I'm throwing in the towel

[missionaryman]

I've always had a passion for woodwork, always been good at it too. As a school kid I did pretty bad at everything but would always top the class/grade/state at woodwork, later I joined a kitchen company as an apprentice cabinetmaker and a few months into my TAFE course I was being entered into skill Olympics by my teachers.
One ting lead to another in life and I had to leave my apprenticeship in the second year and do something else, a decade went by where I didn't do anything woodwork until I got a job at Boral Timber and had access to some great hardwoods at really good prices.
Slowly I began to buy bits and pieces of wood and some cheap tools and began to make stuff, I started with workbenches and sold them on ebay, from this I used the money to buy some more tools and started making chopping boards and selling them on ebay, I used the money from these to get more tools and then I made a bed for my kids and another to sell on ebay, bought more tools and made more chopping boards and got to the stage where I could get a proper cast iron tablesaw and an excellent SCMS, both were second hand bargains on ebay.
I have been wanting to move to the next level for years now and get planer and thicknesser and a domino and some other things but it just isn't happening.
Everytime I've had the goals in sight something has happened, on two occasions - one was the Blacktown hailstorm and the other was an un-needed baby bonus - I had the money in my hand on my way to Carbatec and the most unlikely circumstances required me to turn around and pt the money into something else.
Well this is the third time and this time the week before going to Carbatec to buy everything the global economy decided to crash and there are wiser places to put your money when you're a father of 3 toddlers.
That said I'm at the frsutrating place where I have a good tablesaw, a great SCMS, a big workshop and workbench and very little else. I can't spend the money on buying machined wood or getting wood machined as all of the wood I get is recycled and free - that's my budget.
I've made about 15 wokbenches and 125 chopping boards and I've had a gut full, I'm ready to put the whole lot on ebay and turn my back on it for good.

This last time was particularly bad because I showed my boys the plans I drew up for their bunks and they were so excited and I had to buy bullcrap Chinese made secondhand beds for them instead.

I dont think it's ever going to happen - at least not until maybe retirement which is about 40 years away so I'm thinking seriously on giving the whole bloody thing up.

Any words of wisdom out there?

[Groggy]

Stick with it. Time gives you options and opportunities. Maybe you can make and sell some items to fund tools. Watching the forums will also bring opportunities to get cheap items (router bits from www.sawandbits.com is a great example). Be a shame to just give up if you truly enjoy it.

[Wood Borer]

missionaryman,

Strength is being able to take the knocks and bounce back.

OK, many of us have experienced the gut wrenching feeling of hopelessness when all your plans for the future turn to dust. It's not fair, it's heart wrenching but it is part of the journey.

We all react similarly. Anger and throwing in the towel are often the initial reactions. What you do after that depends on whether you have balls or not.

Those of us giving you advise during this dark moment certainly spat the dummy when experiencing similar disasters but we had the determination to pick the dummy up again.

Yes, it's embarassing to pick up a spat dummy especially when you previously declared you wouldn't.

My advise is to close your shed for a short time and don't make any rash decisions until you have cooled down.

When the time is right, go back to your shed and open your eyes to see what you have rather than what you haven't got. Make sure you count your experience and skill. You might see things quite differently.

Dimensioning timber can be done easily without a planer and thicknesser but it will just take a bit longer.

Hang in there, you are being a bit hard on a good bloke and woodworker.

References: Been there and done that.

Experience: Picked up heaps of spat dummies

[Cliff Rogers]

Yup, I got a Shopsmith about 18months before the first of 3 was born & by the time the 3rd one had arrived, the Shopsmith was silent & it didn't get used much for about 7 or 8 years.


