Lower Lonsdale Fall Registration date is August 14, 2019 at 7am. View our latest Woodworking courses online at https://www.nvrc.ca/woodworking
Newcomers to the North Vancouver Recreation Commission should pre-register for a membership here https://www.nvrc.ca/programs-memberships/new-registration-system-account-creation
Woodworking for the Modern Urbanite.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how one can fulfill the dream of woodworking when one can barely afford a condo never mind a house with a garage or unfinished basement that is not earmarked for rental.
Sometimes the solution is in the scale of the projects. The reasons we want to woodwork are often quite similar but the advantages can be materialized from the small and simple projects. The making of a few cutting boards as gifts, a small box for salt in the kitchen, a pair of small side tables for the bedroom. These are all projects that can be built by someone living in condo. HOW? – you ask incredulously.
Our Community Woodworking Studio in Lower Lonsdale offers a 3 hr drop-in session 5 times a week where woodworkers who have completed our Woodworking Level 1 course can come in to complete projects and start new ones. Many people use the drop-in times regularly. They enjoy the fact that they can register for the drop-in session and enjoy the use of premium equipment that has been flawlessly maintained never having to be concerned with sharpening dull tools and complicated maintenance / calibration of equipment. Not to mention having a great well lit space, technical advice, great benches, hundreds of clamps, a clean work space, one of the quietest woodworking shops around, comfortable wooden floor and much more.
Occasionally, however, some people suggest they would rather have their own shop than the use of a drop-in shop and that the cost of each drop-in is a sunk cost that could otherwise be an investment into their own equipment. Believe me I fully understand the sentiment. But, how many people are able to choose the best tools and machines for their needs? Do they factor in the cost of poor decisions? Having to sell bad decisions and the resulting re-purchasing is a great frustration and can also be a financial burden. The convenience of a perfectly configured shop in the basement or garage cannot be refuted but think about this:
- Most people spend a few thousand to 10’s of thousands of dollars on a shop that’s rarely ideal in size, layout, air quality and noise control.
- Rarely does the average amateur home-based woodworker spend more than a couple of hours a week in their shop, if they are lucky.
- Many amateur woodworkers end up with an overfilled studio space making woodworking more of a chore than fun.
- Often the amateur woodworker works alone and many drop-in users have mentioned the benefit of the social interaction of working in a community space. Having a helping hand for that complicated assembly is another benefit that is easily overlooked.
What should the amateur woodworker invest in?
- If you have a small workspace whether a basement, garage or spare bedroom the most important tool is a good workbench with a good vise. After that some hand tools and clamps and you are generally set.
- Most small to medium sized projects can be built with hand cut joinery that requires some hand tools such as planes, chisels, knives and squares.
- A comprehensive hand tool kit can be transported in a single well organized tool chest or wheeled tool box.
- Moving to a condo? No problem if your CORE tools are hand tools – just take the tool chest with you. With a bit of creative design even a workbench can be incorporated as industrial furniture and a great conversation piece.
- In a spare bedroom or an 80 sq. ft. unfinished room in a basement you can make many of those small to medium projects especially if the heavy-duty machine work is performed in a drop-in studio like our Community Woodworking Studio.
- Take it outside! – Consider packing a few simple tools into your backpack and carving a spoon at the beach or on a forest hike.
I hope to see you in the studio sometime and remember, wood always wins.