Woodworker & Furniture Maker Matt Cremona discusses self-teaching and doing a solo video show - The Busy Creator Podcast 61

Matt Cremona (@MattCremona) is best known for his woodworking video channel on YouTube. Primarily self-taught, Matt challenges himself to build beautiful furniture, going so far as to cut and prepare the timber, documenting the forest-to-finished-piece process along the way.

Matt’s background is diverse, with previous work in software development, interface design, and economics. Together we discuss wood, carpentry and essential tools, and producing a weekly video show. Check out his videos and some of his work at MattCremona.com

Show Notes & Links

 Woodworking with Matt Cremona on YouTube

Matt calls himself a “furniture maker” because he doesn’t focus on pure design

Matt, a former software designer, learned to build and maintain homes by working for his landlord

Unlike most woodworkers, Matt will take a piece from forest to showroom.

Adam Smith wrote about the input of labour into the cost of goods

Matt studied Business Finance and Vertical Integration

“Everything I have that’s useful in my day-to-day life … I taught myself.”

—Matt Cremona

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Autodidact

“Every time [timber] changes hands, the cost doubles.”

—Matt Cremona

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Dovetail Joint & Half-blind Dovetail Joint

Dovetail Joint

Half-Blind Dovetail Joint

Matt’s Shop Update — published every Monday, after four hours of production

Matt learned video editing in the high school A/V club, and returned to the practice years later

Lindsay Katt, quotable past guest on The Busy Creator Podcast

Calculus

“Geometry plays an incredibly large part in what I do.”

—Matt Cremona

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Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

Is this a Rhombus or a Kite?

Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and other electronics

Modding XBOX to build a Linux web server, for example

Prescott aspires to 3D model and print his own steampunk outlet covers

Drywall anchors, tile spacers — can be 3D printed

Drywall anchors, will be 3D printed as needed in the future

The original Metre was just a brass bar with two chinks in it (now it’s the oscillations of a Krypton ion)

The First Metre

A Foot is actually defined by its proportion of a Metre — .3048m exactly

Chroma keying (green screen)

Slabbing up a 6000-lb red oak log

Matt’s Cherry Cabinet project

Selecting the panels for the doors

 Matt Cremona on Twitter

 Matt Cremona on Facebook

 Matt Cremona on Instagram

Tools

Milling machines such as jointers, planers

YouTube, for learning just about anything

A second monitor (the best tool for a digital workflow)

Display Fusion, and other Taskbar management apps for dual monitors

Evernote

Adobe Premiere

Stabilization Plugins

Saws – hand saw, circular saw, mitre saw

Techniques

Examine your material costs and where you can save money by producing your own

Hire a guy with a saw mill, rather than try to do that part yourself

Look for trees that have already fallen or been damaged

Publish a weekly update to force yourself to do something each week

Fight to have everything square from the start

Keep an old computer in your shop and look at your notes

Shop for used equipment, build your workshop slowly

Arrange your workshop around your workflow; place first-run tools closer to the door

Pick a first project before you choose your first tools

Bring a camera and record events … you never know when you’ll need the footage!

Learn to use the grain of the wood

Habits

Combine power tools with hand tools

Find the time that’s most productive for your (midnight–3:00am for Matt)

Prepare and eat pancakes every day

Answer email and connect via social early in the morning, get it out of the way

Map out “main goals” for each day

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