This post looks really clean.

August 12, 2020 8:01 AM

How to Fake an Interest in Woodworking
posted by curious nu (17 comments total)

(there is a bit of juvenile crudity about halfway through, but otherwise it's.. just woodworking)

(also technically a promo video but the drive is over! so cut off at the 18:35 point if you don't want that!)
posted by curious nu at 8:08 AM on August 12, 2020

Is there nothing those McElroy boys can't do?
posted by hanov3r at 10:35 AM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Other questions to ask:

What kind of stain and/or finish did you use?

Did you plane this by hand? (Best to ask if you already know that the answer is yes)

You should sell these! Have you thought about starting a business?
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 11:07 AM on August 12, 2020 [7 favorites]

I was looking into taking hand woodworking classes before this whole COVID thing happened because I wanted to construct a little shelf for the plants that lived on my work desk. Unfortunately, woodworking classes and my work desk are both things that, for the time being, no longer exist.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 11:17 AM on August 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

My adult niece's new SO is a woodworker. His "thing" is making handcrafted wooden spoons as gifts, which is such a great, simple idea that almost everyone can appreciate. We got one made of walnut with a 90 degree corner on one side and it's fantastic.
posted by SoberHighland at 11:35 AM on August 12, 2020 [5 favorites]

Spoons and other small utensils are an emerging trend (in a good way!) representing a resurgence in interest in "green" woodworking, or whittling and carving freshly cut, non-dried wood. The video didn't really touch on this movement, which generally doesn't use joinery at all, unless the woodworker has advanced to making chairs or something.

The video also misses the whole hand woodwork movement, which dispenses with the router, tablesaw and random orbit sander in favor of, well, hand tools. This has also gained lots of traction in recent years. The tools are (well, can be) cheaper, they require less space, and they reflect the reality that amateurs are doing something more for the joy of it rather than trying to be as efficient as possible. Big cabinetry projects are rarely cost-effective anymore, since factory-made cabinets are generally cheaper than the prices consumers pay for materials to make them. Small projects more suited to hand tool work on the other hand can be made from scraps and salvaged wood.
posted by St. Oops at 12:05 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

alternative title: "Justin McElroy has never met a lesbian"
posted by FirstMateKate at 12:05 PM on August 12, 2020 [3 favorites]

He's putting these on his instagram as well. I always laugh at the intro text he uses for each post: "I am repurposing this Instagram account to focus entirely on my lifelong obsession with woodworking which began in late May. "
posted by PussKillian at 1:04 PM on August 12, 2020 [4 favorites]

evidenceofabsence: Unfortunately, woodworking classes and my work desk are both things that, for the time being, no longer exist.

The Youtube is a wealth of knowledge. Get a chisel and a backsaw and look up Paul Sellers and you should be on your way.

I will say that it's suspicious how this video turns into him talking about everything he's learned about woodworking since May...
posted by clawsoon at 1:04 PM on August 12, 2020 [4 favorites]

(This playlist looks even better if you're just getting started.)
posted by clawsoon at 1:10 PM on August 12, 2020

I turned it off after 30 seconds but later decided to give it another try. I'm glad I did. I expected it to be more jokey and not serious but it was actually mostly good advice.

I think, though, if someone said "that must have been a pain to sand" I would know they were faking it. Everything is a pain to sand and sanding is probably the least interesting thing to talk about with a woodworker. I might instead suggest "what grit did you sand that to?" because a lot of woodworkers would be proud to brag about the maximum grits they use.

I love the advice of saying "that looks really clean." That would be everything to me, unless I knew it wasn't actually very clean.

When the COVID is over I hope to take a spoon making class. I took a power carving workshop where we used planing bits on angle grinders to do most of the work but I'd really like to learn to do them with only a knife. That's a special skill.

I guess mostly I would say don't fake it, ask genuine questions you're curious about. And don't tell them they should do it for a living.
posted by bondcliff at 1:14 PM on August 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

I guess mostly I would say don't fake it, ask genuine questions you're curious about.

Yeah, it gives a jokey premise but I honestly learned some interesting things from watching it. I don't know when I'll be able to, y'know, USE any of these questions anytime soon, but still!
posted by curious nu at 1:49 PM on August 12, 2020

My adult niece's new SO is a woodworker. His "thing" is making handcrafted wooden spoons as gifts, which is such a great, simple idea that almost everyone can appreciate.

I'm more into building things with wood than woodworking but I've already decided that this year I'm going to make a bunch of oven push/pull sticks and bread lames to give as Christmas gifts.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:34 PM on August 12, 2020

I don’t mind sanding.*



*My stuff gets like two passes, at most, 120 and 200 grit. That’s it. If I want something as smooth as plastic I’ll buy that shit from a pro. Nobody has time for that much sanding.
posted by oddman at 2:43 PM on August 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

I enjoyed this! I like that it was less of a goof than you might expect from the title and from McElrovian content; I dig that Justin's been just genuinely getting into woodworking and is in that spot of knowing enough to know what would land well for him in conversation.

I've never done woodworking of any quality (I made a small shelf/mirror in middle school shop class, and a few years ago hacked together a tank of a painting easel from 2x4s, and that's about the upper end of my achievements) but my dad has some woodworking chops and if he had the time and the shop for it I think he'd probably do more of it.

I have thought more than once about dipping my toe in, getting a table saw and a couple other things and building some stuff, but it never wins out over other art pursuits so it's still a "probably some day" thing. It'd be nice if that day comes along when I can have Dad over to dork around and show me the ropes; maybe if he retires for real at some point that'll be the thing that puts it in motion.
posted by cortex at 8:15 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Hah, good timing. I recently turned 40 and suddenly developed an interest in woodworking. These two facts may or may not be related. Of course, I don't have anything to show for it yet apart from credit card bills from tool purchases because TURNS OUT this shit ain't cheap if you want to actually get anything done to any kind of fine woodworking standard and with any sort of convenience.

Anyhow, I'm already struggling mightily to not become the annoying dude who yammers on about woodworking to every person he meets, given any opportunity. On the plus side, the wife now has a permanent answer to what I want for my birthday! (Clamps. It's clamps. It'll always be clamps.)

Now, back to trying to reach that guy that's been ghosting me for days after initially showing interest in me buying his DeWalt table saw from the Finnish equivalent of Craigslist...
posted by jklaiho at 12:25 AM on August 13, 2020

My Cousin worked on a firefighting ship in the port of Jubail as a Chief Engineer. As a lot of time was just spent sitting around waiting for a fire, him and a lot of the crew got into wood carving. He wanted to gift me his set of tools as he was going for a better set. I, like the idiot teenager that I was, turned him down. Ever since then I have always wanted to be a Fake Woodcarver.

Which is why George Costanza is my spirit animal. I have also wanted to be a Fake Architect or a Fake Marine Biologist too. But I have fulfilled those dreams. I got a 1 year membership for the Chicago Architecture Foundation and went on ALL their walks and talks and can now very easily Fake Architect. I also volunteer at the Shedd Aquarium and do a credible Fake Marine Biologist too. Which is why it bothers me still that I did not accept my Cousin's gift.
posted by indianbadger1 at 9:21 AM on August 14, 2020