How did you get started? (not paddling)

[Guest]

Not started in paddling, but in other creative design & build passions?

Robin in wood & canvas restorations, Sweeper’s very cool barrel stave and hoop creations, Alan in carbon fiber advances, Rippy in knife building and others who have shared their inventive or inspired creations. Boatman, Sailsman, Strpperguy, Latremorej, Pblanc, Mihun, Jim, Iskweo and everyone else; y’all make some really nice stuff with evident craftsmanship.

I’d love to hear about how folks got started and maybe look back at mistakes learned from those initial attempts and experiments.

 

[Muskrat]

I'll bite. I jump around a lot. Distilling, photomicrography, lamp making, canoes, boat design, etc. Next up is scientific glass blowing. I made a compass the other day. Maybe that's up next instead. I'll get into something and I want the best, but I can't really afford it, so I decide I'll make it myself. I then exhaustively research it and annoy my girlfriend who couldnt care less. Then I usally end up spending way more than it would have cost anyway and I end up with an inferior product. So I do it until I get good at it and then move onto something else. At my day job I'm a horticultural scientist/pretend to be a chemist. Lucky for me I get to work on short varied projects all the time. It's all about the learning and experimentation.

As to mistakes, I should have never started posting here. It's wonderfully consuming to get to see what everyone here is working on, but I need to get some other stuff done.

 

[Rippy]

As I recall I have always had a passion for the outdoors. When I was a very young child I used to roam in forested areas and pretend that I was an explorer. I had a cheap sheath knife that was too dull to really be useful to me. One day I was trying to chop some branches to make a small lean-to, but the crappy knife just wouldn't get the job done. Frustrated with tears in my eyes I sat down against an old stump. I must have fell asleep because when I woke up I seemed to be under ground in a work shop of some sort. There were bearded dwarfs making all sorts of cutlery and sharpening it as well. They showed me how to make a nice sheath knife and how to maintain the edge properly. I learned that you needed to start with good quality materials and take as much time as it takes to do a good job. When we were finished with the lessons they led me back out through a hole behind the stump I had rested against. I asked "how can I thank you?". They simply replied "pay it forward". Though I have returned to that place many times as an adult, I have never been able to find the opening since that day.

 

[Mihun09]

As I recall I have always had a passion for the outdoors. When I was a very young child I used to roam in forested areas and pretend that I was an explorer. I had a cheap sheath knife that was too dull to really be useful to me. One day I was trying to chop some branches to make a small lean-to, but the crappy knife just wouldn't get the job done. Frustrated with tears in my eyes I sat down against an old stump. I must have fell asleep because when I woke up I seemed to be under ground in a work shop of some sort. There were bearded dwarfs making all sorts of cutlery and sharpening it as well. They showed me how to make a nice sheath knife and how to maintain the edge properly. I learned that you needed to start with good quality materials and take as much time as it takes to do a good job. When we were finished with the lessons they led me back out through a hole behind the stump I had rested against. I asked "how can I thank you?". They simply replied "pay it forward". Though I have returned to that place many times as an adult, I have never been able to find the opening since that day.

Umm, that explains alot.

 

[memaquay]

As I recall I have always had a passion for the outdoors. When I was a very young child I used to roam in forested areas and pretend that I was an explorer. I had a cheap sheath knife that was too dull to really be useful to me. One day I was trying to chop some branches to make a small lean-to, but the crappy knife just wouldn't get the job done. Frustrated with tears in my eyes I sat down against an old stump. I must have fell asleep because when I woke up I seemed to be under ground in a work shop of some sort. There were bearded dwarfs making all sorts of cutlery and sharpening it as well. They showed me how to make a nice sheath knife and how to maintain the edge properly. I learned that you needed to start with good quality materials and take as much time as it takes to do a good job. When we were finished with the lessons they led me back out through a hole behind the stump I had rested against. I asked "how can I thank you?". They simply replied "pay it forward". Though I have returned to that place many times as an adult, I have never been able to find the opening since that day.

You, sir, win the internet today.

 

[sweeper]

So that explains the user name Mr. Van Winkle

I had been retired from the postal service for about 2 1/2 years when I got a call from a friend telling me about this guy who's build chairs out of barrels. The women he had working for him hit a parked train, yes alcohol was involved, another employee was out with an infected finger from a splinter and he had a huge craft show coming up. I walked into the shop and fell in love with the work. I told him I was looking for a 40 hour a week job just a couple days a week that has ended up with lots of unpaid, for now, creative work at home. I trying to train the other workers to build the piece I've stolen from the internets, and a few originals, so I can stay home and make new pieces.

