usually by getting paid for their work!
Anyway the window example isn't bad. I might be able to build my own windows, if I want to, but most probably I won't be able to compete with a professionell carpenter.
He has the tools, the education, the experience and all the know how passed onto him by collegues he worked with.
Yet the DIY approach isn't worthless. I would learn lots of things about wood crafting and myself!
usually by getting paid for their work!
Anyway the window example isn't bad. I might be able to build my own windows, if I want to, but most probably I won't be able to compete with a professionell carpenter.
He has the tools, the education, the experience and all the know how passed onto him by collegues he worked with.
Yet the DIY approach isn't worthless. I would learn lots of things about wood crafting and myself!
Funny you should mention windows! I replaced all 9 windows in my house. (Small place!) The price quotes ranged from $1,300 to $14,000! One firm did not want to price it because the house is masonry. They expect to just tear out the old windows and nail in the new ones in the same framing.
With masonry the window openings are not square, level and even differ in dimensions from the inside to the outside. So after the salesmen all did their bit, I spoke to a few of the guys who do the actual measurements and supervised the job. Only one of them did not scare me with how little he knew!
So it ended up with me providing the framing, they put in window units and then I did the trim and painting. Now all of their handles and locks are plastic, so I will replace them with brass.
Next time, if ever, I will do it all myself.
BTY my father, grandfather, great-grandfather... have all be in wood or furniture.
So my new back porch is done with mortise and tenon joints, my floors are being leveled by shimming the floor joists, and I did break down and buy milled molding close to what I wanted, so I only had to do a little bit of shaping.
wood is a nice material and fun to work with. I wish I would be better with it.
I'll let you in on a big secret. Wood used to be better to work! Modern wood is from controlled forests and grows quite fast, so the grain is rougher and it warps more.
If you use a handsaw and plane to true a couple of boards you will work very hard and most likely improve your ability to read the wood.
Of course good tools help.
In renovating my house I had to replace all the window sills and headers. They were a local white oak that was in place over a hundred years most of them without paint! The trees they were cut from were several hundred years old. (On old trees you can often see a two year ring of almost no growth. That is 1884... Krakatoa.)
I save the timbers and cut out as much usable wood as I could. One piece is now the threshold to my bathroom. Needed to go from a floating wood floor to a tile one. The grain after 100 years of weather is impressive.
But my best wishes for you are to continue and have fun doing it!
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