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> I’m basically slowly working on replacing pretty much every 3rd party app I use with something I wrote myself (it’s going to take a while but that’s okay). My

> I’m basically slowly working on replacing pretty much every 3rd party app I use with something I wrote myself (it’s going to take a while but that’s okay). My grandpa was a carpenter and pretty much every piece of furniture in the house was something he or his friends had made. As software craftspeople, we should strive to do the same with our digital houses. I do the same. Both with software and furniture in my house. I've built all kinds of little dashboards, a big website software project, a local-only bookkeeping system, etc. With furniture, I'm not that far that I dare to build a chair or couch, but I've built a bed frame, an over-engineered shoe rack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXzO8BOIlhk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXzO8BOIlhk), a weight rack, and now I have some bookshelves in the works. I don't know if you're Japanese, maybe it's coincidence, but I really get inspired by watching Japanese craftsmen on Youtube. It's not only the techniques or style that I like, but the careful working on something that should last.

MrMcCall 2y ago
For others of like interest, NHKOnline is an ever-growing and fantastic collection of videos in English (or at least subtitled) that showcase Japan's fascinating sub-cultures, many of them craft-oriented. Our favorite is "Design Stories" (which used to be "Design Talks Plus") that features many such fantastic Japanese crafspeople. Our family hasn't missed an episode in quite a few years. And, of course, there is the Canadian resident of Japan, David Bull, who does traditional wood-block prints in the style of the magnificent Hokusai. His attention to detail in his work is inspiring to us as well.
bityard 2y ago
Same here. I got into woodworking because I was astonished at the price of decently-made furniture here in the US. You can literally buy all the materials AND tools for less than one solid wood rustic-chic kitchen table and bench costs to buy. Anyway, the hard part about this is that you need a space and then the tools and some tools are easier/cheaper to build than buy (e.g. bandsaw, router table) but there comes a point at which you have to stop building the shop and start building furniture. Most of the YouTubers I follow haven't gotten this message yet...
- echoangle 2y ago
  > I got into woodworking because I was astonished at the price of decently-made furniture here in the US. You can literally buy all the materials AND tools for less than one solid wood rustic-chic kitchen table and bench costs to buy. Not really surprising, the majority of the cost is the actual work. Especially in high-wage countries like the US. Buying a computer to build a website is also much cheaper than getting a website made by someone else.
- rambambram 2y ago
  > Anyway, the hard part about this is that you need a space and then the tools and some tools are easier/cheaper to build than buy (e.g. bandsaw, router table) but there comes a point at which you have to stop building the shop and start building furniture. Most of the YouTubers I follow haven't gotten this message yet... You might like my Youtube channel then (see previous link). I work in my living room, using my couch and my Ikea stool for basically everything. A lot of cheap hand tools, but I can't work without my drill press. I pick up 2x3's at the local home depot, start sawing and drilling, and mostly use bolts and nuts for connections. Along the way I pick up new power tools, like a portable drill, a dremel, and my newest - a trim router. I built a bicycle caravan, a portable stove, among others. One of the things that really surprised me is the amount of jigs that come to life out of nowhere, haha. By the way, nice bandsaw you made!
- theshrike79 2y ago
  And in many cases you can "just" draw what you want and find a local-ish woodworker to make it for you. The stuff in furniture stores has like 5 different stages of companies each taking a cut, increasing the price at every step.
kjs3 2y ago
I really get inspired by watching Japanese craftsmen on Youtube "Japanese Joinery" as a search term yields a near bottomless rabbit-hole of amazingness that hits the perfect intersection of craftsmanship, technology and art for this engineer.

MrMcCall 2y ago

For others of like interest, NHKOnline is an ever-growing and fantastic collection of videos in English (or at least subtitled) that showcase Japan's fascinating sub-cultures, many of them craft-oriented. Our favorite is "Design Stories" (which used to be "Design Talks Plus") that features many such fantastic Japanese crafspeople. Our family hasn't missed an episode in quite a few years. And, of course, there is the Canadian resident of Japan, David Bull, who does traditional wood-block prints in the style of the magnificent Hokusai. His attention to detail in his work is inspiring to us as well.

bityard 2y ago

Same here. I got into woodworking because I was astonished at the price of decently-made furniture here in the US. You can literally buy all the materials AND tools for less than one solid wood rustic-chic kitchen table and bench costs to buy. Anyway, the hard part about this is that you need a space and then the tools and some tools are easier/cheaper to build than buy (e.g. bandsaw, router table) but there comes a point at which you have to stop building the shop and start building furniture. Most of the YouTubers I follow haven't gotten this message yet...

echoangle 2y ago
> I got into woodworking because I was astonished at the price of decently-made furniture here in the US. You can literally buy all the materials AND tools for less than one solid wood rustic-chic kitchen table and bench costs to buy. Not really surprising, the majority of the cost is the actual work. Especially in high-wage countries like the US. Buying a computer to build a website is also much cheaper than getting a website made by someone else.
rambambram 2y ago
> Anyway, the hard part about this is that you need a space and then the tools and some tools are easier/cheaper to build than buy (e.g. bandsaw, router table) but there comes a point at which you have to stop building the shop and start building furniture. Most of the YouTubers I follow haven't gotten this message yet... You might like my Youtube channel then (see previous link). I work in my living room, using my couch and my Ikea stool for basically everything. A lot of cheap hand tools, but I can't work without my drill press. I pick up 2x3's at the local home depot, start sawing and drilling, and mostly use bolts and nuts for connections. Along the way I pick up new power tools, like a portable drill, a dremel, and my newest - a trim router. I built a bicycle caravan, a portable stove, among others. One of the things that really surprised me is the amount of jigs that come to life out of nowhere, haha. By the way, nice bandsaw you made!
theshrike79 2y ago
And in many cases you can "just" draw what you want and find a local-ish woodworker to make it for you. The stuff in furniture stores has like 5 different stages of companies each taking a cut, increasing the price at every step.

kjs3 2y ago

I really get inspired by watching Japanese craftsmen on Youtube "Japanese Joinery" as a search term yields a near bottomless rabbit-hole of amazingness that hits the perfect intersection of craftsmanship, technology and art for this engineer.