When thinking about starting a YouTube Channel and website, I wondered why would I want to do it. I watch a lot of YouTube, in fact, I consume more YouTube than regular TV. Most if it is centered on woodworking and sailing. There are a number of YouTube Channels I enjoy and subscribe to like Jay Bates, Four Eyes, Bent’s Woodworking, Mike Farrington, Frank Howarth and Fisher’s Shop. Each of them has their way of presenting the topic and I enjoy them all for various reasons.
However, my fascination with woodworking goes back years before YouTube existed. When my wife and I were first married, we’d spend most Sunday mornings watching The New Yankee Workshop and This Old House on PBS. We have also watched countless episodes of Hometime.
Let me back up and tell you a bit about myself. I grew up in North East Texas and had a very regular childhood. I remember being in elementary school and looking around and thinking to myself, “I want to design these when I grow up.” Luckily in High School I was able to take 2 years of Mechanical Drafting and a year of Architecture. After school and weekends I worked as a draftsman for a civil engineer.
After High School, I went to the University of Texas at Arlington and got my degree in Architecture. While in school I was known for my drawing and model making abilities. At that point, I’d already been drafting for years and was meticulous when building my models. For one project I built a scale model so complete it contained every open web joist, the plumbing fixtures and piping. I even included removable wall panels so you see the internal building parts.
I was also lucky in school to have learned CAD. This was in the late 80’s so CAD was brand new. Upon graduation I moved to Houston and landing a job as an intern architect at a well knows architectural and engineering company. Everything at work was done in 2D, but I’d take drawings home at night and taught myself how to model it in 3D on the computer. Now, pretty much everything we do at work is 3D and just output on the construction documents as 2D drawings necessary to get the project built.
I guess you could say once I bought a house I graduated from building models to small renovation projects at full scale. Over the years I’ve done nearly everything you can do a house. I’ve retiled floors and walls, installed wainscoting, replaced exterior siding, and countless painting projects. The largest thing I’ve ever personally built is a patio cover at our previous residence. It was about 25′ x 16” and built from aromatic cedar. For that project, I designed it in SketchUp, and used those images to get it approved by the neighborhood HOA. The design was such that there were a limited number of metal brackets that repeated. Those were fabricated by a local metalworker and then powder coated. The lumber was purchased from a local saw mill. The concrete work we had done by a crew as I’d never done stamped and stained concrete myself and it was a very large patio. The rest was constructed by myself with help from friends and my wife.
So why am I creating this YouTube channel and website? Because more than renovation projects, I love creating new things. I enjoy the process of designing something new, understanding how it would get built, and then seeing the project through to the end. Until recently I’ve done everything by hand using power tools. But recently I purchased a CNC and have enjoyed the added capabilities and precision the CNC can provide. I’ve also been doing my own laser work using a small diode laser that attaches to the CNC.
My goal here is to help people who have a similar passion for creativity. I’m hoping we can walk through projects together from inception, through design and planning, to building and finishing. I hope I can provide instruction as well as some valuable lessons and together we can produce things we’re proud to call our own.
I have a number of projects planned and ready to execute. But I also want to find out what you’d like to see built. Please leave a comment below requesting topics you’d like to see covered here. I look forward to hearing from you and seeing where we take this channel.
Until next time, get out in the garage and make something.