If you can't make fine furniture, make some rustic stuff for outdoor/BBQ use.
Sand the splinters off with a cheap handheld sander & coat then in polyu or epoxy.
Sell them at the markets/ebay as 'Australian made from Australian Timber.' :2tsup:

[Stevenp]

missionaryman, hang in there mate, we have all probably been through similar times. When my kids were little (Now in their 20's) every time I managed to scrape up enough to get something for the shed, something else came up, school fees , school clothes etc . I now have a pretty good selection of good quality tools , but it has taken over 20 years and had to put up with a lot of crappy cheap tools in the meantime.
Dont give it up, give it some time and do something else maybe ,but hang in there if you really enjoy it. :luck:

[Chesand]

Do as Woodborer has said - let your mind clear.

We all need a spell from our hobbies now and then and we come back with renewed enthusiasm

[Scribbly Gum]

There's some good advice here MM.
My father made many of the items of furniture in our home with one saw, two chisels and a hammer. We thought that he was the world's best craftsman.
Your kids aren't going to worry about what kind of tools you have, they only see the love that you show.
So- chin up old son - the glass is always at least half full - not half empty.
Churchill was invited back to his old School to speak to the students.
He told them only three words..............
Never give up...........!

Onya mate
Cheers from Tele Point
SG:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[tea lady]

If it the only thing you enjoy and are good at I don't think it will let you "throw in the towel." Is there some other way you can do it? Is there a mens shed nearby? That is what I am doing. Who has the budget straight up to buy tools? And there are others to talk to there. Also others to talk to here. Maybe there is an opportunity to go in with a mate- new or old- to do the thing you love.

And the question of "better place to put your money in these hard times". I can't think of a better one then in something that you love and want to work towards making a living from.

There is a way. Don't give up yet. You wouldn't have told us if you REALLY wanted to. :;

[Rattrap]

:wts:
Not wanting to get too spooky, sounds like karma or something is telling u that the time just isn't right at the moment. If its your passion then things will fall into place for u when the time is right.
Grease up your tools to stop them rusting & throw a cover over them. Give it 6 mths or even a yr before u make up your mind. The number of times in the last few mths that i've read or spoken to mates who sold their equip for 1 reason or another then a year or 2 later deceided to buy it all back, every 1 of em were kicking themselves for selling up.
Perhaps u just need to look into 2nd hand machinery. The beauty with much of the older tools is that they just keep on going & going & going.
:2tsup::2tsup:

[The Bleeder]

missionaryman,

If you give up now you'll 'kick' yourself later. For every time you say 'I could have built that' you'll 'kick' yourself.

How many times do you want to 'kick' yourself.

As others have said "DON'T GIVE UP".

Give yourself a break and then the rational side will take over.

Steve

[Ellemcbeast]

Only you can decide what is best for you, but there are some personal experiences you have already had, which on reflection, may influence your decision.

1. How did you feel before you got your first decent tools. Frustration? Wishing to engage the wood, but unable to do so? Unrequited talent waiting to create? Wondering how everybody else did it? etc, etc.
Do you want to go back to this place?

2. Then there were the feelings between ordering the tools and fully installing them ready for use. Great expectation?, At last I can participate!, How much can I achieve?
I am taking the first step on a long creative journey?
How quickly can you get to this place again?

3. Then the tools came into use and benches and breadboards flowed proving talent, practical skill and production capability. aAnd you brought joy to those receiving them and cash to your coffers for those willing to pay for your skills.
This place was very rewarding and is worth striving for again!

Simply put, you have made some significant steps on your woodworking journey and have encountered periods of joy and satisfaction, which have overcome frustration at the speed of tool collection and progress with production. Dont let the current temporary frustration cause you to go back to 1. The depth of the negative feelings you had then will increase if you do.

Don't look back and definitely don't go back there. At worst, pause, reflect and plan your next move forward. I think it will be a planer thicknesser and think of the opportunities that will come from that!!!!!

[bluegum30]

dont give up mate take the good advice offered here there been many times when i felt like chucking it all to the ???? house when i was younger with 4 kids and things were going pear shape.my two bobs worth clean your gear mothball it till this passes and belive me it will.all the best lloyd.:U

[masoth]

....... and I can't say better than all of the above - but I can say that the most depressinig sight is an empty shed. Now that IS something I have experienced. I was away from building for almost 30 years, and the odd thing is the tools still work.

[Allan at Wallan]

Hi missionaryman,

Many of us have experienced the highs and lows of living
and guess we can sympathize with you in some way.

However, I have found that if you believe in yourself, look
on the positive side and have a little patience, then things
often sort themselves out. Sure it might not happen today
or tomorrow but you will get the lucky breaks when you
least expect them and you will be on top of the world.

Hang in there and it will happen.

Allan

[Caliban]

In case being nice and understanding to you as everyone above has been, (and as I am normally inclined to be,) doesn't help you decide, I might add something more like nasty about the hard cold reality of being an adult, a responsible parent etc.
Have some pride man.
Did the Anzacs say they'd rather not stat at Gallipoli?
Do you want to be like Trevor Chappel, do you need to win everytime?
Have you not made really good stuff without great tools already?
One day you'll get there, and then there'll be no stopping you (unless you take your bat and ball and go home now)
Do you want to feel stupid later?
I remember the time when a bloke on the golf coursde spat the dummy and threw his clubs, bag, buggy and all into the dam swearing that he'd never be back. How embarrassing it was ten minutes later when he was swimming in the dam. No one stopped laughing when he explained that he was only after his car keys.
Give up if you want, but it is you who will suffer, no pain , no gain. If life was meant to be easy Malcolm Fraser would still be the Prime Minister.

[wheelinround]

I've always had a passion for woodwork, always been good at it too. As a school kid I did pretty bad at everything but would always top the class/grade/state at woodwork, later I joined a kitchen company as an apprentice cabinetmaker and a few months into my TAFE course I was being entered into skill Olympics by my teachers.
One ting lead to another in life and I had to leave my apprenticeship in the second year and do something else, a decade went by where I didn't do anything woodwork until I got a job at Boral Timber and had access to some great hardwoods at really good prices.
Slowly I began to buy bits and pieces of wood and some cheap tools and began to make stuff, I started with workbenches and sold them on ebay, from this I used the money to buy some more tools and started making chopping boards and selling them on ebay, I used the money from these to get more tools and then I made a bed for my kids and another to sell on ebay, bought more tools and made more chopping boards and got to the stage where I could get a proper cast iron tablesaw and an excellent SCMS, both were second hand bargains on ebay.
I have been wanting to move to the next level for years now and get planer and thicknesser and a domino and some other things but it just isn't happening.
Everytime I've had the goals in sight something has happened, on two occasions - one was the Blacktown hailstorm and the other was an un-needed baby bonus - I had the money in my hand on my way to Carbatec and the most unlikely circumstances required me to turn around and pt the money into something else.
Well this is the third time and this time the week before going to Carbatec to buy everything the global economy decided to crash and there are wiser places to put your money when you're a father of 3 toddlers.
That said I'm at the frsutrating place where I have a good tablesaw, a great SCMS, a big workshop and workbench and very little else. I can't spend the money on buying machined wood or getting wood machined as all of the wood I get is recycled and free - that's my budget.
I've made about 15 wokbenches and 125 chopping boards and I've had a gut full, I'm ready to put the whole lot on ebay and turn my back on it for good.

This last time was particularly bad because I showed my boys the plans I drew up for their bunks and they were so excited and I had to buy bullcrap Chinese made secondhand beds for them instead.

I dont think it's ever going to happen - at least not until maybe retirement which is about 40 years away so I'm thinking seriously on giving the whole bloody thing up.

Any words of wisdom out there?


MM help is at hand come along Sunday Cumberland Woodworkers Club (http://www.wood.asn.au/news.php)lets see if we can help

[derekcohen]

I have a good tablesaw, a great SCMS, a big workshop and workbench and very little else. I can't spend the money on buying machined wood or getting wood machined as all of the wood I get is recycled and free - that's my budget.
I've made about 15 wokbenches and 125 chopping boards and I've had a gut full, I'm ready to put the whole lot on ebay and turn my back on it for good.

Oh PLeeeease! You are a right whinge, aren't you! A family man with three children, a job and a workshop ..... all of the wood I get is recycled and free .... There are many who would trade places with you in an instant!

Bloody Hell, you have all the tools you need. What you lack are the tools you want.

There are many ways to skin a cat. That is what woodworking is all about.

Handtools are cheap. A couple of planes and chisels - which you probably have. I bought my first power jointer about a month ago, and it still is to be set up and plugged in. I prefer dressing my timber by hand, which I have done for many years. The point is, the absence of some power apprentices does not have to reduce the pleasure of woodworking as a hobby. In fact, it can increase the satisfaction of creating things with your talent and technique.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[daninjt]

I am inclined to agree with Derek.

Seems to me you've got plenty to be happy about and grateful for. :)

So, why not get your priorities right and focus on the positives in your life.

As others have suggested, if the hobby part of your life is annoying you at the moment, do something else for a while. The enjoyment will return.

Cheers,

Dan

[bsrlee]

A big workshop - you lucky barsteward.

If you are getting the blues - and aren't the media trying to give everyone a good dose of depression - just do what has already been suggested - clean & grease up you tools and declare a holiday until you find that you feel better.

Indeed, you may well find that in a few months there will be some bargains around that you can afford - keep an eye on Greys Online for bulk auctions as well as the sell & swap column here.

[Buzza]

Take a break?

Yes!

Sell the lot?

NEVER!

I have had occassions over the years to put my chosen way of providing my income on hold. I never ever sold the tools of my trade because sooner or later, I wanted to do it again. My main tool is a 1968 job, and I still use it, and thank goodness I kept it, as it can never be replaced.

You like doing woodwork, but some other things are taking priority at the moment. That will soon pass my friend. I had babies, and then they became adults and gave me grand-babies, and they in turn are now growing too fast for me, and it all seems to have taken place in a very short time, to me at least.

Keep your equipment, and you will never regret it. :2tsup:

[rhancock]

There'll be many here who will object to me saying this, but many forumites here have the opportunity to make woodworking a major part of their lives. Like you, I have toddlers, 2 & 3 and the next one baking. I'm studying engineering full time (ie 5 days a week), I work two days a week, and I reserve the weekends to spend with my wife and kids. That doesn't leave much time, or money for woodwork. So, I savour the time I get to spend in the workshop. I celebrate the stuff I get to buy (here's (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=81789)my latest purchase!) and when I make something everyone's happy.

So I have to be realistic. I pick a job off the list, I work out how to find the materials, spending as little money as possible, and I work out how to use the tools I have to do the jobs I don't have tools for.

My daughter ( 3yo) waited more than 6 months for her play kitchen (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=74279) - that's a lifetime for a three year old, and to me it felt like a lifetime of me putting up with "Is my kitchen finished yet?". Tomorrow we start the next job - a cubby house. After that, something else.

So pick your next project. Work out what you want to make, write a list of materials. Write a list of tools you need to acquire or substitute. Start at the beginning and just keep going until its finished. Sometimes you'll only get ten minutes at a time, sometimes you'll get a hour. That's all you do. Sometimes it'll be quick, mostly it'll take months to do something - isn't that a good lesson to teach your kids? If you want it now, you get second hand chinese crap, if you wait, you get a solid piece of work made by your Dad, an heirloom to pass on to your kids.

Don't cut yourself up. You just have to be a good Dad, everything else is a bonus.

[missionaryman]

Thanks for the words people, it seems many have been there before and know where I'm coming from and I will take the advice of just putting everything away for a while and cooling off.

The thing that so frustrates me at the moment is this last project, everything just fell into place - almost every thing.
I originally made a toddler bed out of recycled Blackbutt with the intention of making the loft bed over the top when the baby got old enough for the toddler bed and the toddler got old enough for a single.
The plan was to buy all the wood when we moved house and set up the machines and build it, the bill was coming to about $800 for the necessary Blackbutt so I went looking for alternatives. To my surprise I found enough 4x4 Blackbutt & 6x2 Blackbutt to make the bed and change enough for a few big projects, it was rough sawn material I supplied to my sister back in my Boral days for a pergola she never built and in 4 years of sitting around at her place it air dried now ready for the thicknesser.

When we made the decision to buy the machinery I cut it all to approximate length and now it's just sitting there.
I only have a short amount of time before the toddler gets too old for the bed I made originally and now it's sitting in storage - months of hard work using dangerous crap tools and it's not going to be used. Cuts me up to think about it, the wife don't care she's happy with the chinese crap their in now.

Anyways I better stop my whining and thank you all for you kind words, we have a daughter on the way now and I had designed and planned a cot, change table, dresser and cupboard for her all out of red ironbark I scored off a building site - hopefully I'll get that made before she's 32.
Carbatec must have increased their prices in the last few days, the thicknesser I was going to buy has increased $500, the 8" jointer $100 - this is definitely not the right time for me.

[funkychicken]

I have a good tablesaw, a great SCMS, a big workshop and workbench

Poor Frippin Diddums! I have two lathes, a drill press and an scms. My workshop is a small (5 x 2.4m) area under the house. The floor is dirt and there's gaping holes in the outside wall.

You have a table saw and a big workshop, I'd do anything to get them. Consider yourself lucky.

On the flipside you kinda took the words right out of my mouth. Seems we're suffering from what I'm dubbing "Workshop Induced Depression" I'm sure Derek will concur that it's a serious condition..

[snapman007]

missonaryman, when your precious little daughter arrives everything you have been worrying about will seem so insignificant, especially if she's your first.
We've only got 1 little girl (2.5yrs, & i was scared s**tless coming from an all boy family) and our biggest complaint is that we can't afford to raise another child. I know what it feels like to be held back or feel that way. Enjoy being a new parent. In saying that, I've been cleaning out my garage tonight cause I've got a new table saw & dusty coming in the morning (tax deductions hopefully) but I need to sell the 2nd/3rd love of my life, my pimped up Benz. (Oh yeah all about me). Hang in there, don't be worried about having a girl, you'll be fine, tomorrow you'll have more time.
Just realised the table saw will be running when the young blokes come to take my daughter out. (delete this if it makes the news).....addsome icons:):D:D:2tsup::U:q

[missionaryman]

Did I mention that I have my own home made CNC too?

it really isn't so bad is it now.

[mic-d]

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodnews/2008january/chrisblack.html

[missionaryman]

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodnews/2008january/chrisblack.html

very good very relevant.

[RufflyRustic]

.......
it really isn't so bad is it now.

No, it's not anymore because you've talked the problem over with sympathetic and empathic people, we've heard you, we've understood and we've shared with you.

So no, :) it's not so bad now and that's great to hear.:2tsup:

cheers
Wendy

[snickas]

I can't afford a table saw at the moment and am resigned to the fact that i will have to resort to 100% handtools for the time being. Check out Derek's website, there's some great how-to's for jigs and all things unpowered in there, particularly the stuff on preparing boards without thicknesser's and shooting boards. Although, i guess Derek couldn't keep it as simple as the tools themselves... he had to throw a spanner in the works with that 30" plane. http://www.inthewoodshop.com/

Either way, i see it as a good way to properly develop my skills until i can afford to be lazy with machinery :doh:

My advice: keep the tools and wait until the baby stops breast feeding, then send SWMBO to work full-time while you stay at home to look after the kids, making sure they have regular lengthy naps :U Although that may not necessarily help your cash flow...

Oh and if you do decide to have a spit and sell everything then be sure to tell me first!! ;-)

[wheelinround]

Good to meet you last Sunday MM hope all is going well :2tsup:

[missionaryman]

My advice: keep the tools and wait until the baby stops breast feeding, then send SWMBO to work full-time while you stay at home

why wait, women keep carrying on about how they can do so many things at once...:D

[missionaryman]

Good to meet you last Sunday MM hope all is going well :2tsup:

thanks, it was good to meet you guys