STORY

It all started when…

...I packed in my secure woodwork design job in 2016. It was a good job designing joinery, and working with lovely people—but I'd had enough. I wanted to do something bigger and better—I just didn't know what. What I did know, was that a slight change of direction was needed. So I went to study graphic design, which I absolutely loved.

However, a new career in graphic design meant a long time building a portfolio so that I could get to the level I aspired to. Time was something I didn't have—I had a young family to support. I finished my course and considered my options. I still had plenty of contacts and work opportunities in the woodworking industry. (I'm a trade qualified carpenter and joiner.) So I began making furniture and cabinetry to support my family while I figured out what I wanted to do. I still do this.

It was my first time back on the tools in a few years, as I had been mainly designing and project managing for the previous four years. I found that the game had changed drastically since I started my apprenticeship almost eighteen years ago.

Our industry, the woodworking industry, has seen great benefits from technology over the past twenty years. Woodworkers across the globe run their businesses, learn new skills, garner creative inspiration, and help their fellow woodworkers—all through the use of online resources such as social media marketing and online design tools. There is a wealth of knowledge, beauty, and skill out there being shared every day. But I found it to be fragmented. I looked to design blogs, and architecture blogs, but they weren't the right mix for me. Even though I'm really interested in design and architecture, there are too many posts on these blogs that I can't relate to. What I'm really interested in is woodworking, furniture design, carpentry, and joinery. I'm even more interested in the people behind these skills, businesses, and wonderful creations.

I want to bring all the best parts of online woodworking together, and share them in one carefully curated place. I want to tell the stories of the many great woodworkers out there. I want to cut through the noise and share the useful, and the beautiful.

To all the woodworkers, makers, YouTubers, Instagramers, Facebookers, Pinners, and Tweeters out there—thank you for inspiring me. Keep doing what you do. Keep woodworking, keep sharing, and keep making sawdust etc. We need you.

Cheers. Don

Don Moloney, Editor, April 2018.