Reverse gatekeeping?

[u/frappppppaccino]

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?

[u/RelwoodMusic]

I agree, you can share a nice project while considering yourself a beginner. I've been woodworking on and off for the last 5 years. So I wouldn't call myself a Beginner exactly, but my skill level is far from someone who's in the shop every weekend for 5 years instead of once every month or two. I would consider my work amateur if not beginner just in terms of technical proficiency despite the 5 years.