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Jeremiah Baker profile picture
Jeremiah Baker
@TheShopRat

From woodworking to aerospace, 30+ years of hands-on experience—sharing lessons, skills, and shop insights.

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Recent Notes

Jeremiah Baker profile picture
The first prototype is complete…

What it has reinforced for me is that beginners don’t need a more complicated first project. They need the right first project.

This little cedar box isn’t the destination. It’s a vehicle for learning.

The goal is to build confidence through measuring, marking, cutting, fitting, sanding, assembling, and finishing. Skills that carry over to every project that follows.

Looking back, what was the first project that really taught you something?

#FabricatorsFieldGuide #grownostr #woodworking #DIY #proofofwork



Jeremiah Baker profile picture
A little more context on the first prototype I’ve been building…

The first project is a small cedar box.

That may sound simple, but it teaches quite a few foundational skills:
• measuring and marking
• crosscutting
• rip cutting
• fitting parts
• sanding and shaping
• glue-up and assembly
• applying a finish

One thing I’ve been trying to avoid is the typical hobby-kit approach where everything arrives pre-cut and you’re mostly assembling parts.

The goal here is different.

The student starts with material that still needs to be measured, cut, fitted, and shaped, but in a way that’s approachable for someone with little or no experience.

The box is the project, but the real goal is learning the process.
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Pleb2Polymath · 2w
That sounds really cool. I would like to be kept up to date on this project.
Jeremiah Baker profile picture
Over the past fews months, I have been asking how people learned woodworking…

Part of the reason is that I’ve been developing a hands-on learning system aimed at people who never had a shop class.

This weekend I started building the first prototype…

#grownostr #woodworking #diy

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LWB · 7w
Watching a channel of a guy that was moving and had his stuff in boxes. He kinda started out with just a minimal toolkit and got stuff done. I proceeded to rethink my workflow, sell what was only collecting dust and real estate and started using the thing that actually mattered. Incidentally 95% on ...
Jeremiah Baker profile picture
I’ve talked with quite a few people on here over the years about learning woodworking at home, especially beginners.

One thing I’ve struggled with is how to teach real shop skills when I’m not physically in the room.

What I keep coming back to is a field-guide style approach built around real projects, real materials, and progressive learning instead of disposable hobby kits.

Right now I’m developing the first project around a small field box / writer’s box using only hand tools.

Would something like that have helped you when you were getting started?

#woodworking #grownostr #asknostr #diy
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LWB · 7w
I don't know. Usually beginners, included me, try to buy as many tools as possible to overcome their lack of skills and it's difficult to pass on these lessons. I learned the hard way, buying stuff I didn't need and getting rid of it later in my hobby. But yeah, generally speaking, getting your han...
Jeremiah Baker profile picture
I’ve been rethinking the “shop class” idea a bit…

The more I worked on it, the more I felt like it needed cohesion instead of just isolated lessons or random projects.

I keep coming back to the idea that people connect more deeply to objects that feel useful, lasting, and worth building.

Still thinking a lot about what a modern version of learning shop skills could look like for people who never really got that experience…

#grownostr #diy #woodworking
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