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Book Review: Good Clean Fun by Nick Offerman
A thread
https://tenfingerswoodwork.wordpress.com/2020/10/21/book-review-good-clean-fun-by-nick-offerman/
A thread
https://tenfingerswoodwork.wordpress.com/2020/10/21/book-review-good-clean-fun-by-nick-offerman/
Note: I listened to the Audiobook, narrated by the author.
So, I have been living in a box all these years as I had no idea who Nick Offerman was or why I might want to listen to him wax lyrical about his thoughts on woodworking.
I was simply scouring the Audible archives for another entertaining and educational listen for my morning 5 mile runs. I had never thought to listen to a woodworking book. It seems strange, listening to books about crafts or any hands-on hobby.
But I like audiobooks, I love woodworking, and this one popped up.
Apparently, Nick Offerman is a famous actor from a long-running, albeit completed, television series. His other claim to fame is as the husband to Megan Mullaly, a supremely funny lady that I know only from Will & Grace and her voice-over work. Mr.
Offerman is not only an actor/husband. He is a woodworker. And for that reason, I was intrigued. And he seems to carry a nice beard. Also intriguing.
If you're looking for an audiobook that will teach you how to make tightly fitting box joints or how to plane a huge tree slab, then this is not the tome for you. Besides, why would you listen to an audiobook for this kind of instruction?
Good Clean Fun is, as its title suggests, a pleasant, humorous look at woodworking, setting up a home shop, the possibilities of making a career in this funny field, and some of the people the author is lucky enough to work with, aka Shop Heroes.
I think the shop heroes are my favorite parts of the book because many of them are women. Offerman takes an inclusive stance on women in woodworking. In fact, he doesn't make note of it as being anything other than normal. Women love woodworking just as deeply as men.
This nonchalance is refreshing. I hope that someday the number of women in woodworking is closer to 50/50 than the current 10-15%.
A quick aside on women in woodworking: In 2015, women made up 1.8 percent of all carpenters. That is a slight increase from the 1.4 percent reported in 2010.41 Things look slightly better in the field of “cabinetmakers and bench carpenters”.
In 2010, women were 2.8 percent of the cabinetmakers in the US. In 2015 they made up 7.9 percent out of a sample size of 60. For a more in depth look at women in woodworking, please read This is My Work: The Rise of Women in Woodworking by Ann Carlisle.
I think the most peculiar thing I found in this book was the fact that there are power tools that even he feels he cannot afford. I'm certain he CAN afford them, but they take up tons of space and just may not be worth the inconvenience of rearranging a successful shop.
I am at that point in my diminutive workshop of 12 by 20 feet. I have a drill press, table saw (yes, Nick's favorite SawStop), band saw, jointer/planer combo, compound miter, and a router table. There is almost no room left.
I'm a small person, but even I am having a hard time snaking in between tools.
The audiobook includes a PDF with plans for some of his favorite items and the layout of his shop. It's funny how much woodworkers like peeking into other woodworker's shops. We garner ideas and have a-ha moments when we see just how someone else is arranging their workflow.
I loved this book for Nick's narration, his Twain-ish style of writing, and the "hirsute" cover model (Nick). Book covers must appeal to the eye, to draw you in, and this one was no different.
I will be listening to this book again soon as it is soothing to listen to and just plain entertaining.
This thread can be read here: https://tenfingerswoodwork.wordpress.com/2020/10/21/book-review-good-clean-fun-by-nick-offerman/
