Questions on making woodworking connections

Hello All!! I have a question about woodworking connections.  My daughter LOVES working with wood, her favorite class in HS was wood shop.  She wanted to become a shop teacher.  But the college where we used to lived cut out the program.  Since she has wanted to get back into it, but we can't seem to find any groups or individuals or community programs that support this interest.

We are in WA state and I would love to surprise her with some good news that I found something to hone her skills (she made some amazing items in HS, but hasn't had the ability to work with or use wood or tools since).  If there are any ideas, thoughts or suggestions I can share with her, it would be greatly appreciated.

As of right now, I can't seem to even find some kind of apprenticeships.  I may not be asking the right questions or looking in the right places.  But she is unemployed due to layoff and would love to get back into woodworking if she can.   Thanks for any insight or suggestions!!  --Tess

I've read about the woodworking scene in the Northwest with Gary Rogowski being one of the legends. He teaches near Portland. Not Washington, but you're a lot closer than me. This is his school.

https://northwestwoodworking.com/

If she reads, I've got a great collection to get started with. I like hand tools and taught myself through books. Plus, hand tools are much cheaper. I've got a well stocked shop now, but didn't start that way.

Tess,

I would hire her for a month or two if you were closer, as my woodworker disappeared. I have a lot of serious projects, all machinery and material.

If you have only a small space (garage, basement, or shed) to spare, just buy a few tools, second-hand, one at a time.
Then, with inspiration from online videos (do you know the scrapwood challenges by Pask Makes?), she can improve day by day.


In many towns there are also community workshops, where you can use the tools for a small fee. And it is always great to learn from each other

Mac Johnson wrote:I've read about the woodworking scene in the Northwest with Gary Rogowski being one of the legends. He teaches near Portland. Not Washington, but you're a lot closer than me. This is his school.

https://northwestwoodworking.com/

Mac, thank you!!  I will check this out and send it along to my daughter.  --Tess

hans muster wrote:If you have only a small space (garage, basement, or shed) to spare, just buy a few tools, second-hand, one at a time.
Then, with inspiration from online videos (do you know the scrapwood challenges by Pask Makes?), she can improve day by day.

In many towns there are also community workshops, where you can use the tools for a small fee. And it is always great to learn from each other

Hans, I will show her this video and help her to reach out to the community. I'm sure there has to be something in our area.  It's finding it!!   --Tess

Cristobal Cristo wrote:Tess,

I would hire her for a month or two if you were closer, as my woodworker disappeared. I have a lot of serious projects, all machinery and material.

Cristobal, thank you for the thought!  I know that even over distance, we all have a way to connect & share in some way.  Just your thoughts & support are encouragement!!    --Tess

My suggestion is to just be very open-minded.

I say that because where I live you might not find classes on how to make kitchen cabinets but there are multiple schools on how to build small wooden boats. She might find out she LOVES working on boats, and even if not, the boatbuilding skills I learned when I built yachts carried over into skills I used last week to build new kitchen cabinets. There is a great carry-over with woodworking skills.

But if not boats, what about wooden toys, or what I specialized in… wooden models.

Another great area to look is with Adult Education Courses through your local high school. Years ago I could not make the class on making hand cutting dovetails due to my schedule, but I could with the beginning woodworker course. Because it had the same instructor, I asked him if he would teach me to cut hand cut dovetails… he taught the whole class and some had never picked up a chisel before in their lives! So be very flexible and you might find something for her. And… do not miss this either, she could TEACH adult education too so the dream of hers may not be as dead as she thought!

Also consider woodworking kits that you can buy. You can buy wooden models on Amazon to build wooden truck models… or anything else for that matter, or if the idea of small boats appeal to her, have her check out the kits available at Chesapeake Light Craft. Kits works good because they often cost relatively little money to buy, but take a long time to do… perfect for someone who is currently unemployed! And when she is done, she has an incredible kayak to float around in. I think Cape Falcon is located in Washington state and the cost of wood to build a skin-on-frame kayak is something like $350 and takes a few weeks to build. They also have boat building classes…

And keep in mind currently there is a 425,000 carpenter shortage in this country. There was never a greater time to be a skilled woodworker…

In the meantime, has she considered being a substitute teacher? My daughter is 19, going to college but does substitute teaching on the side as it pays well, the need is great, and only takes having a high school diploma.

Here is a picture of my daughter's train cradle/toy box. At the time I worked for the railroad. The first was of the cradle and all the compartments closed, and the next is of them all opened.

Woodworking is just plain awesome!

I'd start by searching for a "folk school" or "makerspace" in my area and read up on what they offer. Those two phrases might get you started if you don't already know them.

