50 Awesome Reasons to be a Woodworker

This is 50 Awesome Reasons to be a Woodworker. If you are a woodworker already, then you have a ton of reasons for loving the hobby. If you are brand new, or still thinking about getting into the craft, then these fifty reasons will help you make the decision.

Woodworking is Awesome

Talk to any woodworker out there and they will all tell you that they love their craft. Woodworking has been around for a very long time, and many great human beings have called themselves woodworkers throughout the centuries.

Being in good company, new woodworkers and old woodworkers alike enjoy being part of something that has such a rich tradition. Woodworking is a passion for making things from wood, and creating things with your own two hands.

There are a lot of reasons for liking the hobby, and there are also many benefits that the hobby brings into your life that you might not think about. Things like being resourceful, patient, and being able to research well can all come from a woodworking hobby.

You can become a better problem solver, make better use of your down time, and give amazing gifts to people you love that you might never have been able to afford. All of this can come from woodworking, and all you need to do is get started.

Hopefully these 50 awesome reasons will get you there. Enjoy.

• • You Get to Make Things With Your Hands

• • Making Gifts for Friends and Loved Ones

• • Fix Wooden Things in Your Home

• • It’s a Fun Hobby

• • Woodworking is a More Productive use of Down Time

• • It’s Free Exercise

• • You Learn Problem Solving Skills

• • You Learn How to Research Well

• • Woodworking Makes You a Thinker

• • Woodworking Makes You More Patient

• • Woodworking Teaches You About Safety

• • Wood is a Great Medium for Creation

• • Wood is a Renewable Resource

• • Wood is Light Weight and Easy to Work

• • Lots of Different Kinds of Wood to Learn About

• • You Can Make Nearly Anything After a While

• • You Can Make Things to Donate

• • Never Pay Full Price for a Project Again

• • You Can have a Shop in Nearly Any Space

• • You Don’t Need a Big Shop

• • The Tools are Not Expensive

• • The Materials are Not Expensive

• • There is Free Education Everywhere

• • You Can Find Classes Everywhere

• • Lots of People Share Woodworking Online

• • You Can Work in Any Climate

• • Woodworking Skills are Marketable

• • Setting up a Woodworking Business is Easy

• • Wood Crafts Sell very Well

• • Turn a Profit From Your Hobby

• • Feel Good About Helping Others

• • Enjoy Praise for Your Work

• • Woodworking is Easy to Learn

• • Woodworking Can Offer a Lifetime of Challenges

• • Wood Finishing is Easy to Learn

• • Wood Finishing can Offer a Lifetime of Challenges

• • A Few Major Tools are All You Need

• • You Can Use hand Tools to Save Money

• • Make Your Own Tools and Get a Double Win

• • The Shop Smells Amazing When You are Woodworking

• • You Can Make Practical Items for Yourself

• • You Can Teach Others About Your Craft

• • There are Clubs and Groups to Join

• • Woodworking is a Wide Field With Lots of Choices

• • You Can Change Your Focus and Learn New Projects Easily

• • Over Time Your Skill Set Will Grow and Adapt

• • Projects Overlap so the Learning Curve is Less

• • You Can Find the Stuff Second Hand

• • Woodworking is a Way to Relax

• • Woodworking Can Make You More Confident

• BONUS TIP – You’ll Never Know Unless You Start!

You Get to Make Things With Your Hands

Creating things with your own two hands is a pleasure, and a gift. There is something amazing about being able to use your mind and your body to produce work, and bring more into the world than what you started with.

Woodworking allows you the opportunity to make decisions, think, design, and change a pile of wood into something greater. The feeling you get from creating by hand is incredible, and it makes you fall in love with the craft very quickly.

If you have not made anything before, you can end up being hooked on your very first project. Once you see that you can produce something of value with your own hands, it will fill you with excitement. That excitement will be fuel for your next project, and the process repeats itself.

See Also: A Beginners Guide to Woodworking

Making Gifts for Friends and Loved Ones

One of the best parts in all of woodworking is being able to make things for your friends and loved ones.

Any time you make something, you give more of yourself than the total of the materials and parts. It’s a gift of your time, effort, and thoughtfulness.

Also, making things allows you to give more. When you make something, you curb the cost severely, because you don’t have to pay someone else to create it. In the case of a gift, you are only paying with your materials and your time.

This means you can give more, and better gifts than you may have been able to afford, and all because you know about woodworking. I do this every Christmas, and have made pens, wooden signs, bottle openers, and other projects for my family and friends.

It always looks like more than I should be giving, but since I made them, the pieces themselves are not expensive at all. Had I bought them, it would be a totally different story, and the price would have been a lot higher.

This is the benefit to being a woodworker. Once you know how to make something, the only thing you pay for is your materials and your time. The rest is all free, and you can give away great gifts because of your skills and talents.

See Also: Why a Wooden Ring is an Amazing Gift and How You Can Make One

Fix Wooden Things in Your Home

Woodworking has a very practical side to it that you sometimes don’t think about. While it’s fun to make things from wood, like pepper mills, tool boxes, and carvings, it’s also fun to fix your own cabinet trim. It’s a money saver too.

The skill of woodworking transfers to home maintenance and improvement very easily. If you need a piece of furniture, or you need to fix a wooden part on a cabinet or door, you will have the skills to do it.

Since you know how to make the repair or replace the piece yourself, you don’t have to spend money having a professional do it. This is often times a significant savings, because most people wont even come to your home for less than $100.

I have personally repaired door jambs, fixed trim molding, repaired a cabinet, and repaired drywall in my home. All of these skills came from woodworking. Even the drywall repair came from woodworking, which was a surprise even to me.

