Last weekend, I went over to a local friend’s place to drop some stuff off. “Local” is kind of a misnomer since he lives about 80 miles away, but I was happy to make the drive. He’s got a YouTube woodworking channel, which I admit, I used to watch a lot of, but of late, I’ve really fallen off. Why? That’s coming up in a second.
Cephus' Corner
A Place for my Geeky Side
Tag Archives: woodworking
I Hate CNC
This is a personal thing, granted, but you can’t go 2 videos on YouTube anymore without seeing someone doing the simplest tasks with a CNC.
I hate CNC. The whole reason I’m working with wood is because I want to use my hands. I spend all of my days working on a computer and woodworking is one way to get away from that. I want to actually craft the wood into something worthwhile.
Screw the CNC.
Safety Isn’t a Suggestion!
I was thinking about this recently, but a couple of years ago, I thought that I should do my part and support YouTube channels that practiced proper safety protocols in woodworking and I almost immediately realized that if I did that, 95%+ of them would have to go away. Hardly anyone uses blade guards on YouTube. Half the channels don’t use pushsticks. I’ve seen channels that purposely removed the guards from their jointers, which is one of the stupidest things ever because if you touch that, you don’t just lose a finger that can be reattached, you produce hamburger, which can’t.
Why are people so stupid? I don’t know!
Never Ask for Advice
The cycle continues, sadly. Once it became clear that I wasn’t going to get the miter saw that I wanted, since they are out of stock at every store within a 100+ mile radius, I started looking for other options. I know what I need. I need a 12″ saw, I need a short-throw sliding mechanism so it can be pushed against the wall in my existing miter saw station and I know I want either a laser or an LED shadow. Three simple things. What could be easier?
It never works out that way though, does it?
Is Everyone Stupid Now?
It’s hard to find anyone but idiots out in the world right now. I just ordered a brand new miter saw off of Amazon. It wasn’t cheap, although it was on sale. It also wasn’t ludicrously expensive, to be fair. I had looked at higher end saws, like the Bosch, and it doesn’t come with the laser that I wanted. Therefore, I had tried to buy it at Lowes but they were out of stock. I got on Amazon, I paid for it, I waited and when I received it, they had sent the wrong saw. It wasn’t even close.
Now they want to argue with me about the return. Screw these people!
When Egos Collide
This has to do with woodworking, although it can certainly apply to lots of other things. Someone posted on Reddit, complaining that whenever he uploads a project, people will criticize him. He even admits his faults, his joints are loose, his boards have gaps, etc. No, what he wants people to do is be less critical.
Not only no, but hell no. That’s not how this works.
I’ve Realized a Few Things…
Over the past week or so, I’ve been out in the shop, trying to get it back together. I haven’t had time to do much woodworking in quite some time and now, I want to. That’s meant sweeping up, tuning machines and deciding what I want to do.
Yet today, I realized something. I really have no reason to do anything. That’s kind of a disturbing thought.
Here’s an Unpopular Woodworking Opinion
A recent post on Reddit brought this to the fore once again. It isn’t remotely uncommon if you just keep your eyes out, but it is something that really needs to be said.
Maybe you’re just not at a point in your life where woodworking is something you ought to be doing. That’s something guaranteed to make a lot of people mad.
When Did YouTube Woodworkers Stop Doing Woodworking?
Okay, stop me if you’ve heard this before but it seems like the vast majority of YouTube woodworking channels have entirely stopped doing woodworking. At least, that’s true of all of the ones that I watched. Now, it’s on to home improvement projects, metalworking and the like and I’m just sitting here wondering what the hell happened?
So would someone please explain?
Nobody Cares. Work Harder!
I ran across a sign in the background on a woodworking video that said “Nobody Cares. Work Harder!” Just because I think it’s a pretty cool channel, go check out Shara Woodshop Diaries over on YouTube, but that’s not really what I’m getting at.
The simple fact is, no matter what you’re doing, it’s not about getting attention, it’s about doing your best. I’m mainly going to talk about it in relation to writing, but it’s just as applicable in everything else.
