Olly's Workshop Blog

I don't take chances – I make mistakes!!

How did I get in to Woodwork?

Back in 2003 and nearing the end of my A-levels at school, I found myself at a loss with no sense of direction as to where I wanted to go next. In all honesty, I had felt like this for most of my life in education; envious of friends and others with perfect clarity of their future goals, dreams and ambitions. I have never been one to  struggle academically but, in my final year of school (Year 13), the pressure and stress was beginning to mount. At which point, I dropped out, literally weeks before the A2 exams.

After a summer of self-assessment, I enrolled on a Carpentry & Joinery course at the City of Bristol College. Careers advisers at school did what they could to try and help but, I was badly lacking in direction, probably self-confidence as well. Actually, it was my mum’s advice to “get in with a trade” as I would “always have work“, regardless. Work colleagues echoed similar sentiments. I was just looking for ‘something to do‘, at the time. If only, something to fall back on.

In 2005, suffering from boredom while most of my friends were off at university, I soon found myself escaping to my mum’s garage. Already, I had built up a collection of hand and portable power tools while attending college; it only seemed right that I should start using them, at least until I could find a company who would take me on as a trainee. These tools weren’t cheap, after all!

It all started with a simple pine shelf for my collection of DVDs and a versatile chair that converts in to a short step-ladder; both of which were projects taken directly from my growing library of woodworking books. It wasn’t long before I added a cheap 10in. table saw and 10x6in. planer/thicknesser to my “workshop” armoury – at which point, I realised I’d been bitten by the bug!

In school, I never had any interest in woodwork or the practical side of DT (Design & Technology) lessons. I was very creative-minded, with a keen interest in art and drawing, generally. I do believe that is why furniture design appeals to me, now (more so than carpentry). With that in mind though, I strong believe in placing function first and foremost ahead of form!

Since the summer of 2005, woodworking has almost taken over my life (in a good way!). Returning to college in 2007 has helped my hobby to grow and develop to a point at which I can happily design and make items of furniture for friends and family. I don’t make much money from this but, it is very good for the soul, as they say!

‘Woodwork‘, in general, has given me the self-confidence and belief I had previously been lacking in who I am and what I can do. That is something I do not believe I would have achieved had I followed the herd through three or four years at university in to a mundane world of office-life with a mountain of student debt hanging over my head. I do not know for certain how far I will continue to progress down this road but, I’m sure that I will have the confidence and belief to pursue any other interest, thanks to this wonderful craft.

I have found a way of working that I truly enjoy! I only wish that the rest of my life was as clean cut…

Olly Parry-Jones

7 Responses to How did I get in to Woodwork?

  1. ProVillage 17/03/2010 at 12:09

    LOL!

    Just short notes:
    - You have a wise mom!
    - You will always find bread in this field. In Finland we have a very famous song about this: “Puuseppää aina tarvitaan..” ~ “A carpenter is always needed…”
    - I know that bug!!! Now my youngest son has got it. I can send some photos about his work.
    - The interests at school: They kill any interest of any pupil. Wonder if they have courses about how to do that.
    - Do not just do for “friends and family”. Take them with you to the work. Guide them. They will be ever so thankful, much more than just getting a piece of furniture. It’s good that you have found a living also in this hobby that turned out to a small business.

    LOL. I was just thinking, if I would tell “How I got into the wooden business”. That would take a book. I did all kind of other stuff for about 25 years after school, before “the spiral that crush you through the black hole into an other universe, into the fifth dimension” really dumped me down on the street naked as some sort of failure-Terminator that has totally lost the knowledge about the existence of the life compass not to speak about the immense confusion in the brain. I always blame the hard drop, but deep inside, I am not so sure about it.

    OK, so I write that book, or I write, what I am always writing: “How I became the Secretary of the Soul-biking Rabbits and How that Resonates with the Future of Mankind”.

    About books. Here you find 175 free books about wood and such:
    http://www.evenfallstudios.com/woodworks_library/woodworks_library.html#Understanding%20Wood

    The first page says: “A unique collection of over 175 complete books on woodworking
    and related topics of interest to woodworkers.
    The Library continues to grow, All Free, 24/7

    These books are in the public domain in the United States
    and everybody, including you, may read and distribute them.
    If you don’t live in the United States you’ll have to check the laws of the country
    you live in before downloading and distributing these ebooks.