I never knew how to patch drywall, but I do know how to fill and level a defect in wood. Using the same principles, but different materials, I have been able to patch and repair drywall easily and quickly. Woodworking taught me the skills, and I just applied them to something else.

See Also: 9 Important Things to Put In Your Woodworking Notebook

It’s a Fun Hobby

Without a doubt, woodworking is a lot of fun. The tools are fun, the process is fun, and it’s fun to be in your shop making things with your hands. If you are looking for a fun hobby, then woodworking is it.

It’s a lot of fun to produce things. Whether this is a series of pens, cutting boards, custom instruments, or picture frames, the fun is in making them. Then, there is also fun in using them afterwards. In the case of an instrument, you really have fun.

Even the processes are fun. Cutting, drilling, sanding, and making things fit is fun. You get instant fulfillment along the way as you build your project, and it makes you feel like you are getting somewhere as you see the project develop.

It’s also fun to plan projects, and think about what you want to make. For example, planning a big project is a real blast. You get to think about how the big project will be made, how it will work, and how it will make your life better.

If you were to design and build a set of kitchen cabinets, you get to choose the style, the design, the wood species, and the finish. You get to create exactly what you want, without compromise, and for a much lower cost than buying new.

See Also: A Woodworking Notebook

Woodworking is a More Productive use of Down Time

We all have down time. Even the busiest among us have some time that we waste. Think about how much time you watch tv, and how much time you play on your phone. If you already do that at a minimum I applaud you. However, the average American spends several hours on those devices daily.

Instead of wasting your time on a device getting nowhere except to another level in the game you are playing, woodworking gives you a much more productive use of your time. Instead of wasting your precious time, invest it in woodworking and making things.

Even if you invested the time in learning about woodworking, you are still getting ahead. That knowledge is worth more than any game or tv show, and over time it will build. You will be able to make more things, and much more easily than before.

See Also: Does Woodworking Take a Long Time to Learn?

It’s Free Exercise

The act of woodworking burns calories. There is some lifting, moving, and muscle that you develop over time and through making many projects.

Sanding by hand is a huge calorie burner, and the same for using hand tools.

If you want to build a little lean muscle, and sweat a little too, then use hand tools for all of your projects. Even the best hand saw causes arm fatigue as you make multiple cuts, and you can use that to your advantage.

Most hobbies involve sitting down. Woodworking lets you stand more, move more, and as a result burn more calories. You are not going to get ripped or super lean being a woodworker, so don’t think of it as a weight loss program. However, you will be more healthy doing a standing and moving activity than a sitting and doing nothing activity.

See Also: The Myth That Woodworking Tools are Dangerous

You Learn Problem Solving Skills

Woodworking will teach you a lot of things over time. One of the most important is how to solve problems. As a beginner, you will make a lot of mistakes. How you recover from those mistakes will determine the success of your projects. This is where problem solving comes in.

As you stumble in the beginning, those mistakes will be golden opportunities to think more and solve your problems. You are not unique, and many woodworkers before you have made the same mistakes. This is a good thing.

Look online for answers to your problems, and also try figuring them out yourself. Try the techniques, and see how well they work. Each thing you do is just an attempt. Don’t think of things in terms of failure and success.

If one thing does not work, then try something else. If that doesn’t work, then try something else. Keep on repeating this and over time you will eventually solve any problem that you have, all due to your tenacity.

You will also learn how to visualize and solve problems before they happen. You will see things coming that you used to be blind sided by, and you will know what to do. These skills also transfer to other things in life, and you will become a better problem solver in general.

See Also: The Myth that You Need Lots of Tools to Get Started in Woodworking

You Learn How to Research Well

A big part of woodworking is researching. It’s not boring academic research like when you were in school.

It’s actually a lot more fun. For some people, this is the first time in their lives that they get to research something that they actually want to learn about.

Woodworking projects are exciting, but you need to learn the techniques, and the process before you can build them. This is where research comes in. For nearly any project in the world, you can spend time online and reading books and completely figure out the project before you even start.

Most projects start out as fun ideas. You will either see something you like, hear about something, or a person will show you something. When you see it, you decide immediately that you want to built it, and the researching begins.

Between buying a couple books, reading tutorials online, and watching YouTube videos, you can break down nearly any project in existence. Once you do, you understand the tools needed, the processes used, and how to make it all come together.

This will transfer over into other parts of your life too because the researching teaches you over time that you have the power to figure things out. After a few successful research driven builds, you will have the confidence to say that you can figure out anything with a smart phone and the internet.

This is what helped me replace my kitchen faucet. While not a crazy project for someone that knows that they are doing, I had absolutely no idea. Taking my researching knowledge from woodworking, I spent some time learning how to do it, and then I did it. Super easy, and all from my past successes in woodworking.

See Also: The Myth that it’s Expensive to Get Started in Woodworking

Woodworking Makes You a Thinker

There are times when you are going to have to sit back and think about your project, or your technique in order to make it work. You will encounter this more in the beginning of course, but it still happens to experienced woodworkers too.

When your project challenges you, it makes you think. Thinking, and figuring out what to do makes you a better woodworker. It also makes you a better thinker. This increased brain capacity makes you better in a number of things, and you will have woodworking to thank.

I know for myself that I can figure things out much better since learning woodworking. I think it goes back to the confidence thing again, but I just have this internal feeling that I can solve anything. When I have trouble, I just go out and solve it, and it always works.

See Also: 7 Easy Woodworking Joints for Beginners

Woodworking Makes You More Patient

In the beginning, you will learn about patience very quickly. If you never learn the lesson, you will learn about patience the entire time you are a woodworker.

Patience, and doing things right are huge in woodworking, and it will help you develop into a more patient person.

