they worked out a deal to be there to show the craft.  SCHWEET!

So, we walked around, taking in the beaming sunshine, fresh air and twanging sounds of folk music. We stopped in a few historical homes to take a peek, and when we got to the Harris School, the banner for the guild was hanging proudly. Ahhh, here we were!

We went into the one-room schoolhouse, which normally has period desks lined up in rows. Instead, the desks were removed and the building was converted into one sweet hand tool shop for a day.

Members of the guild were there showing off several period tools – a spring pole lathe, a shaving horse, smoothing planes… the works.  Each of the stations had a few guild members helping visitors get a handle on what was going on in the shop.

My son Steven got a chance to handle a sweet smoothing plane. I think he’s a little short to get the maximum effect.

Dominic was the man behind the spring pole lathe, getting some good direction on how to use the turning tools. The boy is a natural!

And, me? Well, giddayup! I was working the shaving horse… for the first time ever. That oak never stood a chance!

During the 20 minutes at the Harris School, I learned a few things:

This was the first time the St. Petersburg Woodcrafters’ Guild ever came to an event at Heritage Village. Judging from the pile of sawdust, shavings and other wood scraps on the floor, I’d say they had been very busy – and we all know, a busy shop is a popular shop!

Secondly, the folks at the guild are knowledgeable about what they are doing, and they can communicate that clearly to visitors… Perhaps we can see some new woodworkers after this weekend?

And, finally, trying new stuff in woodworking?  It totally kicks butt. That was a blast to get on the shaving horse, and I can see why people like that so much.  Heck, I may have to build my own…

After our trip to the Harris School, we walked around the grounds for a while, and yes, we bought the boys their kettle corn. As we were heading out, we passed by the Harris School again. Amazingly, there was a line of people waiting to get into the building.  As I walked past, I smiled.  Woodworking was definitely alive and well in Heritage Village that afternoon.

Can you believe it?  Get Woodworking week is now less than one month away!  I’m so excited, I can hardly contain myself…

Well, maybe I need to learn how to contain myself just a little bit. Anyway, I wanted to get you into the mood by listing a few resources you might want to check out for woodworkers just starting out.  At these sites, you will find all sorts of advice, plans, tool reviews and technique articles to get you motivated to get into the shop and try your hand at woodworking.

Wood Magazine’s Basic Built Series: This is is Wood Magazine’s initiative to provide simple, yet high-quality woodworking projects that can be completed with a minimum number of tools and skills. This site covers a wide array of topics – from how to find furniture worthy wood to where to find the best deals on tools. The inexpensive projects offered run the gamut from shop fixtures to tables, seating and casework.

Popular Woodworking’s I Can Do That: In every issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, the “I Can Do That” column features projects that can be completed by any woodworker with a modest (but decent) kit of tools in less than two days of shop time, and using raw materials that are available at any home center. Be sure to download their .PDF manual first before you get a start on things.

New To Woodworking:  Marc Spagnuolo, the Wood Whisperer, understands that it’s OK to be a Noob. That’s why he put together this impressive site for the up and coming woodworker. He’s sorted through his site and found the best articles on shop set up, technique and projects with build-along videos.

NewWoodworker.com: Tom Hintz is no longer a new woodworker, but, believe me, his site will help steer any new woodworker in the right direction. Before you buy a new tool or select a spot for your shop, be sure to pay this site a visit and soak in the knowledge.

Now, this is by no means a complete list of sites. In fact, if you are aware of any others, be sure to list them in the comments below this article. This way, I can add them to this list to build a resource of sites geared toward the new woodworker.

Also, be sure to check the blogs listed to the right of this post. Each of those are the sites of bloggers I have been in touch with – either in person or online – who do some outstanding work.  I have asked for their help for the week, and most of them have said they are game. As they post articles on their sites, I will also link to them on a dedicated get woodworking page on my site.

The best part about Get Woodworking Week is that we’re going to make an active effort to get folks off the sideline and help them find the sawdust in their veins.  We’ll all be better off with new folks who get out there and show us what they’ve got.

For those of you who signed on very early this morning, you saw the link of the week taking you to a different site.  Something about a dovetail jig review site.  In my zeal to provide you information about dovetail jigs, I grabbed that one and posted it today.

Boy, was I shamefaced when Stuart of Toolguyd.com wrote me a note pointing out something I should have seen all along… the site is – how shall I put this – less that reputable.

Basically, what the site’s author had done was to copy and paste a great deal of background information about dovetail joints from Wikipedia to the site, with a number of links his Amazon affiliate site. He also copied and pasted many of the user reviews from Amazon and listed them.  Of course, the big drive was to have unsuspecting woodworkers (like me) Google, check out the info and then click through to buy the jig, netting the site owner cash. Marc Spagnuolo of the Wood Whisperer’s site pointed out that these types of sites are commonly known as ‘link farms’, and with the amount of content he puts out, he has to watch the web carefully to ensure his material isn’t being used for this purpose.

It’s a very deceptive way for someone to set up a site, making money on the work of others without their knowledge or permission.

How can you tell if you are on one of these sites? Both Stuart and Marc told me to check  the site’s content against the Wikipedia entry – if it is lifted word for word, you know someone’s not doing their homework.

Also, look for an excessive number of affiliate links all over the page. On the page for one dovetail jig alone, there were eight links back to Amazon to that one product. On ONE page.

Was this the only site out there doing this?  Nope. There are many sites out there misappropriating online content for their shady dealings. I addressed similar sites in my Monkey Business article at Wood Magazine, and  Steve Ramsey did an awesome video about fighting online piracy at his Woodworking for Mere Mortals site.

The current link of the week takes you to the About.com site on dovetail basics – an awesome read.

As for me, I want to apologize for posting that first link today. This isn’t the first time I’ve made an ass of myself on my blog, but I’m hoping it will be the last.

OK, so take a look at this, and tell me what you see?

An apple core, or two faces staring at each other?

How about now?

Is it the face of a young lady, or a musician?

Now, look at this and see if you can figure out what happened….

That’s right.. Tom made another boneheaded move. You see, he was so busy looking at the shape of the cutter, he failed to realize that it actually cuts the negative… So, of course, he put the cope cut on the end of the rails…

Fortunately, I broke into peals of laughter, and the boy stopped before he did any more damage. Nothing hurt… except his pride. And some wood. And, he lost about an hour of shop time doing things wrong.

After he shame-facedly admitted his error, Tom fixed the issue and things are back on track. In fact, they are looking good.

Which goes to prove a point – even though Tom has made a bunch of errors this year, he’s prone to make them again and again.  That’s OK, I think we’ll keep him…