 

[Rippy]

You, sir, win the internet today.

Thank you Mem. My life's story should have thoroughly explained why I chose to do the fundraiser.

 

[Mihun09]

Well, born with artistic abilities, 3 of 4 kids have it as does Father. The same 3 of us got into the family business (signs) after finishing high school (art class, water colours and drawing) and that is where I learned screen printing, air brush work, hand lettering, vinyl graphics, spray painting, sand blasting and more. Stayed in the industry 22 years so was able to learn more graphics stuff through that.

1992 I designed and built my own home. I love drafting. I learned framing, plumbing, drywall, roofing, electrical, etc through building that house. I have done home reno work part time over the course of the years as well.

At that time I was doing a lot of pencil drawing and that migrated into wood relief carving which I did for about 6 years. After moving to Manitoba in 2009 the wilderness tripping started happening as did the canoes. First up was rebuilding a 18 foot Jensen designed Souris River canoe we bought for tripping which needed all new woodwork then Christy brought home a 1950's Bastien Bros Huron which was my first effort and then the stripper the following year and it has snowballed since then. Not sure how long the canoe thing will last, at least until I get the present set of boats done although I don't have anything else that is interesting me beyond that. I have designed my new shop but I need a scale ruler so I can get down to drawing that out.

As for mistakes, or lessons learned. It would seem that when I didn't know what I was doing I did better work. If I have a need to do something I just do it, buy a book, do whatever and just go ahead and learn it. I've been asked how it is I can do so many different things and I just have to say I like to learn new things, do it myself and see where it goes. Worst part now it would seem is I lack patience to do things better, now it is good enough in most cases which bothers me and I am working on changing that.

My entire life I have worked with my hands and mind. Need something done, just do it, figure it out as I go. I've been mostly in manufacturing my entire life, which explains why I'm still poor, lol. So now I wire lighting systems and control panels for the world leading company in controlled environments (Conviron) for Agriculture and other Industry. It is boring, repetitive work which is why my hobbies are so important. We don't have television here, we have projects to fill our spare time which is also why a heated shop was necessary to pass the long Winters.

Life is best spent learning and using what you create from that learning.

 

[Muskrat]

Cool Mihun. We have four Conviron chambers in our lab. Three walk in and a reach in. Those are some daunting control panels. I don't think I've ever seen so many wires crammed into one panel.

 

[Mihun09]

Cool Mihun. We have four Conviron chambers in our lab. Three walk in and a reach in. Those are some daunting control panels. I don't think I've ever seen so many wires crammed into one panel.

I do the Walk In control panels and lighting systems. The panel I am working on presently is a pretty standard 28x84 inch one for China that will take about 60 hours to build and wire.

 

[Rippy]

Good write up Karin.

 

[Alan Gage]

I wouldn't call myself a creative person. I think I'm too practical for that. I also was not born with an affinity for building or fixing things. In fact I was quite terrible at it. It wasn't until much later in life I realized the reason I was bad at it originally was because I didn't really have a strong desire to learn it. One of the best things about the way I am is that if something grabs my interest I can become fully absorbed and very quickly learn how to do it. One of the worst things about the way I am is that if something doesn't grab my interest I couldn't learn to do it well to save my life.

I should have been a natural mechanic since my grandfather and father are both quasi-mechanical geniuses and I grew up working in my father's shop. But I stuck to the office and didn't really start working on cars until I was about 17. Because when I turned 16 I got a car and soon decided I needed a car stereo. That grabbed my interest and got me into electricity. That was a direct tie-in to newer computerized vehicles vehicles so I dove in head first and spent about 8 years completely absorbed in advanced electrical/computer diagnostics. I got the point I was quite competent and was teaching some basic training classes at 25 years old.

At the same time I bought my first house and tried my hand at doing some remodeling. Adding a doorway between two rooms turned into tearing out the whole wall because I made a mess of the job. Then tore up the whole floor, reinforced the sagging floor joists, tore out a good portion of the ceiling, rebuilt the wall, and re-sheetrocked. This was about a 5 year project and was pretty much a disaster from start to finish. I didn't have a clue what I was doing and it showed.

