So You Want To Be a Carpenter?

I have to admit most people seem a little bit baffled when I tell them that I am going back to school to become a carpenter. "You have to go school for that?" asked one of my coworkers. "But you have a college degree" said another. In a time when most people can hardly articulate what they have accomplished during a day, there is something refreshing about being able to make something physical, something you can feel with your hands and appreciate with your eyes.

All of this doesn't come from the middle of nowhere. I have always enjoyed making things with my hands. I have an immense appreciation for people who make things of quality and beauty, I love architecture and history. When I was a kid I made military models, I have built furniture, more recently I learned how to weld steel. I am very proud of some of the things I have made, some not so much. Without a formal trade education, I always feel like I'm sort of winging it. There's is always that suspicion that there is a better way. When I made the decision to become a carpenter, I decided that I must learn from the best.

 I vaguely remembered hearing about the North Bennet Street School from an old episode of This Old House when I was 9 or 10 years old. I remember watching the students there meticulously building furniture. There were people building violins and pianos too. It all seemed like some kind of elven workshop, it was very cool. I couldn't find the original video from This Old House, but the one below is good too.