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Comment by jermaustin1 | Hacker News Reader

I replaced programming with woodworking. I find it a lot more enjoyable after 8 hours of building software and 1 - 2 hours of administrative work to transition to building "hardware". My side projects are all furniture my wife or other family members ask for.

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This is happening to me at the moment, currently upcycling an old timber door into a bench

I find woodworking a lot more satisfying than coding. You can point to something solid and say, "I made that", and your family don't have to be technophiles to enjoy and appreciate it

My code has a much bigger immediate impact. But I always assume that 10 years from now it will all have been rewritten or projects replaced/cancelled. However, my wood projects that I've given to family will be passed down to the next generations (hopefully).

I'm interested in woodworking but also afraid I'm going to maim myself.

Maiming one's self in woodworking only happens through incredible stupidity or carelessness. If you keep focused on what you're doing and make sure that you're following basic safety rules, you'll probably be fine. Accidents do happen of course, but as with programming, there are safeguards that can prevent them (for instance, the guards and backstops on a table saw prevent your work piece from getting rocketed back into your torso).

Table saw is going to be, by a huge margin, the most dangerous tool in most amateur woodworker shops. You need to exercise great care and respect around power tools, but the table saw requires particular care. All tools, power and non-power can be used safely, but you need to learn and internalize shop safety practices. My dad taught wood shop in school so I got a good boost by being immersed with shop safety from a very young age, but anyone can learn the right habits.

Start with hand tools while you're learning the basics. Get good eye and ear protection--don't skimp. Learn how to sand. Ease your way into power tools as you find you need them. I wouldn't start out in woodworking by filling my garage with $10K worth of power tools right off the bat.

I bought a home last year and I think the cardinal rule of power tools is that you only really should buy one when you have some project in mind for which you are going to use it immediately.

I agree, my table saw still scares the living shit out of me. When I had some tension in a board I was ripping down clamp up on the blade and start to buck, I couldn't reach down for the switch, so I jumped away and yanked the cord from the wall. It was a very tense 4-5 seconds.

Afterward I calmed down, i flipped the board around started ripping from the other side to meet in the middle and everything was better.

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