What Kind Of Woodworker Are You? I'm ...

[@IBuildItScrapBin]

Making project videos on KZbin for the last 12 years has been great, but rushing through those projects to finish them has robbed me of the part I like the best: getting there. I like figuring out ways of dealing with problems and even taking a sidetrack if I can come up with something better than my original idea. In other words, I prefer the experience of woodworking to the end goal of woodworking. Not that I don't appreciate finished project - I do - but for me it's always been about the doing. And that's pretty much the way I did it before I started on KZbin. I get an idea and then just organically working at it (usually without any fixed plan) until I was either sick of it, or it was finished. But it was always that experience of working at that had the greatest appeal. That's why I can watch great movies and TV shows over and over, and that's why I real great books more than once. It's not the story or resolution, but the time spent with the characters in their world that I love.

[@dakotamax2]

In my opinion, a craftsman is someone who can royally screw up and still salvage the project.

[@KipdoesStuff]

I'm a long term wood worker. I'll get to it...eventually...maybe.

[@edcctf]

I was getting ready to cut a 2x4 on my table saw and I realized my riving knife wasn't up.... the first thought in my mind was that John Heisz could do this... my second thought was I'm not John Heisz. I put the riving knife back on and made my cut! I enjoy the building, but I'm self-taught and relatively inexperienced. That's the kind of woodworker I am.

[@tomcorum1750]

You’ve earned ur place, make the videos u want to make

[@dakotamax2]

I am a carpenter's son and grew up around many unfinished projects at home. I could insert a "cobbler's son" analogy, but my dad was just exhausted at the end of the day and probably needed a break from the sawhorses. I wanted to follow in his footsteps, but he encouraged me to choose a different path. Now, as an adult with a desk job, every woodworking project is a journey that I look forward to.

[@paulruud5804]

IMHO, this is one of the best conversational videos John has produced.

[@daifeichu]

I have so many projects that I either want to do or at different stages of completion. I am definitely an experience type wood worker but when that project has been sitting there for a year and it's 99% done I'll finally become the goal type for that last 1%.

[@AquaPeet]

I must be a minority because I really love to see when someone shares the thinking process in the video; the objective, the iterations of possible solutions and the eventual idea that someone came up with.

[@GregsGarage]

It's interesting to think about different content, the audience and the reach... It's analogous to the "behind the scenes" at the end of a Hollywood movie... Some people never watch that part of the DVD and others think the BTS is actually more interesting than the film... If you're someone who actually MAKES stuff for a living, you know the value of that type of information. If you're someone looking to be entertained by woodworking videos, you'll find that "information" is merely impeding your access to the final product.

[@whirled_peas]

Very interesting question and dichotomy presented

[@whirled_peas]

Definitely has a left brain/right brain development aspect.

[@whirled_peas]

Left brain biased individual would tend towards goal oriented, right brain would tend towards experience

[@beth3914]

I'm a goal woodworker, but I think this comes from my personality. Every morning I write out a list of things I need to do, and it bothers me at night if I haven't crossed everything off. I often think I should stop and enjoy "the journey" more (not just in woodworking, but life in general).

[@hjboots]

I find that putting a plan together makes the end product enjoyable. It`s nice to be able to invision what you want to create and wind up with your vision as reality. You are someone i follow because what you say and do means something. Thank you for sharing.

[@ZAKKANWAKKAR]

Casual, with more than a dash of problem solving.

[@CrimeVid]

What kind of woodworker am I ? Pragmatic, trade.

[@dakotamax2]

I have come to realize I would starve if I was a tradesman. I just can't bring myself to do anything efficiently/quickly. Part of the problem is most of my projects are "one-offs." I like to spend (too much) time thinking about and testing methods to complete tasks before I perform the final work. If I were to ever find a design I wanted to repeat, I bet the second one would be done much faster. I am completely capable of slapping something together if needed. I have this challenge I give myself where I select material I can use without any milling or cutting, results may vary.

[@FearsomeWarrior]

I think I change between goal and experience during a project. Design is experience. First cuts are goal. Once I see parts and get excited about it it becomes experience again. Assembly is pure joy. Then finishing is misery but I love having it protected.

