Editor’s note: Today we’re excited to share an exclusive announcement and cover reveal of Nick Offerman’s next book, Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop (available October 2016, Dutton).
While it’s been a little over a year since the series finale of Parks and Recreation, fans of Nick Offerman have no shortage of ways to get a fix of their favorite deadpan funnyman — from streaming old episodes of the show (or his 2014 comedy special, “American Ham”) on Netflix and paging through his two books (New York Times bestsellers Gumption and Paddle Your Own Canoe) to perusing his hardwood handiwork as part of the collaborative East Los Angeles furniture building outfit, Offerman Woodshop. As of this fall, you can add one more activity to that list: tackling a DIY woodworking project from Offerman’s new book, Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop.
Good Clean Fun, out October 18, 2016, is more than just a manual for making brawny bottle openers and three-legged stools. In addition to beginner, intermediate, and advanced projects with detailed instructions and step-by-step photos, the book, a group effort from all the members of Offerman’s shop, also includes comic book-style guides to woodworking-relevant tasks (such as felling trees), profiles of woodworking heroes, and other unexpected extras.
Read on for a glimpse of the book’s cover and an exclusive Q&A with the man behind the mustache.
Of all the making activities you’ve dabbled in over the years, what is it about working with wood that has captivated you the most?
I’m fascinated by the wizardry of the human race and our ability to make things — to take raw materials and make them into useful implements and objects of beauty or practicality. I think that’s our greatest superpower.
I suppose, because my family depends upon the use of tools in many ways — my uncles and my grandfather were talented mechanics, and my dad’s leaning is toward works of carpentry — I was bound to become either a mechanic or a metalworker or a woodworker. My dad and I built a lot of stuff out of wood around our house, including a small barn, and I was taken at an early age with the power of the hammer and nails and the saw. As a kid, being able to understand how a barn could be built felt pretty amazing.
I think that magic stayed with me as I got into theater school and was able to use my hammering ability to work in the scene shop and actually make a living in the theater while I was waiting for my acting skills to improve. And it developed that way organically: Whenever my dreams of artistry as an entertainer were failing me, I was able to fall back upon doing something with wood and tools. Finally, building timber frame structures in people’s yards in Los Angeles, I realized, Holy cow, these are mortise and tenon joints; using this joinery, I just have to shrink it down a little bit, and I can make a table. By god, I’m a woodworker! I sort of tricked myself into it.

We take saw safety very seriously. Photo by Josh Salsbury.
What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from woodworking — whether about woodworking specifically, or life in general?
I’d say patience is the most important thing I’ve learned from woodworking. From the get-go, all my great teachers, many of whom have only communicated with me through the writing that they’ve left behind, have said: Slow down and do this one step at a time. My great teacher Ted Moores, who wrote the seminal canoe building book Canoecraft, says at the beginning of the book, If you look at this canoe, it can be very daunting; you might think there’s no way I can do that. But if you slow down and just learn one step at a time, even with beginner woodworking skills, you might be surprised to find that you can sharpen a chisel, and then you can cut out the patterns for this mold, and then you can apply the strips of the cedar hull to the mold, and before you know it, you’ve achieved these many steps and you’re standing there looking at a finished canoe.
And I love the way that lesson, sort of in Wendell Berry fashion, applies to living a much more full and rich life by slowing down and taking your time achieving whatever your project is, whether it’s raising your kid or building a table or writing a musical composition. If you can shut off the distraction of all the media channels and all the consumer messaging that we’re constantly barraged with and just knit your scarf, the journey of the project is going to be so satisfying, and the end result is hopefully going to be remunerative. That, I find, is just a much more delicious way to live than if I’m, like, checking my social media: How many people like me today? All of that has some impact, but it’s small, so I give it just a small percentage of my time. I try to spend more time sharpening my chisels than I do sharpening my Twitter feed.

