Woodwork-a-go-go!

I don't really class myself as a carpenter, as I have no formal skill when it comes to working with wood. I also don't class myself as a complete novice as I can make pretty much all I set out to.
What I will class myself as is a guy with some level of skill who makes shit with wood!
So far I have made beehives, a couple of 3 tier shelves, a mini set of 2 shelves and some small planters. They're all pretty good quality, too. I am quite pleased with the way they have turned out. Actually, I shouldn't be that surprised with the quality of my work as I am totally anal when it comes to things being exact. I didn't spend nearly 20 years in engineering and not pick up some level of exactness, along the way!

So this new work environment has opened me up to learning yet more new skills, namely those involved in proper woodworking. Sure, I can plod along and keep screwing bits of wood together and calling it woodwork but I want to learn to do proper joints like mortise and tenon, dovetail and the like. I have the time to do this and I certainly have the skill. Now all I need is the inclination! It's not going to be easy, learning all this new stuff. It'll certainly be a challenge and I relish that. If life was easy, someone smart would live it. Fuck knows what that means!

I also want to move into crafting my own weapons for training. Now before any of you get any ridiculous ideas that I will be stalking the streets all tooled up, I will clarify. I use wooden versions of swords and knives in my ninjutsu training. I want to make my own. I see it as a very integral part of my training in not only ninjutsu but woodworking, in general.

So in the coming months I will be posting pictures of the things I create in my shed of wonders on places like Twitter, Facebook and, of course, here. I'm also looking to set up a website to showcase my wares. Who knows, maybe someone will like my stuff so much that they'll pay me money for it. Stranger things have happened!

So be prepared, folks, to be deluged with tales of my woodworking exploits. I may even get into a spot of whittling!