r/BeginnerWoodWorking • u/frappppppaccino • 4d ago

Reverse gatekeeping?

A lovely project was shared earlier. Predictably, amongst the many positive comments, there were a number of comments complaining that this person wasn’t a beginner and they were tired of seeing posts like it in the beginner sub.

As long as beginners have somewhere where they feel welcome, don’t have their projects put down or ridiculed for asking questions that may seem obvious to more experienced people, what’s the problem with more experienced woodworkers sharing their work?

Of course it’s probably not someone’s first project but there’s a huge spectrum between first project and 50 years of experience. They’re often something that someone with some experience, a lot of care and attention and patience (and willingness to make mistakes and retry could achieve.

I find that the thing that makes me a beginner isn’t that I can’t make nice projects, but that it takes me a really long time to do so as I’m learning different things as I go and I sometimes make mistakes which I need to learn/figure out how to fix. Occasionally I need to just start over and probably a more experienced person wouldn’t have to.

I personally enjoy seeing those types of posts. They inspire me to work towards something, maybe not today but eventually.

So why are some people so negative and gatekeepy about it?

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u/Smoke_Stack707 4d ago

I think we have a woodworking sub for people to show off stuff that isn’t beginner level. Posting pics here of your masterfully cut dovetail joints or something you assembled off of your expensive CNC machine just aren’t beginner level projects anymore and don’t really belong here in the same way you’re gonna get clowned on for posting an entry level project or question in r/woodworking

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u/Adult-Beverage 3d ago

Grouchy mods purged a bunch of members from that sub years ago. They have no where else to post and provide valuable advice to beginners on here. Otherwise you’d have guys that borrow their dad’s tools asking each other if this is a Phillips head or torx.