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Woodworking Forums-Any good ones out there?

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BTL-A4

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Joined
Feb 28, 2018
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1,256
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Santa Clarita
My Old Tools said:
I've been around most of the woodworking forums for years. I was even the moderator for the Wood Magazine hand tool forum for several years. There are all kinds of woodworking and all kinds of woodworkers. Some guys are hand tool only, some are hand tool plus power. Some work only sheet goods and want a pocket hole jig and a track saw. Others work mostly hardwoods and need a planer, jointer, table saw, bandsaw, etc. The OWWM guys want everything US or European made and over 25 years old. Many of the forums are dominated by one type or another. Some even forbid discussions that fall outside their interest area. Many of the younger folks want to discuss the current crop of Asian built machines available at the box stores. Some of us collect vintage hand tools or vintage machinery. I collect and use both. I attended the Colonial Williamsburg "Working Wood in the 18th Century Conference" in 2005. Very interesting how efficient you can be with hand tools when you know what you're doing and how to tune them. It was sponsored by Society of American Period Furniture Makers. Very serious woodworkers. They have a great forum if you are into hand tools and early American furniture.
Ryan, count me in on woodworking whatever form it takes.
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Interesting info! I think I'd like a site that has all of the above! Ha! Seems we could all learn from each other. I'm not a snob about tools or techniques, I just want something where I can get quality answers. I know there will be lots of "noise", but I'd not find something that was clique-y useful.
The nice thing about a forum is you get to know the users. If so and so answers, you kinda know what to expect and can ignore them or read what they have to say and know you're gonna get solid advice. I could use a search engine to find answers, but I may not know anything about the site or the people answering.
 
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Aaron_W

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Feb 6, 2018
Messages
2,938
Location
Northern California
My Old Tools said:
I've been around most of the woodworking forums for years. I was even the moderator for the Wood Magazine hand tool forum for several years. There are all kinds of woodworking and all kinds of woodworkers. Some guys are hand tool only, some are hand tool plus power. Some work only sheet goods and want a pocket hole jig and a track saw. Others work mostly hardwoods and need a planer, jointer, table saw, bandsaw, etc. The OWWM guys want everything US or European made and over 25 years old. Many of the forums are dominated by one type or another. Some even forbid discussions that fall outside their interest area. Many of the younger folks want to discuss the current crop of Asian built machines available at the box stores. Some of us collect vintage hand tools or vintage machinery. I collect and use both. I attended the Colonial Williamsburg "Working Wood in the 18th Century Conference" in 2005. Very interesting how efficient you can be with hand tools when you know what you're doing and how to tune them. It was sponsored by Society of American Period Furniture Makers. Very serious woodworkers. They have a great forum if you are into hand tools and early American furniture.
Ryan, count me in on woodworking whatever form it takes.
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That is a great point and a big part of the issue I've run across. WW covers a broad area and few websites or individuals cover all of it.
 
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aquinob

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Oct 7, 2014
Messages
239
Location
Portsmouth, VA
Please do create a section for woodworking. The few threads I've posted to on some of my recent tool refurbs have been very well received. I've been playing with wood for a very long time and have been a member of SMC, Woodnet and OWWM among others. Woodnet is pretty much dead, SMC always came across as stuffy and over moderated.

OWWM is pretty slow these days too, though if you need support for some old machine that fits their description, its still your best bet along with vintagemachinery for dirty paper and other stuff. It's a bit over moderated as well, and they are very arbitrary on what machines can be discussed. For instance, I haven't seen or heard about any INCA stuff, even though that is Euro made. I have an old Makita jointer planer that is verboten even though its a high end machine that really doesn't have too many similar counterparts. They try to filter out any of the "clones" to such venerable designs like Unisaws , but so much of what is available today just doesn't fit into their criteria.

Lumberjocks is also a good site, though I've never frequented there much. FWW is paid I believe.
 
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slow84lx

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Joined
Apr 8, 2019
Messages
78
Location
Plano, TX
Woodbarter is where I spend the most time for wood related topics these days. Not a true woodworking forum but a lot of knowledge is accumulated there. Lots of discussion about wood.

I browse most of the others listed but rarely post and haven't joined them all.

There is an old & long woodworking thread here that has a lot of good information in it as well.
 
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nateo

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Joined
Jul 4, 2018
Messages
186
Location
Embrun, ON
Ryan said:
New woodworking forum:

Woodworking Fabrication & Technique

Show off your woodworking skills here or learn a little something about using your tools...
www.garagejournal.com www.garagejournal.com
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Welcome to the slippery slope!

Now we need a dedicated section for tool questions and restorations, but that will have to be split into hand tools and power tools. The hand tool purists can get all uppity when they see things that use electrons.

Definitely a section for wood species identification, which is almost impossible to do from a couple blurry photos but people still try all the time.

And a section for talking about trees and chainsaws, because some of us like to harvest our own.

Oh, and a special section for the guys who actually ran a shop for money, because they're better than the average hobby hack and need a quiet place to contemplate their vast skill and experience...





Obviously I'm mostly joking, and maybe more obviously I've spent some time on the various woodworking boards!

Thanks for doing this Ryan, I can't wait to see what everyone else gets up to!
 
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BigMike782

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Joined
Dec 19, 2008
Messages
1,885
Location
49120
Git said:
I would take what you read on SawMillCreek with a grain of salt

They have a habit of deleting threads with any negative comments, so mostly what you read are 'glowing reviews'
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And don't plan on posting anything on OWWM that's not vintage and US made.
 
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BigMike782

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Dec 19, 2008
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49120
BTL-A4 said:
Yeah, that's what I want to avoid: a buncha old farts arguing about nothing! Ha!

I want to be able to ask a mix of beginner and advanced questions, and see answers to the same. I think an active, larger general forum will have a good mix.
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Not woodworking but,
don't go to Homeshopmachinist.net :ROFLMAO:

Lots of old farts poking each other with knitting needles
 
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Griff79

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Joined
Jun 9, 2018
Messages
584
Location
Denver
A woodworking thread is a great idea. It is something we all do in our shops at one time or another.
Griff
 
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