There are times in woodworking where you will not know things, and your inner voice will tell you to just rush ahead. This inner voice is scared, because you might have invested a bunch of time and now you have hit a wall and won’t be able to finish the project.

This little inner voice wants you to rush through, because it will feel safer after you are working on a step that is more understood. The problem is that when you rush, and lose your patience, you make more mistakes and cause more problems.

Instead of rushing, stop and calm down. You are not the first person with this problem, so go out and find the solution. When you know what to do, go back and pick up on the step where you left off. You will find that you actually get done faster, and with better results by taking it a little slower and having patience.

See Also: LED Shop Lights for a Safer Woodworking Shop

Woodworking Teaches You About Safety

Unless you have a job in a place with dangers present, you may not have had a lot of safety training. Woodworking offers you many opportunities to learn, because any tool that can cut wood can also cut right through your fingers.

It’s important to learn about safety from the standpoint of self preservation. In order to be a successful woodworker, you need your senses, your fingers, and your mind to be whole. Being safe is the way to prevent accidents that can ruin your chances of a safe career.

To start the process, begin with the users manuals for all of your tools. Look at the gear that they recommend, and start looking at it online. Pick out pieces that you will wear, and that are comfortable looking. Go into a store and buy the pieces you need, again going for comfort and protection when you make your choices.

The reason you want comfort as well as function, is because you will stop wearing the gear over time if it’s uncomfortable. You will, no matter how much you are exposing yourself to danger. Your brain will convince you that you will be fine, and you won’t wear the gear.

Instead, pick out nice gear, and actually wear it. Learn about safety from your manuals, watching videos online, and reading articles. Take it seriously before you become injured, and you increase the chances that you will never hurt yourself as a result of woodworking.

See Also: 13 Woodworking Ideas to Help Any Beginner

Wood is a Great Medium for Creation

Wood itself is an amazing medium for creation. It’s easy to work, it’s abundant, it’s available in many colors, and it’s beautiful.

For an artist, craftsman, or woodworker, the wood material you use is great for making your projects.

There are artists that use clay, marble, stone, and metal. Every possible medium in the world has been molded and formed to the will of humans, but wood has its own magic. Wood has been a material that has been used for thousands of years.

You are in great company when you are working wood. A very long time ago, wood was the only material soft enough to be worked by early humans, and yet strong enough to be worth making things from. This connects you to the past, and it should make you proud to be using the same material.

See Also: 13 Myths About Getting Into Woodworking

Wood is a Renewable Resource

Another great thing about wood is that it is a renewable resource. Now, there are some issues with cutting down whole forests and harvesting wood illegally. However, when you stick to the legal stuff, wood is a resource that comes back at a faster rate than other materials.

Also, there are programs in the world that ensure wood is harvested from ethical sources, and in ways that are compliant with local laws. Yes, there are wood poachers in the world, but these organizations go after and prosecute them.

Through the efforts of woodworkers, organizations, and the law, wood has never been more protected than it is now. This means you can be assured that in an overwhelmingly large number of cases, the wood you buy from a store is not the last on earth, and nothing that has caused extensive damage to any place on the planet.

See Also: 29 Ways to Maximize Your Woodworking Shop Layout

Wood is Light Weight and Easy to Work

One of the real attractions to working with wood specifically is the how it works. Wood is lighter than other materials, and it works much more easily than stone or metal.

This means you don’t need as tough of tools, and you can shape it more quickly.

As you create with any medium, you need to remove material, add material, and shape the overall look of the project. With wood, all of these process are easier. The light weight and soft nature of wood make it easy to work with, though the strength is still there as well.

Metal and stone are very strong, but wood is still strong as well. In fact, wood has a very high strength to weight ratio, meaning that for the weight of the piece, it’s very strong. Nearly everything in the world has been made from wood at some point, including air planes, buildings, and roller coasters.

The nice thing about a strong material that it also easy to shape is that you get the best of both worlds. The material is great for building because of the strength, and great for working because of the lower density.

See Also: 11 Great Ways to Find Woodworking Inspiration

Lots of Different Kinds of Wood to learn About

Woodworking is great because it gives you lots of opportunities to learn. One of the early opportunities is learning about wood in general. For those who are not woodworkers, it comes as a surprise to find that there is more than Oak an Pine in the world.

Wood comes naturally in nearly every color, and in many different densities. There are species of wood that are naturally red, green, white, and even purple. As you learn more and more about wood, you will find the beauty of nature inspiring.

There are so many beautiful types of wood in the world, and the global marketplace has brought it all to a hardwood store near you. However, if you don’t want to shop in a store, you can go online and you have even more access to wood from anywhere in the world.

The opportunities to try new types of wood, make a statement in your designs with wood choice, and build with wood that has traveled more of the world than you have are endless in woodworking. It’s a pleasure to discover, and even more fun to work with.

See Also: 15 Important Tips on Woodworking With Pallets

You Can Make Nearly Anything After a While

This can take a little time, but after a while you will find that you can make nearly anything you want with your woodworking skill set.

This comes after many different projects, and after acquiring several tools. When it does, you will be a very skilled and accomplished woodworker.

There will come a point where you stop buying things that you can make. It will happen even in instances where you haven’t made a project yet, but you can tell how it’s made and you know you can make it yourself. It’s a lot of fun at this point, because you are not stuck buying things you might not completely want.

Let’s say you see a cutting board with a nice drawer inside for the scraps. You could just buy it, but once you know some woodworking skills, you can just as easily make it. Also, if the wood color is not to your liking, you don’t have to sacrifice something for that cool little drawer.

Since you know how to make the project, now you have total control. Keep the parts of the build that you want to keep, and design replacements for the ones you don’t. You are the woodworker, and you are in charge.

