Quotulatiousness

March 25, 2026

QotD: Advice to beginning woodworkers

Filed under: Quotations, Woodworking — Tags: — Nicholas @ 01:00

Are you finding woodworking as easy as you thought? Or is your ardour being cooled by disappointment? If you have not encountered any serious set-back you are indeed fortunate. If you have, don’t worry; take heart — and the advice below.

One thing is certain: that, even though the craft is a lifetime’s study, the application of a few simple principles will assuredly bring success in woodworking. In the first place, never start a job until you know precisely how you are going to do it. Pass its construction step by step through your mind, so that you may hit upon the snags and mentally smooth them out. Making full-size working drawings is part of this thought-before-doing process. It compels you to think out your construction. Besides, full-size drawing is an aid (sometimes an indispensable aid) to setting out, and you need all the aids you can get.

Charles H. Hayward, “Beginner’s Trouble: Some Helpful Advice”, The Woodworker, 1936.

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