OT (Sorta) To the Makers, from an Ambitious young American ;

Whistle
1

Hello there!

Be you an instrument crafter, or any other sort of artisan, or just a curious boarder like me ~g~ I need some advice.

All of my life, I’ve been a dreamer. My father was and still is a dreamer, so I know where it came from, but the problem is that dreams and reality are two different things.

I know what I want to do… My desire is to, years from now, look back on my life, smile, and say “These two hands built all that” You know what I mean?

A close friend suggested I try to seek work in a field that would give me some experience with the different trades like instrument crafting, etc. (which is why I’m posting here :wink: ) But the problem is I don’t rightly know where to look, or what my options are at this point in my life.
“It’s easy to doubt yourself when you’re on your own, but much harder when you have an experienced crafter to learn from” I think is how she put it - something like that anyway :slight_smile:

SO, I think right now I’m just exploring my options, and praying that the right doors will open to the right oppurtunities.

It doesn’t help that, due to medical reasons, I can’t drive ~soft laugh~ so I’m pretty well “stationed” here in small town America until I get fed up, buy a one way ticket elsewhere, and never look back (though I don’t like to burn bridges while I’m still STANDING on them, so we’ll see ~grin~)

Anyway, I’m sorry to ramble so. Any advice is certainly more than welcome, either here, via email, ICQ, private board messaging, etc.


God bless,
Daniel

2

It would help if you could tell us what you’ve eliminated. There are lots of occupations that let you use your brain as well as your hands, others that occupy one much more than the other.

You mentioned instrument makers. Most on this board would take that as meaning luthier, ie, musical instruments, but in a different context it might mean making scientific instruments. John Sindt, I believe, qualifies as both. And a scientific instrument maker could be strictly a machinist or one who actively participates in the design phase.

I’m always encouraging young people to look into becoming machinists. It’s a skill that’s rapidly disappearing in the US, and an invaluable one. A lot of people who would have done apprenticeships a generation ago are going to college now, and there’s quite a shortage now.

Engineering and the physical sciences can also allow you to get your hands dirty, but not as much as you might like. You said, ‘My desire is to, years from now, look back on my life, smile, and say “These two hands built all that” You know what I mean?’ That’s what I’m doing as a geek.


Charlie

3

Daniel_CW,

I think there is a difference between being a dreamer and being a visionary. When I hear the word dreamer I think of someone who spends a lot of time dreaming (or wishing for things) but never accomplishes much because she doesn’t have a clear plan or doesn’t implement her plan. On the other hand, a visionary may have the same dream but she figures out what it takes to fulfill her dream and then takes whatever action is required.

It seems to me that you are in a stage where you have an inkling of what you want to do (i.e., you want to create things with your hands) but you don’t yet have a clear vision. IMO “moving on to another place and never looking back” is not going to help you because you don’t yet know what you want. IMO most people who do that find themselves still just as lost - they are just lost somewhere else.

My first suggestion would be look around your community for people you can learn from and perhaps gain a bit experience in various things - let it be known amongst your circle of friends and associates that you want to try things like machining, art, woodworking, welding, and such - you will be pleasantly be surprised how small the world is and how word will get around and open doors for you. Maybe you have a friend who has an uncle who is a machinist at the plastic’s plant in Booneville or maybe your dentist’s sister is an artist and so forth. Many people are very willing and eager to help out a young person with ambition and curiosity.

My second suggestion is to learn all you can about various trades and professions. Your town (or school) probably has a library, you can do research on the Internet, and there are probably people in your town who would be interested in helping you. Big tip: Older craftsmen and artisans love to share their knowledge and experience with others because they love what they do and they know they can’t take it too the grave with them.

My third suggestion is that when you find what it is that you want to do, envision how to make a living from it, and then do what it takes to fulfill the vision including sacrificing what you have to (as long as you don’t sacrifice your principles). You must be prepared to sacrfice. A reality of life is that “you can’t have it all” and you may very well have to choose. A visionary understands this but a dreamer doesn’t.

Best of luck!
Gary

One more thing, buy a copy of Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Successful People - read it and live it.

4

Nothing wrong with dreaming.

In order to fulfill a dream, you must dream it through. Every process along the way, you must consider.
Too many dreams are cut short because the person doesn’t dream the whole process. Don’t just look at the end product.

You must be willing to do all the research necessary to fulfill your dreams and you really have to enjoy the research.

When I build instruments, I like to build unusual things. During the process, I learn new things and apply those things to my everyday stuff.

I dreamed of working on instruments when I was in high school. I read one of A. Benades books back in 1979, it stayed in back of my head for years before the interest was rekindled. Back then, I lived in a small town and there was no extensive Internet with all the information at your fingertips.
With todays technology it doesn’t matter where you are. You can learn anything that you want to, you must be willing to do the work. You must live and breath that subject that relates to your dream. You must consider all of the requirements and things you will have to learn to acheive that dream.

And seeking a dream has a certain madness to it, it’s something that you want to do and you like doing. You may not make a lot of money doing what you like - but that may not matter.

Note what Charlie said, a profession like Instrument Builder requires a number of
skills. You need machinist skills, math skills, some artistic talent, engineering skills.
Your best bet is get into the instrument repair. There are a few schools around the country that you could go to. Or try apprenticing at an instrument repair store.

Take Michael Copeland’s C&F interview for example, he used to work on Organs.

Remember the old saying, Invention takes 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration. Achieving any dream or goal has the same requirements.

[ This Message was edited by: Daniel_Bingamon on 2002-04-09 22:36 ]