I want to share a story that really stuck with me—about my mate Dave who rekindled his passion for woodworking after 50.
Dave’s not a lifelong carpenter or tradesman, in fact he's a teacher who spend most of his week teaching teenagers science. He’s a regular guy who rediscovered something that had been missing and sitting quietly in the back of his mind for years: a love for building with his hands. And it all came rushing back recently when a life change gave him the space, literally and figuratively to pick up his tools again.
He helped me pull together this article to share his story.
Here’s what happened.
The move that changed everything
Not long ago, Dave and his wife moved into a new home. Tucked away in the backyard was an outhouse—nothing fancy, but it had potential.
“The moment I saw it,” Dave told me, “I thought, that’s my man shed.”
With his kids now grown up, Dave found himself with something he hadn’t had in years: time. And that quiet shed became a sanctuarya place where he could dust off his old tools and reconnect with a hobby that once brought him so much joy.
From Man Shed to MasterCraft
It didn’t take long for Dave to dive in. I asked him what worked for him and how did he then create some fine looking furniture. He said that he'd tried trial-and-error of piecing together random YouTube tutorials, that he discovered a method. After hearing and seeing what Dave said triggered me in writing this article about a clear, beginner-friendly approach that brought structure to his craft.
“The method made all the difference,” he said.
“It was like someone finally handed me a roadmap.”
That roadmap came from the The Art of WoodWorking. This was a system built around real-world projects, simple tools, and easy-to-follow plans. Dave started building again with confidence. Small pieces at first. A bench. A birdhouse. Then more ambitious projects. And just like that, the sawdust was flying and the creativity was flowing.
It’s Never Too Late to Build Something New
One of the things David said that really struck me was this:
“I thought I had missed my window. But turns out, this is the perfect season of life to do it.”
He wasn’t worried about perfection. He was focused on progress, and that made all the difference. And let me tell you: what he’s made in that man shed would put some pro workshops to shame. More importantly, it’s brought him a sense of fulfillment that’s hard to describe until you’ve felt it for yourself.
Your Own Workshop Might Be Closer Than You Think
David didn’t set out to turn his hobby into a side gig—but it happened naturally. Friends noticed his work. Requests started trickling in. Before long, he was making custom pieces on the weekends and earning a little extra cash doing something he genuinely enjoyed.“The best part?” he told me. “It doesn’t feel like work. It feels like I’m doing something real and i'm having fun.”
Whether you’ve got a garage, a corner of the basement, or even a spare shed out back like David, the beauty of woodworking is that it doesn’t take much space to get started. What matters is having the right plan and the willingness to start.
The Art of Woodworking gave Dave the structure. The shed gave him the space. And the time in his life gave him the chance to build again, not just projects, but purpose.
If you’ve been waiting for the “right time” to start woodworking—maybe this is it. Like Dave, you don’t need to know everything. You just need to take that first step with a method that makes it simple, satisfying, and accessible.
So go ahead—find your corner, your tools, your time.
You might just find a part of yourself you didn’t know you were missing.
To building what matters,
– Rich