See Also: Where to Take Woodworking Classes

You Can Make Things to Donate

If you love to give, woodworking is great for that too. There is nothing like a handmade gift, and there is also nothing like a handmade donation. Not only are you giving of your money, but you are also giving of your time, effort, and caring.

Most people are capable of saving a little and buying something to donate. While this is still a valiant and appreciated effort, making something is going above and beyond. When you make things yourself, you give yourself as well, and that can be felt in the final product.

The other nice thing about being a woodworker is that you can save a little money and actually donate more than if you were buying the items. For example, wooden pens are a great gift to ship overseas, and when you make them yourself you can save a ton over buying them.

Also, you can make custom things that perhaps are needed but are difficult to find or buy. As you earn more and more about woodworking, you may end up that you enjoy making toys for kids in hospitals, or pens for troops overseas.

Ether way you go, making things to donate is one of the most fun parts of woodworking, and it makes you feel good every time.

See Also: 15 Great Places to Get Woodworking Wood

Never Pay Full Price for a Project Again

Woodworking is great because it gives you the ability to make things for yourself that you might not otherwise have the ability to afford.

The biggest cost in nearly anything is the labor, so when you do the labor yourself, you save money.

For example, if you are a guitar player and you want a really nice guitar, it can cost several thousand dollars. However, for less than 1/5 of the price, you can make the same guitar yourself in your shop.

In this type of arrangement, you are getting the labor for free, because you are doing all of the work yourself. The parts and the wood are really the only expense, and even these can be found inexpensively if you look around.

Having learned to make guitars a long time ago, I cannot think of any situation where I would ever buy another guitar ever again. Any time I want a guitar of a certain style or wood type, I can make it without spending all the money.

It does take some time, but since I have the skills myself I think it’s a waste of money to buy a guitar. You can do the same thing for your particular type of woodworking, or simply with anything you have the tools to make.

See Also: Where to Buy Woodworking Tools

You Can have a Shop in Nearly Any Space

Another great thing about woodworking is that you can set up a shop in nearly any space that you have available. This can be the garage, a back porch, or even inside a bedroom. The practice itself does not require a big area to get started.

For most woodworkers, the garage is the first place that ends up becoming a woodworking shop, and for a lot of great reasons. The garage is an open area, it can get dirty, and you have a large open access through the roll up door.

Garages are ideal for a lot of reasons, but you may need to look into cooling and heating it for the months of the year that are really hot or cold. They can also be a little cramped depending on how much other stuff you have in there, but they are still better than nothing.

See Also: Woodworking in Small Spaces

You Don’t Need a Big Shop

As a new woodworker, you definitely don’t need a big shop. You can do quite a bit with only a small space, and there are woodworkers in this world that are making more with less.

Don’t worry about the space, worry about the work.

There are people that work at their kitchen tables, cleaning up after every single session. There are also people that work on their back porch, and under an awning in the yard. The space is meaningless to a determined woodworker.

If you are really tight on space, try to pick up a smaller project to start with. You can make wooden jewelry, rings, small carvings, chess pieces, chess boards, and many others. These are all great introductions to woodworking too.

Don’t be worried that small size means small skill level. In many cases, the exact opposite is true and you actually may need more skill to execute smaller projects. Over time, your space will improve, and as it does, you can shoot for large projects.

See Also: How to Choose a Woodworking Project

The Tools are Not Expensive

Though some of the woodworking tools that you can buy are on the expensive side, in general the tools are not that expensive. Also, you have a lot of options for tools both in the style and the price range. This makes woodworking easy to get into.

There is a high and a low end of everything. You can spend a fortune on tools if that’s the way you want to go. However, with a little bit of looking around, and some deal finding, you can get into a nice set of tools without spending a lot of money.

Also, the type of tools that you buy make a difference. For example, hand tools are in general less expensive than power tools. While they will take a little longer to master and use, they are still a very good option.

You can also delay the expense of a shop full of tools by getting them in stages. You can start off with a couple main tools, and then branch into others that make the job easier. Over time, and through many tool purchases, you will end up with a nice shop full of tools.

The tools are important, but your determination to make great looking projects is your best tool, and it’s free. This is one of the best parts about woodworking. A good woodworker can still produce good work with average tools.

In contrast, a woodworker that does not have drive or passion won’t be able to make anything of quality even with the best tools. Be your own best tool, and it will make up for any perceived short comings in your physical tools.

See Also: What Tools do I Need to Get Started Woodworking?

The Materials are Not Expensive

Wood is an abundant resource that comes in many colors and looks. You can find wood that is beautiful in every price range, and make awesome projects.

If you want to be frugal, there are options. Also, if you want to spend some money, there are options too.

When compared to other materials, wood is not very expensive. You can work your whole life and never need a really high end piece. However, if you do, even the most expensive wood is still not bad, and you can typically get smaller pieces that meet your needs for less.

Your project type will dictate the wood to some extent, but unless you are in a rare case where very specific woods needs to be used, then you still have a lot of options. Even in some restricted projects, like making instruments, there are fewer options but options nevertheless.

A tobacco pipe maker for example is pretty restricted, because Briar is the main species used for the craft. However, there are pipe makers that use Olive, Cherry, and a type of bog wood called Morta. Even though it’s far less types of wood than you can use to make a cutting board, there are still choices.

See Also: Printable Woodworking Tips Cards

There is Free Education Everywhere

One of my favorite things about woodworking is that there is free education everywhere. The internet is loaded with tutorials, videos, tips, and ideas. You could spend a thousand lifetimes and still have more to see on the internet.

If you are serious about getting into woodworking, then you need to start your search online. You are already in one good place, but there are more. Find the aspect of woodworking that interests you the most, and start reading and watching videos.