[@MCsCreations]

Well... An Acme thread rod wouldn't work there, unless you welded a piece of screw on its end... So I really think it was the perfect solution, John. And I definitely agree about the experience! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@FormerlyKnownAsAndrew]

Definitely in it for the experience. I extract something of value from every project. I've been trying to swtich philosophies lately to being goal focused. There were too many projects in various states of completion and some were bound to remain conceptual for eternity. I made a tickbox list on google keep for all of the projects i needed to get done. Then I reordered them by which ones would improve my workflow or safety as my higer priority ones. I been geting it done! Today I build a box fan air filter. Used up scrap wood and built something that will improve my experience.

[@theinfernalcraftsman]

I could add so much usable information to my videos but few watching youtube are watching to learn they are more watching for the entertainment aspect. My videos aren't anything fancy but I am full of tons of useless and useful information.

[@dakotamax2]

Keep it up! I enjoy the random wisdom I get from some creators, for example, "No need to unclip your tape measure from your belt to take a quick dimension."

[@supergimp2000]

Lol. If I made 2-3 to last 20 years I'd lose the spares long before I needed them. I made this in your original design and use it all the time, although adjusting it and locking the rod to the pivot can be a little fidgety so this is a great improvement. I'll probably 3D print the wheel.

[@davidbeck5352]

Very well put, experienced vs goal oriented. I would only add one detail, i would say i am experience driven in life not just woodworking. Its just who i am.

[@bradley3549]

I can definitely understand the perspective here. I'm big on the journey, much to the chagrin of my Wife of course who would much rather I just get it done. The experience is hard to translate into video. Two channels that I feel have really mastered the concept of capturing viewers invested in the journey and not the destination is 'Wintergaten' with the Marble Machine saga and '2Stroke Stuffing' on a quest to build the worlds most powerful and fastest 50cc motorcycle engine. I think part of why they succeed is that they balance it out with a certain artistic expression that provides the buoyancy needed to float their audience along. It's as much about being invested in their character as their project in a way. Though I also think that in both cases the pressure to just get there has taken an immense toll on them regardless. Your videos in contrast have a very different feel that maybe doesn't translate as well to the journey but is excellent at the destination. And you know what, that's okay so long as you find a way not to feel a slave to the process.

[@Immolate62]

So we do have more in common than just being grumpy old men, John. I do like to finish things, but it's the experience that beckons me. Also the reason I can't stick with just one hobby.

[@scott8351]

John I have heard you say this before, that you prefer being in the physical world. I think that goes along the same lines as the experience of woodworking vs getting a project completed. I also enjoy the physical world, it's therapeutic in a way. You can get that from any therapist.

[@dale1956ties]

I love the precess too John. I've taken to hand tool woodworking and honestly it IS the process that I enjoy the most.. Like you, I also appreciate the finished product but I like doing it even more. Being partially disabled, I can't be on my feet for more than a inute or two at a time so I beefed up an old desk to make it a sitting height workbench and installed a pipe clamp Moxon vise on one end. I do my planing and cutting on it and have found it to be sturdy enough to hold up under that kind of work. I do mainly small projects and give away pretty everything I make. I enjoy a lot of the various content creators like yourself, Neil Paskin, Rob Cosman et al. I learn something from everyone whose videos I watch. Thank you for ding what you do. I truly appreciate it.

[@mikebond6328]

I used to hate when people would “spoil” a movie or book, but in the last few years I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t bother me anymore because by the time I watch, or read I don’t remember the spoil anyway.

[@daveydacusguitars9033]

I get that on the experience type thing. You may notice I have 1800ish subs on my channel. But I had to dial it back not long after I started.. At first.... I thought hey, I'll just film the stuff I do anyway and release that. But I quickly realized that I had a very STRONG desire to.... not film something so I could do it and enjoy it more and just enjoy my shop time. Filming is, however, also an experience. And recently I've started filming my shop squanderings again. I just don't push myself to do it at a very fast pace. Which... also doesn't lead to youtube success. You have to be at least a little goal oriented to push out content. I'm not terribly worried about it. But it doesn't pay my bills either so... I wish you good fortune in your career here. Been watching you for several years and something about it is definitely eating at you lately. Probably about 2 years now by my count. Longer i giess i lose count. I hope you can find a way around that obstacle and enjoy what you do. Because myself and several others definitely enjoy what you present here. Basically for free to us. Advice and instruction from experienced individuals is priceless.

