She who cuts no wood, builds few walls. - Ancient Remodeling Proverb
I’ll let you in on a secret. Imaginary studies show that 88.5% of people comfortable with the use of a Table Saw (capitalized out of respect) were also comfortable with tackling major home improvement projects on their own! 88.5%!!!!
Last week, I wrote about reinventing yourself and saving money in the process. I also mentioned some major changes that real studies say are taking place in the American people. Changes like a desire to be “in” the remodeling process. Changes like tighter finances. Changes like the way we want our homes to “tell our story” rather than mimic someone else’s.
But what if you have the desire, but not the experience or skills? Where should you start to learn? One option is to just jump in and start. Learn along the way. So what if the kitchen is in the garage for two six months! The crazy bunch goes this way.
But what about for the slightly less insane? How do those with more than 30% of the normal dose of caution go about learning? Is there a school? An online course? (I’m sure there are those…)
Learn To Work With Wood
The web is full of resources on “how-to” do just about everything. You can learn! I looked online myself for some “simple” plans that would work for a true beginner. I found a whole lot, but not what I was really looking for. Most of what I found was at least intermediate.
Maybe that same thing happens to you when you try and “get motivated”. I encourage you to keep trying. Watch some good shows on HGTV or PBS. You’ll learn a ton. I learned more “knowledge” from Norm Abrams than I did from my actual work experience.
You can always take a picture and just try to copy what you see.
The little vanity in this picture (from Kitchen and Bath Ideas) is relatively simple, but maybe you want to start with just making a frame like what’s around the mirror. It doesn’t matter what you start on. Your first work will have plenty of mistakes, but you’ll get better and the better you get, the more confident you’ll be that you can tackle large projects.
Just be careful!Sawblades and nail guns can do serious damage to human parts.
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I bought my first power tools out of stubborness…I thought “People build things every day, why can’t I?”. Same reason I bought my sewing machine, and I’ve been having fun playing with them since. Now the router my dad gave me? It intimidates me a little; I really need to just get it out & play.
It is so good to see you back at this! Good post even if I don’t use power tools. If I did I would so be encouraged!!!
Power on!!
Our Table Saw is capitalized, too.
In fact, even though I know how to use it, I always yield to Tom when I need to cut something on it.
I’m not sure if having the mere desire to DIY is always enough.
I have seen some renovations while house hunting that really should have been left up to a professional. I’m sure the homeowner
was pleased and proud of their work, but to an outsider it either cost them the sale, or was ripped out and replaced.
I think some people just have that “knack” and some don’t. It’s great to try on very small projects, but sometimes it ends up being more costly to try and do it yourself, if in the end you have to hire someone to fix your screw up!
It is a hard to know what to tackle. Like right now I am dying to tear out my upper cabinets in my kitchen while my husband is gone on business for a few days. It looks easy enough!
Do you have a table saw you can recommend for a beginner?
We have a Table Saw too and I love it! My husband bought me a router in December and I haven’t broke it out of the box yet. I think someone commented that they were a bit intimidated by theirs. I can certaintly understand how they feel.
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