The SKIP program has a whole set of badges for dimensional woodworking There are a bunch of fun projects and your daughter could prove her skills. In the past Paul has invited people to teach at SKIP events once they have accrued a certain number of Badge Bits. So maybe she could teach woodworking at one of those someday.

There is a pathway for people to teach at Washington's career and technical high schools. All you need is a couple years of experience in a given career. I believe you can get hired, and then earn your teaching certificate as you teach. That is how my Dad taught at a Skills Center for 30 years.

Down here in Vancouver, WA we have Friends of the Carpenter which teaches woodworking to homeless people and others.

Steve Zoma wrote:My suggestion is to just be very open-minded.

I say that because where I live you might not find classes on how to make kitchen cabinets but there are multiple schools on how to build small wooden boats. She might find out she LOVES working on boats, and even if not, the boatbuilding skills I learned when I built yachts carried over into skills I used last week to build new kitchen cabinets. There is a great carry-over with woodworking skills.

But if not boats, what about wooden toys, or what I specialized in… wooden models.

Another great area to look is with Adult Education Courses through your local high school. Years ago I could not make the class on making hand cutting dovetails due to my schedule, but I could with the beginning woodworker course. Because it had the same instructor, I asked him if he would teach me to cut hand cut dovetails… he taught the whole class and some had never picked up a chisel before in their lives! So be very flexible and you might find something for her. And… do not miss this either, she could TEACH adult education too so the dream of hers may not be as dead as she thought!

Also consider woodworking kits that you can buy. You can buy wooden models on Amazon to build wooden truck models… or anything else for that matter, or if the idea of small boats appeal to her, have her check out the kits available at Chesapeake Light Craft. Kits works good because they often cost relatively little money to buy, but take a long time to do… perfect for someone who is currently unemployed! And when she is done, she has an incredible kayak to float around in. I think Cape Falcon is located in Washington state and the cost of wood to build a skin-on-frame kayak is something like $350 and takes a few weeks to build. They also have boat building classes…

And keep in mind currently there is a 425,000 carpenter shortage in this country. There was never a greater time to be a skilled woodworker…

In the meantime, has she considered being a substitute teacher? My daughter is 19, going to college but does substitute teaching on the side as it pays well, the need is great, and only takes having a high school diploma.

Here is a picture of my daughter's train cradle/toy box. At the time I worked for the railroad. The first was of the cradle and all the compartments closed, and the next is of them all opened.

Woodworking is just plain awesome!

Steve, this is AMAZING!!!  I will definitely share all of this with her.  Thank you so much!!!   --Tess

Jeremy VanGelder wrote:The SKIP program has a whole set of badges for dimensional woodworking There are a bunch of fun projects and your daughter could prove her skills. In the past Paul has invited people to teach at SKIP events once they have accrued a certain number of Badge Bits. So maybe she could teach woodworking at one of those someday.

There is a pathway for people to teach at Washington's career and technical high schools. All you need is a couple years of experience in a given career. I believe you can get hired, and then earn your teaching certificate as you teach. That is how my Dad taught at a Skills Center for 30 years.

Down here in Vancouver, WA we have Friends of the Carpenter which teaches woodworking to homeless people and others.

Jeremy, I will share this info as well with her!!  SO much knowledge among this wonderful group of people here on Permies.  Appreciated more than you can know!  --Tess

Hi Tess,
Some would say that woodworking has  been to many, contemplative, intriguing and relaxing, maybe most of all a creative outlet.
Many people including myself prefer hand tools to power tools for most woodworking tasks,  with hand tools you can feel the wood responding to the tool much more than with power equipment. Plus there is the sound of a plane shaving and a saw cutting that is enjoyable.
Liken to hand tools I'll keep my recommendation simple. A couple of books that can be picked up online (quite reasonably) and really explain the world of hand tool usage and early woodworking techniques and projects.

1. THE COMPLETE BOOK OF WOODWORKING, by Charles h Hayward.
2. EARLY AMERICAN FURNITURE YOU CAN BUILD,
By  Fawcett books.

These have been my go-to woodworking books for many many years, the book by Charles Hayward my grandmother bought me when I was 12 years old.
Really got me hooked!!
Happy woodworking!!!

Rich Rayburn wrote:


1. THE COMPLETE BOOK OF WOODWORKING, by Charles h Hayward.
2. EARLY AMERICAN FURNITURE YOU CAN BUILD,
By  Fawcett books.

Just a small correction, Rich. The book by Hayward is The Complete Book of Woodwork.

I wouldn't have said anything but I wanted to add it to my library after you mentioned it. Adding the "-ING" got me another book published much more recently. Even when including Hayward in the search terms. The Lost Art Press has a collection of Hayward's writing compiled and published in a series of books.