Fast forward many years and I bought a piece of really nice property with a really crapty trailer house on it. After living in the crap-hole for a few years I decided I was going to build myself a new house. Heck, might as well design it while I was at it. And since I can't do anything the easy way I think I'll make a super-insulated house and build it different that anyone else around here does. But this time construction was the thing holding my interest so the entire winter was spent learning and designing. And when I say learning I mean starting with the absolute basics like, "what's a header?".

I started tearing down the old house piece by piece before the frost was out and salvaged all the material I could to reuse it. Other than hiring the septic done, having the footings dug and the slab poured I did the entire job myself. There are about a dozen nails/screws in this house that I didn't put in myself and that's from when I got a couple friends to help set trusses and they tacked their end in place. By November that year I moved in and then decided I hadn't worked hard enough so I'd build my own kitchen cabinets too. Setup shop in my cramped old shed where I installed my old woodstove that was able to keep the inside temperature 20 degrees higher than ambient. Thankfully we had a pretty mild winter since I couldn't work effectively when the shop temp was 40 degrees or colder.

The house and cabinets both turned out great. It was as real revelation for me, I was no longer a complete failure when it came to building things! I stuck with construction/cabinet thing for a while working on my dad's rental houses and was only a couple weeks away from going into the cabinet business when things suddenly changed at the auto shop and I left the shop and moved into the office (I'm tired of working on cars now). Then came building canoes but you guys pretty much know about that already.

Fun thread Mike, thanks for starting it. Very interesting to read the different replies.

Front of the house by Alan, on Flickr

Evening by Alan, on Flickr

It's gone...almost by Alan, on Flickr

Almost there? by Alan, on Flickr

20110617_001 copy_web by Alan, on Flickr

20110716_001 copy_web by Alan, on Flickr

20111219_002 copy_web by Alan, on Flickr

20111011_004 copy_web by Alan, on Flickr

Alan

 

[Mihun09]

Big overhang on the roof there. Now I need to scan some old photo's of what I built. Ha.

My 25 acres had an existing block foundation for a house that never came to be. By the time I was building, code had a minimum 1250sq ft floor space so I moved the one wall back 2 feet and added an addition for master bedroom on the back that brought it up to 1390 plus the full basement with ground level walk in. Detached 2 car garage too. 900 sq ft of elevated deck. I subbed out the septic system, foundation walls, poured floors in the basement and garage, plumbing and heating. It was fun, and I would love to do it again, but I doubt my shoulders would stand up to driving 250 pounds of nails again. If I actually get a scale ruler and draw my new shop out, I'll share.

 

[Guest]

If I actually get a scale ruler and draw my new shop out, I'll share.

I don’t know what program Alan used for his home drawing above, but there are several easy to use architectural programs available.

When we put on our home and shop addition I used an inexpensive program (3D Home Architect) that was well worth the $50 cost. I tweaked and diddled with walls and closets, doorways and windows until I had everything exactly where I wanted it in terms getting of the most useful and usable square footage for the buck.

That $50 program probably saved me thousands, but more importantly it allowed me to view what I was planning to build and what would happen if I moved this wall from here to there, repositioned that doorway, added another window. Interior views, exterior views, even furniture placement and a materials list.

 

[Mihun09]

I understand the comparable ease of architectural programs, once you get the hang of them, but I still like to draw with pencil and paper, it is more gratifying for me to do. I'm somewhat stubborn about the old ways of doing things and it keeps me drawing.

Fur instance... I use Lightroom 5 for digital photo editing. It has many, many functions I have no idea how to use since once I figured out how to do the little I want to do, the rest holds no interest for me. If I ever get a GoPro or shoot video with my DSLR, then I can wander into that side of Lightroom or use PSPX8.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Great stories ! I see an underling theme here. Heredity.
My story would put nearly everyone to sleep ! But a love for the outdoors, especially water, has guided me along the way. I learned canoe building from others, and I love sharing it.

Looking back on mistakes ? Not buying a winning Lottery ticket, is my biggest. But really I'm pretty happy with my life, and the knowledge I can build another canoe !

Great thread ! I'm now not surprised how fast Alan can build a canoe ! And Good ones at that !!

Jim

 

[Alan Gage]

When we put on our home and shop addition I used an inexpensive program (3D Home Architect) that was well worth the $50 cost. I tweaked and diddled with walls and closets, doorways and windows until I had everything exactly where I wanted it in terms getting of the most useful and usable square footage for the buck.

That $50 program probably saved me thousands, but more importantly it allowed me to view what I was planning to build and what would happen if I moved this wall from here to there, repositioned that doorway, added another window. Interior views, exterior views, even furniture placement and a materials list.