    This library collection contains books which
    consist of both HTML and PDF format files.
    These files are very large and regrettably,
    are not optimized for dial up connection speeds.”

    If you need other books, just contact me: Henry.Finland(a)gmail.com

    Henry

    Reply
  2. Dane 08/01/2011 at 17:19

    But how do you make your living?

    Reply
    • Olly Parry-Jones 08/01/2011 at 21:59

      Hi Dan,

      Well, my only income at the moment is through a warehouse job; nothing to do with woodworking whatsoever. :-( This is mainly to keep me going through the winter so I can get myself sorted and ready to consider going it alone later on this year – fingers crossed!

      Even trying to get work as a carpenter is murder at the moment. There’s an awful lot of competition out there are the UK government have apparently made more cuts to
      the construction industry this year. The only work you ever see advertised is through an agency – in my experience, they’re just a waste a time; they take your details and you never hear from them again. Even when there are jobs, they’re only for very short-term contracts; one or two weeks at a time… :-P

      I barely make minimum wage in my current job, which gives me some belief that I would ‘be alright’ if I was to step in to the world of self-employment and struggle for the first few years.

      Thanks for your message,

      Olly.

      Reply
  3. JC 31/01/2011 at 02:09

    It’s really cool to see people going into skilled trades. I think there is so much emphasis (at least in the US) on going to a four-year college that people that are really good at woodworking or other trades seem to be less common than it once was. Guess I should do some research, but that’s just what it seems like to me.

    Also, right on about getting a ton of student debt taking courses that you may or may not use. So many people just “go to college” without an aim. I fortunately knew that I wanted to be an engineer in high school, but you really don’t appreciate what that means until you’re out in the real world.

    Reply
    • Olly Parry-Jones 31/01/2011 at 10:56

      Hi JC,
      “”
      I completely agree. We have many of the same problems this side of the pond – I already know a growing number of people (some, who are now woodworkers!) who could look back on their years spent at university as a waste of time (in the sense that they’ve since gone down a different career path). Most are still struggling or just beginning to pay off a mountain of student debt…

      There’s also the way in which tradesmen are perceived through the media and, of course, the eye of the general public. Few youngsters aspire to become carpenters, plumbers or electricians, these days, for fear of how they’ll be looked down on by modern society; social class and all that… It is mostly the under-achievers, sadly, who fall in to these trades immediately after finishing school (or, for some, even earlier).

      When I was at school, my teachers were encouraging me to go on to university and it was the same with many others. But, why??? Our previous government saw immigration as the key to solving the skills shortage in this country… And now, deep in to this Recession, we have almost three-million “natives” who are not employed in any capacity. I’m not entirely against the idea of skilled workers coming in from Europe and bringing something to our country and its economy… I just don’t understand why we have so many in our warehouses, for example; doing the basic, remedial jobs that require no skill or qualifications and very little training. It’s the young who are really suffering in all of this. The majority of today’s employers are looking for people with experience that many are unable to obtain. I doubt the picture’s any brighter for people with these fancy degrees at the moment, either…

      Rant over! :-)

      Reply
      • JC 31/01/2011 at 22:51

        Yeah, it’s hard to get that first job. I know I would have had a hard time of it if the company that I worked for in college hadn’t hired me.

        Sounds like you guys have some of the same issues with immigration as us. I guess having a big channel between you and everyone else makes things a bit easier to manage if you choose to. I guess a lot of “young people” over there aren’t too happy with their government these days, so I understand a little ranting.

  4. wolfeeboy 23/02/2011 at 12:25

    Keep going Ollie mate,
    I’ve been a chippy for about 30 years now, and still love it. Check out some of my blog stuff, I often write up jobs I’ve done, http://www.wolf-e-boy.com/2009-10-blog-n-stuff
    and look through the other pages, there might be some inspiration there for you. I see you found my wordpress blog, hope it gave you a bit of an insight. Feel free to ask any time if you need advice,

    good luck with it all

    Reply

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