While there is no short cut on spending time in the shop, you can make your experience more familiar with some academic learning beforehand. Every time you watch a video, read a tutorial, or see the process being performed, it makes you better.

Simply understanding the process, what comes next, and what to avoid will make your shop time that more productive. The more you know, the less you will be surprised, and the better your projects will turn out.

The best part, it the overwhelming majority of the education is free. The internet is loaded with helpful woodworkers that want to see you succeed as well. Take advantage of their knowledge and you can compress years into weeks simply by following their lead.

If you start with someone successful, and learn from them, you literally can take their years of experience and shorter your ramp up time significantly. Instead of struggling for years like they did, you get to jump ahead and skip a lot of the mistakes.

Find people to follow and allow them to be your online mentors. Read their websites, watch their videos, and absorb everything you can. Over time, and through constant study, you will learn the things that they know, and your journey to the same place they are will be much shorter.

See Also: 52 Great Woodworking Tips for Beginners

You Can Find Classes Everywhere

If self study is not your thing, there are woodworking classes everywhere. Most wood stores, and most tool stores have classes. Just pop in and ask for a schedule.

These are the most common places, but there are others as well.

Several colleges offer woodworking programs, and they teach both the practical and the artistic side of the trade. If you live in an area with a college nearby, see if they offer any courses and they can be a good way to start your learning.

Also, you can find classes online. These range in price from free to paid, and they are hosted by woodworkers who want to share their knowledge. They cover lots of topics, so find something that you want to learn about and you can sign up to learn.

The beauty of a class is that you can ask real people questions. In a self study environment, you will need to figure out everything yourself. This can be a little tough for some, but asking someone in person makes it easier.

Depending on your style of learning, starts with the self study and if you need more of a boost go to the classes and see if that helps. You might also see if you have any friends that are woodworkers, and they can answer questions for you as well.

See Also: Woodworking Tips and Quick Learning

Lots of People Share Woodworking Online

The internet is loaded with woodworkers, and that’s awesome. These are some of the most interesting and creative people that you will ever meet, and they really like to share what they know online.

The internet has given everyone a voice, and thankfully there are people out there that enjoy sharing positive and educational things. The woodworking community has been long known for posting tutorials, videos, and helpful posts to make it easier for new woodworkers.

If you are new, and you run into a problem, don’t worry. You are not the first person to encounter this issue, and you are also likely to find the answer online. This is a nice relief, because you can find answers when you need them to keep moving forward.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Measure Twice

You Can Work in Any Climate

Whether cold or hot, damp or dry, woodworking is possible in any climate. There are ways to control temperature and humidity, and if you need to control something extreme, you can.

Wood is forgiving, and your geography should not limit your ability.

If you work in a really damp place, you should think about running a dehumidifier in order to keep the wood in a constant humidity. Really wet places can cause wood to swell, which changes the size.

In contrast, really dry places cause wood to shrink as it lets out moisture. None of these are good on a finished project, but there are ways that you will learn over time to control for the seasonal changes in wooden projects.

Either way, don’t let your surroundings dictate whether or not you decide to become a woodworker. It works anywhere you do.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Card – Make Your Passion

Woodworking Skills are Marketable

Another great thing about being a woodworker is that your skills are a commodity. This is not like learning other hobbies that are purely entertainment. You can take your woodworking skills on the road and actually get a job with them.

One of the best jobs I ever has was for a large furniture company where I repaired and refinished wooden furniture. Being a woodworker already, the skills that I learned repairing furniture were very influential on my process as a whole.

The pay was good, and over time I ended up becoming the trainer, and I would get to teach the new techs all about repairing furniture. The job itself was easy, rewarding, and you got to learn something new every day.

As a woodworker, you will have the ability to do more than others without the skill. In nearly every warehouse or facility, there is a need for people that can do things with their hands. Since you can use tools, you can be more helpful than someone that can’t.

You can also most likely use other tools that you are not as familiar with, simply because you have the woodworking background. There are repair jobs, building maintenance jobs, and many more that are happy to have a woodworker on board.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Clamp and Sand

Setting up a Woodworking Business is Easy

The great thing about setting up a woodworking business is that it’s easy. With your woodworking skills, you can easily turn that into a small business where you make and sell your wooden creations.

The easy part is the setup, the rest requires work. You are not guaranteed to become an overnight woodworking mogul, but you can turn what you make into sellable items quickly and easily with a few sessions in the shop.

The first step is to think about what you can sell, and look at others who are selling things successfully. Then, pick out a product to make. Come up with a way to make it your own, and then make them.

In the beginning, you can use social media, friends, and other easy methods of marketing to share that you have wooden items to sell. Over time, you can develop a following, and also develop a customer base.

If it turns out that you do well with a woodworking business, you may end up selling in fairs, shows, and other places that people gather. It’s all up to you, and since you can make the projects yourself, you save significant money over others that have to buy the same product.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Test With Cheap Wood

Wood Crafts Sell Very Well

One category in woodworking that tends to do very well is wooden crafts. There is a love for wood among most people, and the smaller crafts that are priced low enough that anyone can buy them tend to do well.

These items include, candle holders, cutting boards, wooden pens, coasters, napkin rings, frames, and clocks. All of these projects are relatively simple to make, and they are not very difficult to sell.

There are also wooden signs. These can vary a lot in shape and detail, but the main function is that they are a piece of wall hanging art that has a message. The message can be numerous, faith based, or informational. Quotes are big, and the wall art they make is popular.

If you are thinking about getting into making wall art, then you should also think about getting a Silhouette Cameo, which is a machine that cuts out paper designs. It also cuts adhesive backed vinyl, which means you can make your lettering really easily.