I used Chief Architect. I think the version I bought was a couple hundred bucks but at the time I figured that would be a mere drop in the bucket and that it had the potential to save me much more money than it cost. I was right on both counts. There are tons of fancy things it's able to do that I'm clueless about but that's fine. Simply drawing walls, doorways, windows, etc. is super easy. Like you said the nicest thing is being able to actually see what the rooms are going to look like. The 3D renderings are just a click of a button and you can choose any 'camera' angle you want. This really helped me see how traffic would flow through areas and also let me check for line of site. How well can I see out that window from my table? Also made it very easy to rearrange furniture or walls to try different layouts.

Early on in the designing stage I did it all on graph paper and probably went through 75 or more sheets. I'm glad I started that way and I learned a lot but there were things I thought looked good on paper that immediately looked wrong when I saw them rendered on the screen. No doubt some people see things better on a two dimensional page but for me I need that third dimension and more lifelike look.

I also used it when designing my shop but not as intensely since it's just a big rectangle with no interior walls. What I did was create shapes the sizes of all my shop equipment, lumber racks, benches, dust collector, car, etc. and then I could easily place them wherever I wanted to see what the best workflow would be, what shop dimensions would work best, and where the best door placements were. Again this could be done on paper too, and I did, but the software sure makes it easy.

Alan

 

[Robin]

I have always been a DIY'er I rarely ever got help from Pro's around the house and prefered not to get into having friends help me either. My wife and I bought this house we live in about 8 years ago, a nice place but it really needed alot of work, which was the only reason we coul afford it. Hardwood floors, new kitchen, new windows, landscaping etc.
I wanted a barn and built one myself when I retired 5 years ago. Like Allan, I did everything except the rafters, I hired a local kid (58yo) to help me. I even cut alot of the poles and girts but also used store bought lumber.

When the local concrete guy came around I didn't like his attitude, so I learned to do it myself. It shows, but it's a barn and I saved quite a bit doing it on my own.

I really enjoy the satisfaction of doing it myself, from canoes to homeownership to tripping. It keeps me busy, lots of rewards and a great feeling when I get done. Sometimes the "getting done" takes me a while, but .....

 

[stripperguy]

A lot of similar stories here...

I was always good with mechanical stuff. I also had very little in the way of material possessions when I was growing up. This combo led to me becoming the neighborhood fixit kid, building bicycles from scrap parts, lacing wheels, doing home maintenance, all to get either a few dollars, or to get something material.
At age 14, I worked as a masons helper for the building season. I learned much. The next building season, I worked for the mason's brother, doing house framing and general construction, I learned even more. I saved my money as best I could (I had to buy my own clothes, food, etc).
I bought a motorcycle, worked on all of my friends bikes that raced.
By the time I was 18, I was hired at GE, in their apprentice program. Because of my grades, GE paid for my degree. Along the way, the future MDB and I bought a 4 acre plot and planned to build a house. I did the design, we did all the construction except for the masonry. I was completing my toolmaker apprenticeship, getting my degree through part time classes, building our house, and then we MDB and I got married...she was 20 and I was 21 years old.
Soon after, I built the first stripper with a buddy of mine. Following year came my first stripper, and obviously, I've never stopped. A few more years and we sold the house (no mortgage, BTW, all built out of pocket) and bought our current home. We quickly removed the upper walls and roof, and converted from a cape cod to a center hall colonial.
As I continued my education I worked as a toolmaker, modelmaker, technician and designer. After 16 years at a death spiraling high tech R & D firm (MTI) I joined my business partners and formed MITI. We became the recognized world leader in Foil Bearing technology. While working as a design engineer and heading the lab and shop, MDB and I began acquiring rental properties. We also bought, repaired, and sold for profit a few houses. Eventually, I had to choose between the high tech world and the rental property world.
It was an easy choice--continue working 55 hours per week as a design engineer or work 160 hours per year and earn twice the income with the rentals.
So now I'm semi retired, working only on our rental properties...and building boats, Jeeps, motorcycles, camping, hiking, skiing, sailing, paddling, bicycling and a few other activities.

 

[snapper]

You folks blow me away. I feel fortunate that I can carve spoons . I will say this though, you all give me confidence to try some new things. Hopefully this spring I'll begin bringing an old tandem canoe back into floating/paddling shape so I can hand it off to my daughter, son-in-law & grandsons so we can get out more.

That's it for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper