Dharma66
New member
Hi.
I feel like a bit of an imposter..
I'm a long way from any kind of wood worker!
What I have done recently, though, is pit together an electric guitar from parts. The body came with the basic shape, and I did some final shaping with a surform and rasp and sand paper. I then prepared it for a lacquer finish, which is in it's 6 week hardening phase right now.
Whilst doing this I realised just how satisfying it is to work with wood. At school, I did a few months of hacking at. It's of some hardwood with chisels, under the terrifying but somewhat disinterested scrutiny of Mr English, and since then, 35 years ago, till now, the must I've done is plane an eighth of an inch off the bottom of the living room door.
But now I have the bug, and for my next guitar project, I want to start from blanks, and ultimately build something with a through neck.
This means I need to learn how to use more than just sand paper!
I'm also thinking I might be better to start small and do some general woodworking projects that I can mess up gloriously without then having to weep over the waste of some large lumps of exotic hardwood.
And so here I am. I have a half decent bench, and that's about it. I'm reading through "The Foundations of Better Woodworking" by Jeff Miller, and am generally on the lookout for absolute beginners tips and advice.
I'm in the Manchester area, and if anyone knows where in this area (or on weekend courses maybe) I can get some direct tuition in the absolute basics (sharpening tools, holding chisels and planes, workshop safety, that kind of level), then I'd love to hear about it! I reckon a few hours on those basics could save me a great deal of time, money and fingers in the long run
I feel like a bit of an imposter..
I'm a long way from any kind of wood worker!
What I have done recently, though, is pit together an electric guitar from parts. The body came with the basic shape, and I did some final shaping with a surform and rasp and sand paper. I then prepared it for a lacquer finish, which is in it's 6 week hardening phase right now.
Whilst doing this I realised just how satisfying it is to work with wood. At school, I did a few months of hacking at. It's of some hardwood with chisels, under the terrifying but somewhat disinterested scrutiny of Mr English, and since then, 35 years ago, till now, the must I've done is plane an eighth of an inch off the bottom of the living room door.
But now I have the bug, and for my next guitar project, I want to start from blanks, and ultimately build something with a through neck.
This means I need to learn how to use more than just sand paper!
I'm also thinking I might be better to start small and do some general woodworking projects that I can mess up gloriously without then having to weep over the waste of some large lumps of exotic hardwood.
And so here I am. I have a half decent bench, and that's about it. I'm reading through "The Foundations of Better Woodworking" by Jeff Miller, and am generally on the lookout for absolute beginners tips and advice.
I'm in the Manchester area, and if anyone knows where in this area (or on weekend courses maybe) I can get some direct tuition in the absolute basics (sharpening tools, holding chisels and planes, workshop safety, that kind of level), then I'd love to hear about it! I reckon a few hours on those basics could save me a great deal of time, money and fingers in the long run
