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You can see John Salustri’s |
| With Father’s Day right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to launch a new hobby. Let’s face it, your golf swing isn’t getting any better, and any fish you’ve pulled out of the Great South Bay is probably too toxic to eat. So why not join the legions of happy family men who find fulfillment (even more fulfillment than riding the Long Island Rail Road 14 hours a week) in a brand new DIY workshop? (Note to the women reading this: All of what you’re going to read applies to you as well. But the editors asked me to write a column for Men Stuff, so here we are. Just pretend we didn’t have this conversation.) But, you ask, what does it take to set up a terrific DIY workshop? About $50,000–or as much as a year’s membership at the Golf Club. But that’s top-of-the-line, fully loaded, retractable-sun-roof DIY. There are ways of getting in for much cheaper that will yield the same results. So here are some tips for accomplishing just that: Define Your Area (Part 1): What interests you? Do you want to follow my lead and build furniture? (I’m flattered. Really.) Would you prefer to garden? Or maybe woodcarving is your thing. It’s an important question because, obviously, each discipline has its own lingo, demands its own tools and will develop in you a unique skill set. (Keep this last in mind. We’re going to get back to it.) Investigate Before You Invest. Google your chosen hobby. Or spend some time in the local library. (Remember those?) There is no shortage of good–and bad–advice on how to get started on any hobby path. Read and decide what works best for you, what tips make sense and how to proceed. Define Your Area (Part 2): Once you know what direction you want to go in, you need a dedicated place. I guarantee you; if you keep your brand new garden tools in their boxes or squirreled away in whatever available shelving there is in the garage, your hobby will tank quicker than an Adam Sandler movie. I’m in a slightly different boat because I build furniture for both fun and profit, but the message is the same: my tools are accessible, always sharp and neatly arrayed in a dedicated space. Have a Focal Point: In most cases, this will be the workbench. Going back to the garden analogy, build, buy or borrow a gardening table complete with shelving for pots and tools and drawers for seeds and pertinent magazine articles (or whatever it is that gardeners collect). The focal points in my shop are the workbench and table saw. That’s my go-to tool, and my shop is arranged around it for maximum efficiency. Buy Good. But Buy Well. In all hobbies–golf, fishing, woodcarving, car repair–you can always pay more. You rarely have to. Buy what you need and if there’s any budgetary wiggle room for upgrades, do so. Here’s a great example of how much the prices can swing. You can get into woodworking for as little as $300 for a small portable table saw (remembering that you get what you pay for in terms of stability and accuracy) up to thousands for the gee-whizziest, digitized, rock-solid saw on the market. There’s even one model, by the way, that will retract its blade–literally in fractions of a second–when it senses moisture, leaving not so much as a nick and preserving fingers. Don’t get fancy for the sake of the price tag. Buy what you need. Watch the Fun Ensue: Whatever you choose, enjoy. Every minute of it. The study, the shopping, and most of all the output, which is twofold. First there is the product itself, the carved sailor, the flowering petunia or the Windsor chair THAT YOU CREATED. Second is the growing skill set, the proficiency and sense of accomplishment. Those are things you can take with you the next time you board the LIRR for work. Let ‘em all guess why you’re smiling. Happy Father’s Day. You can see John Salustri’s furniture designs at harborwoodfurniture.com. You can also email him at john@harborwoodfurniture.com |
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20 lucky winners will win $500 each in prizes totaling $10,000. 