[@9and7]

If there's anything 'wrong' with woodworking or 'maker' videos on YT it's that we don't get to see the things mentioned above. They are crucial. And for so many reasons, for one; so newbies don't get discouraged. If there's anything I'd like to see, I'd like to see vids broken down into 'parts' (ptp), and when a hurdle eventually comes, AND IT WILL - perhaps the audience can give it's own trouble-shooting tips etc. on how to get things to the next 'part' (ptp). Just a thought. In any case - Eternal Thanks I Build It.

[@negotiableaffections]

'The Usual Suspects' poses the question, Who is Keyser Söze? - there are [kinda] 2 versions of that film. 1) Before you know the answer & 2) When you do. They are both thoroughly intriguing movies in their own right.

[@IBuildItScrapBin]

Great example. I actually enjoyed that movie more the second time I watched it. I was more familiar with the characters and could pay better attention to the important parts.

[@daveturnbull7221]

I'm the same when it comes to good books & films - I'll watch/read them time and time again and yes, Sixth Sense is a film that is well worth watching several times. When it comes to woodwork I've got no fancy tools but I love it when I watch somebody make something using their table saw, planer/thicknesser, router table etc. I'll sit there and try to work out how I could do it with my very limited bunch of tools and even more limited skill set. Most of my attempts fail miserably but boy do I enjoy trying.

[@a9ball1]

I think you should watch a movie at least twice. On the second go you can catch a lot of stuff you missed the first time because you aren't thinking about what happens. I've been woodworking since the mid 70's and I don't like having more than one project going at a time. Unlike most people I love to sand by hand. Been that way since jr high school. Dunno why, but I find it relaxing, calming, like meditation. I know, I'm strange.

[@billj5645]

The pin? We've had this conversation before- you have a lot more experience with building things of this type than anybody else out there so your judgement is pretty good. But some people want to see if they can improve it just for the sake of improving it. There are times when I just want to get the thing finished, and other times when I'm studying the steps along the way. I do this with lots of things- scale models, woodworking, cars, software I write, and of course what I do for a living which is designing buildings. I don't have the patience to do it every time, it takes a special interest for me to take the extra time.

[@vmoutsop]

My goal is to be the experienced woodworker.

[@yohannsantos4901]

This gentleman dances while talking

[@randelcross]

I'm like that as well, I actually like watching you figure things out knowing you probably edit most of it out... cheers! Btw, if you haven't already discovered them, watch the "Jesse Stone" movie series... yes, they are THAT GOOD!

[@supergimp2000]

Having grown up watching stuff when it came out I really think that, if you haven't seen The Sixth Sense by now, you have no right to freedom from "spoilers." Frankly even with modern streaming series and stuff, I really miss the "watercooler talk" that series like "Lost" used to generate. At some point, I'm going to talk about something cool I've seen on TV. What's the point of enjoying a show in a bubble?

[@davidjanis1997]

I said “six scene” the same time you said it. lol

[@docolemnsx]

Kevin Spacey is Keyser Söze

[@normb2780]

I'm sure it would take a lot of editing, but why not put the goal stuff at the beginning of your videos and then add all the journey stuff after that -- i.e. all the stuff you would otherwise delete. Then we would have the benefit of seeing your thought process if that's what some of us want, or we could skip it. Our choice. But like I said, it sounds like video editing is your least favorite activity, and this suggestion might just add to that nightmare.

[@fuzzy1dk]

another way to skin the cat, kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3zXaKl5pZhqqJI

[@BM-qz3eu]

Hi John, I need your help. They're driving me crazy with glue. If I use yellow glue (not water-resistant), do I have to be very careful about humidity? Can a piece of furniture come unstuck due to humidity even without water dripping on it?

[@UberAlphaSirus]

humidity is fine.