Get Woodworking - Better Late than Never!

I have some cool friends.

One of my cool friends, John, happens to have even cooler friends than I do.

My friend John is not a woodworker, but a family man who shares my hobby of playing trombone in a local big band.

As a good friend, he subscribes to my woodworking blog and claims he enjoys reading it.  Indeed, we often discuss my latest posts on the way to band practice.

A few months ago, one of his neighbors asked him if he had any ideas on what to do with her father's old woodworking tools.   John suggested I go and take a look.

I was in heaven.  There was a well used and maintained basement shop.  It was like a German woodworking time capsule.  The most important find in my opinion was a complete Ulmia hanging wall cabinet complete with all of the original tools.

A whole collection of planes, braces, chisels, clamps, and everything needed collected over many years.

During 'Get Woodworking Week' a small idea began to germinate.  Why not talk John into taking up woodworking as something he can do with his own kids?

What a perfect storm.  All the hand tools one needs for a hand tool shop including a couple of Swedish benches that will work perfectly for kids.

My plan is to be available to John to help him learn woodworking with his kids.

With any luck, some of the journey will be documented here.  I am hoping I can even get him to write a blog post or two about the progress.

I sent him a note today instructing him to think about where he wants his shop:  a spare bedroom, the basement, or the garage.  I know he doesn't want to invest a lot of square footage of his available space, as most of his space is already spoken for.

I have plans to help him design his shop, move the tools over and set up (including rehabbing and sharpening them), and even a couple of projects designed to achieve success and accomplishment for beginners and children.  From there, we will see what happens.  Whatever happens,  I think it is fantastic that he wants to give this a go.