Do you think women make good woodworkers?

[Aggie Barbosa]

YOU GO GIRL: All the best to you and your plans to do woodworking. My husband started a woodworking business designing and building the RT-1000 Router Tables. I am a Tole Painting Teacher and things got so busy in his business that I ended out there with him. Scary at first but remember respect the tools and use them for the application they were designed for. I love it. Housework has been put on the back burner. I actually told my husband Joe that I would teach him the art of housekeeping the way he taught me woodworking.

Thanks and have fun
Aggie
http://www.rt-1000.com

[fwh]

Dear Mauireign and all,
One of the premier furniture-making talents on the planet right now--and I believe generally conceded to be the finest carver-- is Kristina Madsen. One piece of her work is shown here:
http://www.furnituresociety.org/exhibit/ex97.html

You can't see it well in the photo, but every square centimeter of the top of that chair is carved. If you can find it, take a look at the 25th Anniversary issue of Fine Woodworking, on p. 118, and you will see a 5-drawer breakfront chest of drawers where every drawer front is carved to look like embroidery. It's unbelievably beautiful.

[Jorob]

I have to agree with all of the sentiments so far. I would also like to add that woodworking is about enjoyment. When I am in my shop, I am happy and at peace. It doesn't matter if I am turning out a $$$ cabinet project, or some more precision firewood, I am enjoying making little wood out of big wood. The satisfaction I receive from a well built project is an added bonus.

You will do fine. Just remember to start simple, and be SAFE(a lesson we all have learned, some the hard way). I would probably say start with a good table Saw. that is the foundation of most small shops. The rest you can pick up as you go. Buy your tools carefully, research each purchase beforehand, and ask these helpful folks, they will guide you if you have questions.

Have fun with it

Jorob

[Vickie Casey]

Knowledge, skill, and attention to detail. You will shine!!!

[Glen]

girl in maui,

First, I'm jealous. You being in Maui and me here in the dismal northeast.
I think women can be great woodworkers. The underlying question is when does a good woodworker become a craftsman or craftsperson
if you will? The best of woodworkers can make all the jointery flawlessly needed to build to specs. They can build to plans.
The craftsman (forgive the "old school" lingo)becomes such when they begin using their artistic qualities and begin creating. Working quite often without drawings or plans but from a vision and perhaps a few hand sketches. This holds true regardless of being a traditionalist or creating the bizzare.
Just returning from Colonial Williamsburg and of course visiting the various trade shops. I believe women were not enter into such
apprenticeships or delve into the "trades" is simply because there were few women in the early settlements. Men, by natures design, are generaly stronger in physique. I heard that! And we can all site examples of exception. But lets go back a few centuries. Aside from the obvious attitudes of the "gentry" apprenticeships were rigorous and often demanded brut strength. Keep in mind lumber had to be harvested and horses, oxen and such were not always available. An apprentice was expected to forfill all aspects of the apprenticeship, he couldn't start a project with dimensioned lumber from Home Depot. Could women have done this if they were the primary settlers? most certainly, as efficiently? eventualy, as industrialization has proved. Could they have survived the Indians? Enough, history has simply layed
down the foundation we've built upon. Women are now in all aspects of the work force. Hopefully, as the pendulum swings as with all changes, it will settle down somewhere back in the middle for the sake of the family institution. Agree with it or not I was raised of the opinion that bringing up a family is a career, not a hobby. Should a women choose a trade as a career, fine, great, they have contributed emensly and have surpassed many men in the trades. Shoould it be chosen as a hobby, awsome, can't think of a reason why not.
Didn't intend to force or interject my personal views. I just have a problem with extremists, male or female.

Glen

[Lou_williams]

Glen,

I agree with almost all that was in your post. I just wanted to add one slight perspective view. I also think that children need to have a parent at home when they are not in school. But, I don't think that has to be the Mom. I know two families where the woman goes off to work and the man is the homemaker. In both cases the decision was made based on the job of the parents. In one case the woman was working for a large corporation and had all the benifits and the man was a frelance set designer doing work for TV comercials. It was eaier for him to work from home and her to keep the money comming in. In the other case the woman had a high powered job and they could not afford to not have her pay check.

But, The kids are doing great with Dad at home and mom at work. I may be less inclined to accept things as they are and look at things that could be.

Lou

[Glen]

Lou,

Absolutely! I was trying to stay within the jest of the question. I don't buy into the barefoot and pregnant attitude.
I tried to articulte this in stating I didn't go for the extreme
hard lined gender stereo typical crap. It may have got lost in
trying to tie in the colonial mind set. I did give a fleeting thought to going on to state all that but didn't want to sound like a rambling idiot trying to state his cause in life.
Not that your doing that.

G

[Lou_williams]

Sometimes I feel like a rambling idiot.

Lou

[Glen]

Lou
I hear ya. Me; I often feel like a parrot.
Must have articulated my point(s) reasonably well though, no grievance type feed back.
G

[Marilyn]

I think women can excel in anything they are passionate about. Actually, this holds true for both sexes. It used to be that in the building trades there was a good bit of prejudice against women entering those fields. There was a tremendous difference between when I was the gen. contractor on my first home in 1977 and the last one, as far as attitudes went. My feeling is that a younger generation growing up was exposed to women working in non traditional fields and now it is not considered as odd as back then. The key to success in anything is caring deeply about what you do and the willingness to learn. These forums have been very helpful in answering a number of questions I've encountered...and I have lots more!! So strive to improve, have fun and be proud of what you do!