I’ve always admired the blog sites of other carpenters, furniture makers and wood workers. Several good links can be found off the Taunton Publishing website. The two magazines that I often read are Finehomebuidling.com and Finewoodworking.com.
Since late 2006 I have switched back to a craft that is rooted in my childhood – Carpentry. It’s a common story: building forts as a kid becomes a career. For me there was building boats too. My summers were spend at an island cottage. If I wanted adventure, I had to have a boat. Anyones throw-away dory became my fixer-up transportation. After school was done I joined several crews with no more thought than to earn money. I learned a lot. and was inspired by several job sites I worked on. I returned to school and became a Petroleum Technologist. My hours staring at a computer are in the millions (or at least it feels that way).
When I started switching careers, I wanted to join the league of tradesmen that teach as well as build. Web logs seem a natural place to do it.
I owe a lot to the resources of the internet. I was convinced to self build my own home in 2006,. At first my response was “Are you crazy?”. When I was conveniently laid off from my employer around the same time, I changed my tune. I used the internet as a crutch for the knowledge that I had forgotten, or did not have, to be a good general contractor. the house is build now and some of the journal entries will be from the building process. Lessons learned will be lessons shared.