Learning Carpentry

For any carpenters, woodworkers out there, how did you get into the business?

What made you decide thats what you wanted to do? How did you get to the point of where you are now?

Public Comments

1. Somebody was going to get paid for doing this, and it might as well be me.
2. I was fortunate to apprentice under a top-notch Swedish boat-builder. I just needed a job (life was bleak), and somehow I got a trade that I love.
3. I think that somewhere in your family tree someone must have been working with wood.It's got to be in your blood.My grandfather was a wood worker building wood boats.I started as a gopher on a finish trim crew.I learned in time how to do everything in the trade and started my own company.I have four trim crews with five men on each crew.I have been doing it for over twenty years.I love it and think it's the best job in the world,but you have to find what you really want to do with your life.
4. Good to see some Peers here. For me it was born of neccesity. I was raised on a farm in the 40's and 50's and if something broke; we had to fix it. From there it grew from the fact that my grandfather; beyond being a 6th generation farmer; was also a Fine Furniture maker. I never attained that level, but my interest; trades education by osmosis, and practice; eventually became habit. I'm at a point where I am still learning. Evolution also involves all levels of trades work; and one can never truly know it all; or perhaps not ever enough??? I have other, more ethereal passions; which I engage in daily; but what I do in the trades allows for groceries, and in many ways; "tangible" evidence of "Can Do." Steven Wolf
5. I worked for a construction company prior to my senior year of high school and liked it. After graduation I started out as a helper but found a man that was willing to let me learn the carpentry ropes. I asked many of the older carpenters to teach me their trade, which most were glad to do. After that I became a self-employed subcontractor framing, trimming, and roofing houses. That evolved into opportunities to build houses as a builder, which I still do. The basic drive to success has always been sheer determination and maintaining an honest business approach. What I enjoy about construction is primarily the satisfaction I find in driving by a project, whether commercial or residential, and knowing that I made that project a reality for someone. Plus, I'm always working in various locations, which I prefer.