On the signs that I make, my wife designs and cuts the lettering, and then transfers it to the wooden bases. Once transferred, I spray a coat of lacquer to help seal the wood and to some lesser effect trap the vinyl letters.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Don’t Rush Your Project

Turn a Profit From Your Hobby

The golden situation in any hobby is when you can turn a profit. Most hobbies are money pits, where you throw countless dollars into the hole and never get them back.

Woodworking can be very different if you want it to be.

Even if you were to make enough by selling your wooden crafts and projects to break even, you will still be far ahead of other hobbyists that never sell anything. It’s about getting yourself out there, and trying. You don’t know what you can do until you try it out.

Woodworking is a production hobby, which is why it lends itself to being a profitable hobby so easily. Other hobbies like Golf, Racing, or Shooting are consumption hobbies, where you need to pay in order to do them.

Woodworking inherently produces goods, which you can then sell. This is why it’s easier to turn woodworking into a profitable hobby.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Take a Class

Feel Good About Helping Others

When you can make things from wood, you end up finding a lot of ways that you can help people you know with things around the house. There are a lot of people that know nothing about woodworking, some they end up paying for things that you would not.

For example, I had a friend that was about to pay someone $75 to fix a broken cabinet door in his nice kitchen. When I asked to take a look at the door, I found that it was a simple hinge issue, and something that was very easy to fix.

When I asked for a screw driver, he reluctantly told me that he didn’t own any tools. I was shocked that the guy didn’t even have a screw driver, but that’s one of the reasons repair companies are in business.

Some people just don’t know how to fix things, and they are willing to pay someone else. This is a golden opportunity for you if you are handy, and you know some woodworking. Once I went to my car and grabbed a screwdriver, I was able to fix the door and he was able to cancel the appointment.

If you really like helping people out, or you enjoy helping your friends out, woodworking is a great way to do that. There are always instances where making things, using tools, and designing or building becomes necessary. Thanks to woodworking, you will know how to do all of those things.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Mass Produce Your Work

Enjoy Praise for Your Work

It’s a lot of fun to hear from a person that you did great work. When someone holds one of your creations, and just gushes over it, the feeling is amazing.

Since most people never make anything with their hands, woodworking is a powerful process to lots of people.

If you enjoy making things and showing your work, maybe think about woodworking and also think about doing a gallery of your projects. There are many wood artists in the world, and they do just that.

Woodworking does not always have to be practical. It can be very artistic, and wood can still be the medium. If you have an eye for art, and you are looking for a new way to create your work, then try some wood and see if it inspires you.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Woodworking Safety

Woodworking is Easy to Learn

The real beauty in woodworking is that it’s easy to learn. Woodworking is also deceptive. While it’s easy to learn in the beginning, there is a lifetime of challenges coming your way if you want to pursue the craft deep enough.

Most tools and techniques on the surface are pretty straight forward. Cut this, sand that, drill holes, repeat. You can pick up the skills pretty quickly, and it does not take long to get a good hang of the tasks.

However, once you get past the initial hump, there is a whole mountain ahead…if you choose to climb it. This is why woodworking is so amazing. If you only want to get the basics, you can do that and still be really successful.

If you want to do more, there is always more to discover. I don’t care what kind of woodworking you do, and how far you think you have gone, you can always go farther, and you can always challenge yourself. It’s all up to you.

In the beginning, you can easily pick up the skills, and that’s the important part. there is no long ramp up period, and you won’t have to wait years to be successful. That’s one of the awesome parts of woodworking.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Restore a Workbench

Woodworking Can Offer a Lifetime of Challenges

Woodworking will offer your challenges as long as you want them. This is part of the beauty, and part of the reason that people stick with woodworking their entire lives.

Woodworking is always there too give you something fresh, you just have to look for it.

For example, the lathe is one of the most popular woodworking tools. It’s fun, easy to learn, and just about anyone can afford one. The other nice thing about a lathe is that in an afternoon you can start making pens, small bowls, and more.

The hidden component of lathe work is that you can literally spend your entire life learning more and more about it without ever hitting the end. There are so many things you can make on a lathe, and the techniques are countless.

You can spend a long time making vessels, and then discover segmented turning and end up spending even more years doing that. Then you discover another technique, and you end up doing that for a long time. The process repeats over and over, and you never reach the end.

Don’t think about not reaching the end as something frustrating. It’s more satisfying than anything, because you know that you will never wear out the tool. You will never reach a point where you have done everything and you are finished. It’s always going to be there, and it’s always going to offer a challenge when you need it to.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Make Something For a Child

Wood Finishing is Easy to Learn

A key component of woodworking is wood finishing. You really can’t have one without the other, but thankfully it’s easy to learn. There are a lot of options, and you can always find something that will work in your shop.

There are hand applied finishes, spray on finishes, old finishes and new finishes. It’s a huge world to choose from, but it’s still easy at the beginning levels. All you need is a little practice and you can be up and running quickly.

The best time to practice is in the beginning. While you are learning about woodworking, you can learn about finishing too. This way, by the time you are done with your first couple projects and they need a finish, you will have an idea about what to do.

This is much better than waiting until the end. If you do that, you run the rick of just applying something quickly without understanding how it works. When you do that, you can ruin your project right at the end. Instead, start learning easy wood finishing in the beginning.

See Also: 10 Step Guide to Wood Finishing

Wood Finishing Can Offer a Lifetime of Challenges

Wood finishing is a lot like woodworking in the challenge aspect. In the beginning, the basics are super easy to pick up.

However, if you want to, you can delve deep into finishing and probably never make it to the bottom.

There are so many kinds of finishes. There are also finish recipes, ancient finishes, handmade finishes, and layered finishes that you can learn. It’s fun to learn about glazing, toning, staining, and clear coats too, and you can spend your whole life doing it.

