Beginner practical projects to build manly skills…

I work in middle management and often feel like I don’t have any tangible practical skills as a result.

To remedy this I’m hoping to get stuck in to some fun practical projects in my spare time to help build some manly skills.

The thing is I really don’t know where to start. I’ve been told working with wood is an easily accessible place to start but I can’t seem to find any resources for projects for a complete novice like me.

Anyone got any recommendations or advice?

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wood turning can be a good start, get the kit off eBay and away you go, YouTube is a good resource believe it or not!

MTFU.

Just getting it in before someone else does!

😛

Yes, something with wood (cheap, easy to get, easy to work). Maybe curving, or some furniture?

This.

Model boat, print, cut out, glue, sand, varnish

Boat Plans

Just rock up to Screwfix and go nuts with the credit card.

Build a workbench the tools required and skills learnt will set you up nicely.

Evening course in, say, carpentry or woodwork at local college..?

Go and do some evening classes at a local college. It just so happens that I teach on a furniture making course… What are the chances?.. 😀

But seriously, it’s a great way to get into it and discover what’s possible and what direction you want to take it in.

Midlands furniture course

joshvegas has a good point.

sorting out and furnishing a mancave will cover a good deal of the skills worth developing. Shelving, bench building, repairing walls/floors etc

Build a shed and build it good. Draw some plans, calculate what you need, build it sturdy.

Before you can properly begin your manly projects your gonna need a man cave = project 1. Build a shed or drywall the garage, false ceiling, wooden floor, electrics, fridge etc. That should keep you busy a few weeks.

Then you’re gonna need to build a workbench, cupboards & shelves to store all the tools it took to build the man cave and left-overs (rule no.1 you never throw anything away) = project 2.

Then you can start thinking about a proper project, using all the shed off-cuts to make garden furniture / sculptures, kitchens etc. Before you know it you’ll be on an episode of grand designs.

It depends what you want to do.

Would you like to make a gadget like a mobile phone jammer[/url]

or you own amp for a sound system

or a jacobs laddder is fun for HV stuff

Or a bit of furniture, like basic set of shelves to start off with

out of metal or wood?

or brew beer?

or build a garden wall?

Decide then workout how to do it.

I had this dilemma last year, I looked at it this way Mrs.C: “Can you put up some shelves over there?”
Me:”No”
Mrs.C: “Fail”.

I am now a self-taught man and understand the purpose of a rawplug, the function of a pilot hole and the efficiency of plumb-lines.

We have a lot of shelves.

Fare ye well.

I’m a competant bike mechanic but had no other practical skills.
Decided to convert a van into a motorhome. If I can do that you can do anything.
Nearly finished, not that hard. Thought I would need help with electrics, mate who gave me a hand got it wrong and I had to redesign the lights and main isolator myself. Hardest bit turned out to be sewing, matress covers are a real pain!
.
Anyway, point is it’s a confidence thing, you can do a lot more than you think you can, you just need the conidence to start. Take it slow, plan things and watch ‘how to’ vids on the youtube.

RAWLPLUG 🙂

Just saying like,you don’t want to ruin your new bloke credentials by getting that one wrong.

Building a shed / man cave is a good idea. Or even better build a bike

Yeah- GO BLOKES!

Have you thought about re-designing your garden? Digging is pretty manly and when you have designed it beforehand and then modified it, to suit the local conditions… well that’s even better.

Thanks for the replys everyone.

I stumbled across this[/url] which looks doable.

Do I really need a circular saw though? Not sure I’ll get that purchase past the missus!

Do I really need a circular saw though?

I’m not sure you’re ready to “build manly skills” if your asking those sort of questions.

Do I really need a circular saw though? Not sure I’ll get that purchase past the missus!

Failed before you’ve started… Back to watching TV, well, watching whatever she lets you watch that is.

Ignore the bachelors. Make sure project no. 2 is something for her and you can buy what you like then.

You can get away with a jigsaw and plane, and a handsaw for the legs, it will just take a bit longer.

I stumbled across this which looks doable.

You’ll not find those Simpson Ties in the UK (I don’t think)

Instructables is a good place to look for entertaining things to make.

