Woodcraft forum vs "help with wood related issues"

misschipp

THIS IS A POST FOR ADMINS AND FELLOW WOODWORKERS

Am I missing something,
or is the woodcraft forum sidelined by numerous requests for information or "price" related issues, instead of chit chat between woodworkers about woodwork?
This has been a thorn in my side for quite a while now.
I joined with the expectation of talking to like-minded woodworkers about our latest projects.
Instead I am reading posts on a daily basis about requests for cheap furniture, cheaper quotes, advice on cheaper alternatives etc.....
I have even replied with solutions, only to be ignored, not even a thank you from the initial poster.
I am not looking for sincere gratitude, but a bit of recognition wouldn't go astray.
Would it be possible to start another forum under the title "wood related issues/questions"
so we could at least have the option to access this forum if so wished, and stick to the origional topic of this forum "WOODCRAFT"?

Regards
Jac:(:confused:

SpitfireIV

Hello Misschip,

Its a pretty quiet forum here unfortunately, seems to be the same bunch of auld fella's here (:p:p) and, to be honest the posts you mentioned dont bother me all that much, at least they bring a bit of activity and traffic to the place. If you felt strongly about it then I suppose you could get in touch with the mods of this forum and/or pose the issue in the New Forum thread.

My gripe is the name of this forum 'Woodcraft' , I'd prefer 'Woodwork'

Fingalian

Hi Misschip,
Yep , there has been an increase in those sort of posts, but I tend to ignore the 'where can I get cheap whatever .......'(unless its tools or exotic hardwoods:) and as for people not saying 'thanks' when you give them advice well unfortunately that's life.I've thought that the forum has become more active since the recession has started, a year to 18 months ago this was a very quiet backwater of the 'net but now I read interesting stuff every day on it. I might not post that frequently but I always pop in got a gander and come away with some good info. There has been some good recent posts on Tablesaws,Workbenchs, planes and I liked watching Aersols lovely playhouse being built.It is an open forum so you can drive it in the direction you want .......so MissChipp what projects are you currently working on?
Cheers,
F.

karltimber

Hi Misschip,

same as above really.
A lot of other forums have started to create new sub-forums with requests etc but we have a relatively low traffic count on this forum.

Will keep an eye on it and if it gets too much, the mods can look to starting a "questions/what if" section

hope this helps.

k

JoeB-

The reason I haven't been on much is because I keep having computer problems and have had to re-install Windows about three times this year.. each time I lose my passwords and usually have to change them.. (in other words I have my browser remember the passwords.. so then I forget them..)

Sometimes as well the queries don't suit my knowledge very well... and I'm on dial up during the day and Boards is very slow on dial up so that makes it fairly hard to contribute...

The techniques I use aren't usually the best possible techniques,.. this is because I'm selling all my furniture and so there are usually compromises between cost and quality.. for example I would dovetail my drawers using a jig and router rather than hand cut them, and the grooves for the bases would be done using a small Spindle Moulder.. however for a hobbyist it would make more sense to try to do this by hand.. it's more fun, looks better.. and doesn't require any spending on tools or jigs.


Hobbyists would also have more time to make jigs etc for a single task.. making the jig can be fun in itself.

We wouldn't be able to hand plane solid hardwoods.. it has to be machines for most things.. doing it by hand requires skills which may not be available and takes longer. (so it costs too much, unless you have customers who will pay thousands)

I would like to be on more than I am...

There doesn't seem to be too many users who are doing this for a living in their own workshops.. there are quite a few who do nixers for example and maybe work for large companies during the day.. I would defo have more input if there were several small makers on.. for example, I started about 5 years ago as just me, then I had one employee.. now I have myself and two employees.. and I have to try and sell 150,000 to 180,000 a year in order to make a profit and get paid myself.. it can be very tricky!

Cheers so.. now I have the password sorted I should be back on more often..

kadman

Maybe a sticky at the moment to seperate the wheat from the chaff. keeping the specific woodwork topics on the forum, and relegate the secondary stuff to the sticky, until such time as maybe a sub forum, if there is really a need for one.

kadman

Gavatron86

Hi,
I'm looking for a place in Dublin similar to the National Sculpture Factory in Cork, a sort of communal workshop in which you rent space and use of the in-house woodworking machinery. I just wondered if anyone on this forum might know of anything like that in Dublin.