If you want to get into a hobby that will provide you a long life of entertainment and challenge, then woodworking and wood finishing are the way to go. It’s easy in the beginning, but the challenge is there as long as you want it to be.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Bigger Tools

A Few Major Tools are All You Need

It’s a myth that you need a ton of tools in the beginning to be a woodworker. In fact, the fewer tools you have at first the better. Obviously you need the basics for your particular project, but too many tools can cause a problem.

When you are new, you will struggle a little with your tools. It’s just part of the learning process. If you run out and but a new tool every time you struggle, you will never really get to learn the full abilities of the tools you have.

Instead, start out with a few tools, and make them specific to your project. Start with what you need, and nothing else. Also, understand that your ideal minimum tool set and the actual minimum tool set are probably not the same.

While you might want certain things to be the minimum, you can often times do just as well with less expensive and typically non powered tools. It may not be ideal, but it will show you a great appreciation for your power tools once you do get them.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Test Fit Your Miters

You Can Use Hand Tools to Save Money

Another way to get into woodworking without spending a ton of money is by using hand tools instead of power tools. It’s a great reason to be a woodworker too, because you can use hand tools and spend a lot less.

There are also woodworkers that use nothing but hand tools by choice. These unplugged woodworkers reach back to a time when tools were made better, worked better, and hardly made a sound. It’s peaceful, and closer to the actual project than using power tools.

If this sounds like your kind of woodworking, then you are in luck. There are a lot of great resource online and in books, and you can get started with only a few basic tools. The work does take a little longer sometimes, but you can still make excellent projects.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards &- Laminated Wood

Make Your Own Tools and Get a Double Win

Another thing that is great about woodworking is that you can make your own tools. You can actually make a lot of tools from wood, and they work amazingly well. In fact, they actually work better than store bought tools because you made them.

When you make something, you understand it inside and out. You know how it works at such a deep level, and this is a huge benefit. Instead of struggling, your understanding allows you to learn faster, and develop your skills better.

There is also something to be said about you making the tool. You tend to give things more patience when you put effort into them. A store bought hand plane has no attachment value to you when compared to the hand plane you made.

You will give that hand plane a lot more patience and practice. It’s yours, and you made it with your own two hands. It will work well, and your feelings towards the tool will help you spend the time you need to learn how to use it well.

Once you use a tool you make yourself, you will understand.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Finding Cheap Wood

The Shop Smells Amazing When You are Woodworking

Depending on the types of wood that you use, your shop will smell amazing.

It’s one of the smaller things about being a woodworker, but it’s one of those fun little parts that makes the entire experience even better.

Rosewood in particular, Briar, Olive Wood, and other species can full your shop with an aroma that you will never forget. Koa is another great one. Working with exotic woods can fill the shop with a truly pleasant and memory creating aroma.

While great smells in the shop are one of the small pleasures of woodworking, you do need to be careful of allergies. Some kids of wood cause allergic reactions in people and until you know how you will react, it’s best to wear protection from floating dust and debris.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Try Building it First

You Can Make Practical Items for Yourself

It’s fun to be self reliant. Woodworking can help you do just that. As you learn more and more about woodworking, you will find that you can make things for yourself. This makes you more self reliant, and it also saves you money.

If you need something that is made from wood, you can easily make it yourself. In most cases, you can also make it for far less money than buying it from a store. You get a double win because you learn more about woodworking, and save money in the process.

This is also great for home repairs, making tools, and making smaller wooden items and furniture. Any time you make something yourself, you not only expand your list of things you can make, but you also teach yourself that you can do more for yourself than you might think.

See Also: Understanding Wood Finishing

You Can Teach Others About Your Craft

One of the most fun parts of woodworking is paying it forward. This is where I am in my career, and it’s a great pleasure to see others find success in woodworking.

It doesn’t take long either, and you will get to share your knowledge with the world.

After you make a few projects, you can start sharing them with others online. You can also share in person if you have the opportunity. It’s a lot of fun, and you can enrich the world of woodworking by making it a little bigger.

Also, you are going to benefit from others who are doing the same thing in the beginning. It only makes sense that you in turn share with others and elevate them. Even in the beginning, you can share your work online, and you may just inspire someone else to get into woodworking.

See Also: The Best Time to Learn About Wood Finishing as a Beginner

There are Clubs and Groups to Join

In woodworking, there are a lot of clubs that you can join. There are organizations of all kinds, and they deal in overall woodworking, as well as very specific aspects. These are awesome, because you can stay broad, or you can niche down and get specific.

Most of the bigger organizations focus on woodworking in general. These are the bigger national clubs, and some larger regional clubs. They all have their own schedules, and you can find them on their websites. You should definitely take a look, because it can be helpful.

The smaller groups may not have as many members, but that’s ok. What they do have is very specific interests. This is a huge win, because you can learn a lot about one aspect of woodworking. Sometimes, starting narrow is the best. From there, you can branch out.

See Also: 9 Unbelievable Wood Finishing Myths for Beginners

Woodworking is a Wide Field With Lots of Choices

One of the most awesome things about woodworking is that there are just so many different things that can be called woodworking. There are many projects, many techniques, and many disciplines.

It’s just a gigantic field.

The benefits to you, the new woodworker are many. First, since there are so many different projects, you are sure to find one that you like. Second, since there are many techniques, if you don’t like something, there are still hundreds of other processes.

For example, you may not like wood carving, but you may love case work. You may enjoy making instruments, but not doing inlay work. Your tastes will come into play, but woodworking will be there for you as you decide what you want to do.