If you look up a guy called Enzo Mari he published a book in the 70s called Autoprogettazione which has been re-published recently. (the instructions are all in italian but the drawings/pictures make sense on their own) Its furniture you can make with just a hand saw, hammer and nails without any complicated joints. Theres some ugly stuff in there but also some surprisingly elegant items too. Theres been a bit of a resurgence of interest in the book and a few contemporary designers have been building some pretty sexy versions of his work lately.

He also designed the best jigsaw puzzle ever.

Do you not own a house?

Most are a lifelong project enabling the learning of carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, building, plastering, decorating etc etc etc!!!!

pizza oven

RAWLPLUG

Just saying like,you don’t want to ruin your new bloke credentials by getting that one wrong.

Or wall plug. But not rawplug.

Do I really need a circular saw though? Not sure I’ll get that purchase past the missus!

Tool purchase is justified, always. And your wife’s opinion (or approval 😯 ) is not needed, this is not an area when joint decision making applies.

kayak23 – Member
Go and do some evening classes at a local college. It just so happens that I teach on a furniture making course… What are the chances?..

Good luck finding one in your area.
I signed up to a woodwork course at our local college (only one I could find in my area) which then got cancelled as not enough people had signed up to it for that particular term and it was then ditched from the curriculum.
Upon enquiring at other places, they just suggest ‘builders joinery’ courses which isn’t really what I am after.

Tempted to sign up to Kayak’s course, but it’s a bit too far away to be sensible (80 miles from work).

I started this thread a few weeks ago and still aim to see it through. I reckon I’ll up my manometer a good few points as a result 🙂

Second the tool purchase post.

I had to lift a few floorboards recently, to rewire some lighting circuits. The perfect excuse for a new circular saw. As it turns out, I didn’t even need the saw once, as all the boards had been lifted in the past. Will the saw be going anywhere other than my shed? Will it hell.

In fact I’m now feeling the need for a cordless drill & driver pack, what with loft boards being a possibility in the near future.

Mmm. Power tools.

Hmm.. I’m not sure you’re going about this the right way. Building things is either in your blood or it’s not. If you just fancy being a ‘proper man’ and being all practical for the sake of it, then maybe the problem is with your self image and understanding than your practical skills…..

Hmm.. I’m not sure you’re going about this the right way. Building things is either in your blood or it’s not. If you just fancy being a ‘proper man’ and being all practical for the sake of it, then maybe the problem is with your self image and understanding than your practical skills…..

blah blah blah pop psychology crap. Don’t listen to him – power tools maketh the man. And there’s something very satisfying in spending an afternoon in the garage, making sawdust, drinking beer, hiding from the wife…

I bought this DIY book on the recommendation of someone on here, it’s excellent and well worth a look.

Read this before you go out and spend a load of dosh on stuff.

I think molgrips might have a point about the building things being in your blood.

There are other man skills available, ones that don’t involve constructions of timber and stone.

E.g. hunting, fishing, shooting, outdoor survival, dispensing kung fu based justice to street villains, piloting, probably hundreds more.

stumpy01 – Member
Good luck finding one in your area.

Tempted to sign up to Kayak’s course, but it’s a bit too far away to be sensible (80 miles from work).

Whereabouts are you? We have links with most courses throughout the country.

Power tools maketh the cowboy, you learn with hand tools then when you cock it up you learn a valuable lesson. Then when you can cut straight and measure accurately you can get a circular saw.

You are allowed a drilk though.

Back in the day an apprentice learnt to sweep first. There is a reason for this.

kayak23 – Member

Whereabouts are you? We have links with most courses throughout the country.

Peterborough way, but I work near Cambridge. So I looked at colleges in Cambridge, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Stamford.

Any pointers would be much appreciated.
Keep meaning to buy some ‘teach yourself’ books and some hand tools, but god knows when I would find the time to actually do it. Which is one of the reasons I thought doing a course would be good; a fixed weekly slot allocated to learning about woodworking, rather than trying to fit in an hour here, an hour there on a weekly basis and never achieving it.

Hi Stumpy01. I reckon the nearest centre offering similar to what we do is Moulton College. They’re a very good centre and we have good links with them.

It’s about an hour away from Peterborough or Cambridge. I think they do evening classes though you’d have to enquire.

Hi Kayak, do you know of anything in South Yorkshire?