See Also: Wood Finishing Tips Cards – Finishing Kids Toys

Change Your Focus and Learn New Projects Easily

The beauty in woodworking is that the hobby builds upon itself. The skills you learn in one aspect of woodworking are not lost when you migrate to another. You may not take them all with you, but you do get to take the majority with you.

If you start making small boxes, and then decide you want to make cabinets. Great job! Now, your skills of making joints, sanding, planning, modeling, and gluing all transfer to something a little larger. Your tools may change a little, but it will be easier to learn the second project.

The first of anything is the real challenge. After that, you have a much easier time. In the cabinet making example above, you will have to learn a few new things, but maybe only about 25% more than you already know.

The knowledge from the first project is retained, and carries over to the second. All you are really doing anyway is making bigger boxes. The knowledge from making small boxes carries right over, and you are really close to making good looking cabinets.

See Also: Wood Finishing Tips – Cloth Finishing Pads

Over Time Your Skill Set Will Grow and Adapt

As you learn new projects, you will learn new skills. These skills will build, and they will also grow into others. The nature of woodworking is making frequent projects. It’s also in changing projects as you develop other interests.

It will happen to you one day, and suddenly you will notice that making pens is not nearly as fun as making pepper mills. Next thing you know, you have been making pepper mills for weeks and haven’t made a single pen.

That’s part of woodworking and it’s ok. As you go through changes like this over the years, you skill set grows. It adapts to the kind of woodworking that you do, and it gets better. You will not notice as much of it while it’s happening, but it will be huge once you build up enough.

See Also: Wood Finishing Tips Cards – Close to the Wood Finishing

Projects Overlap so the Learning Curve is Less

The overlap in projects was touched on briefly already, but the real beauty is that you can move around in woodworking without a huge burden. In other hobbies, you may have to learn something totally new, or start over.

In woodworking, this is not the case. That’s awesome for a lot of reasons, the main couple being time and money. When you have to get new toys, and learn new things every time, your cost can go up quickly.

Thankfully, most tools for woodworking can be used in nearly any aspect of woodworking. There are a few exceptions like very specialized tools, but most beginners will not have anything like that just yet.

The tools are great because they work for many different projects. You save the money buying new tools, and you save the time learning them. Over time, you will be able to make nearly anything with your tools and skills, because it all builds upon itself.

See Also: Wood Finishing Tips Cards – Oil Finishes

You Can Find the Stuff Second Hand

Second hand tools are a huge bargain. This is because other than a layer of dust and a few miles on the tool, a well kept used tool is about as good as a new tool. There are even ways that the used tool can be better.

For example, have you ever bought something and had it die on you right away? Usually if something is going to fail, it will do so early in use. A new tool has a chance of dying right away from being defective.

In contrast, a used tool has gone beyond that period, and if it were defective it would have shown that side already. As long as the tool is well kept, and in good condition, being used is not a factor.

Another great reason to buy used tools is that you can save money. Getting into woodworking can be expensive is you don’t do it right. Take your time. Look for deals. Buy the tools that make sense, and don’t think you need everything right away.

See Also: Wood Finishing Tips Cards & – Apply Thin Coats

Woodworking is a Way to Relax

A reason that many people love woodworking is that it is relaxing. There is something calming about going out into the shop. It may be the sounds. It may be the smells. Whatever it is, the act of woodworking is very calming.

If you have a stressful job, or are high stress in general, woodworking can calm you. If you really like that you are doing, it can be a huge break from the world. Make sure to do one thing for yourself, and it will always be a break.

If you are taking on woodworking to reduce stress, then don’t give yourself deadlines. When you have deadlines, and production goals, woodworking becomes work. That will only add to your stress level. Instead, enjoy woodworking for a purely recreational activity.

See Also: Wood Finishing Tips Cards – How To Choose a Finish

Woodworking Can Make You More Confident

Another awesome thing about woodworking is that it can make you a more confident person. The act of solving problems, recovering from mistakes, and researching things online can be a huge confidence booster.

These things all teach you that you can solve your own problems. Solving a woodworking problem teaches you to solve others. For example, you may need to patch a hole in drywall, and you have never done that before. Knowing how to research from woodworking will help you.

Another example is solving problems. When you design pieces on paper, you need to solve a lot of problems. That can help you other times you need to fit things together, or plan out a space. The confidence that you can do it yourself is the biggest difference. Sometimes, just thinking you will win going into the game is the difference that makes you win.

See Also: Wood Finishing Tips Cards – Use Fresh Product

BONUS TIP – You’ll Never Know Unless You Start!

The one thing stopping you from being a woodworker is starting. Once you start, you are officially a woodworker. There is no test, no secret handshake, nothing but you getting started. That’s all you need, and hopefully you have a lot less worry after reading all these reasons why you should start.

Once you get going, you will have a great time learning everything about the craft. The learning process itself is a lot of fun, and you get to make things at the same time. You will become more educated, and more resourceful too.

Don’t wait. Get started now in the awesome field of woodworking. You will never know until you try it out, so don’t waste anymore time.

See Also: A Beginners Guide to Woodworking

Your Homework

There you have it. 50 Amazingly Awesome Reasons to be a Woodworker. After reading through all of these reasons, you have to be dying to make some sawdust by now. Your homework for this post is really simple. Just start.

No matter what you are doing, or where you are…start. This can be as simple as buying a wooden project kit. You can even pick up a basic woodworking book and start there. Anything you do counts.

Start the process, and get yourself off the fence and into woodworking. If you like books, get on Amazon and buy one. Find a project you like, and start reading. The quicker you allow yourself to take a chance, the faster you will fall in love with woodworking.

If you have any questions on 50 Awesome Reasons to be A Woodworker, please Post a Question in the Q&A Forum and I’ll be glad to help. Happy building.

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