Lee ponders life’s mysteries whilst her dog sniffs out the best grain pattern. Photo by Josh Salsbury.
Much like your woodshop itself, this book is the result of a group effort, with contributions from several members of your team (and your family). What do you see as some of the joys and benefits of collaboration in a creative enterprise?
I grew up in a big family — I have three siblings — and we all worked on the farm together, we all made our good times together for holidays and weekends, and I grew up learning to make my life with others. That translated easily to my small theater company in Chicago, the Defiant Theater, where all these people were working for little or no pay financially, but incredible spiritual and artistic rewards, to make something for others. Now, in the woodshop, there are seven of us, including me; working together, anytime you get to a tricky part of a project, it’s like the old adage, two heads are better than one, but in our shop, three or four heads are better than one. And practically, it’s great when you need to flip a table or move a slab or unload a truck to have many hands making light work.
But then socially, I just love working together. One of my favorite things about working at the shop is sitting down to lunch every day like a family and keeping up with everybody’s lives. There’s something rewarding about a community and a fellowship and going through this life together, rather than sequestering ourselves in some sort of isolation, which only creates, I think, loneliness and depression. It’s nice to have people to share the wealth with when the wealth arrives, and then those same people will help you bear the hardships when those happen to come your way.

That’s Amore! Syc-amore! Photo by Christine Fuqua.
You’ve often pointed out that you’re not a “master woodworker,” but a lifelong student of the craft of woodworking. Do you have a dream woodworking challenge? Something you don’t have the skills to do yet but hope to one day?
As an actor, people often ask me, “What’s your dream role?” or “Do you want to win an Oscar someday?” And I don’t really operate that way, as an actor or as a woodworker. I’m not terribly ambitious, and I’ve been very well served by just following my gut as to whatever the next project should be, whether it’s a play or a movie or a slab table or a canoe.
That said, at the moment, I have all the wood cut out to make a big batch of ukuleles, so I’m going to try to become really good at ukuleles; that’s on my way to making really nice acoustic guitars. If I achieve that goal in the next ten or twelve years — which I know is going to take several tries — then maybe I’ll want to make a violin or a mandolin or a nickelodeon, I don’t know. Something will occur to me, but I can’t worry about that — I just focus on what seems to be the next smart thing to do. And if for some reason they take away my tools or they tell me I can’t perform anymore, I’ll just feel really good about how much I’ve gotten to do so far. I don’t think I’ll ever have regrets like, Dammit, I never got to play a cowboy, or I wish I could have built a wooden Corvette.
What would you say to someone who was interested in getting started with woodworking but who felt intimidated or unqualified?
I personally had the good fortune of having great teachers showing me how to use tools, putting them in my hands, and saying, “Here, here’s how to use a hammer, here’s how to operate a crosscut saw.” I think that is the most important thing by far. And so the best advice I could give, I think, would be to find someone near you — it could be a family member, someone in your neighborhood, someone in a school or a class — who will teach you to use tools in some way. Because once you see how to sharpen a piece of steel, and then see what you can do to wood with that steel, that says, Oh, now my body has a feel for this, I have begun to learn the vernacular of affecting wood with tools.
That’s something I’ll be writing about in Good Clean Fun: celebrating many of the schools I’ve visited around the country that still teach the trades. Something that I consider so incredibly noble, that is constantly removed from schools’ curricula, is that just teaching our population to be able to fix their own back porch is so important to the strength of our national character. The fact that I had Home Ec class, and still to this day take great pride in sewing my own buttons and being able to mend a rip in my clothing with a not-too-shabby whipstitch — I love it. I learned that in sixth grade. The fact that that is no longer considered valuable is so shameful.
I had the good fortune to land this great part on Parks and Rec, and it gave me a big audience. I’m trying to use the opportunity to tell people to get back to the world of Home Ec and Shop Class, because that’s a value of our lives that has been taken away in so much of the population. If everyone would read Wendell Berry, they would learn what I’ve learned, which is that the way to a really happy, fruitful, productive life is to join hands with those in your community and make your life together. And that involves gardening and building and making things.
Not only do you save money and take much better care of your land, you also, at the end of your lifetime, say, “Look at what we’ve done, we’ve made a community — that family made our furniture, that other family made our boots, this other family got together and played at the hoedown every Saturday night.” Nobody’s going to care how many pairs of Nikes you bought or how up-to-date your BMW is, they’re going to care about all those pies that you made and how delicious your blueberry pie was. That’s my soap box: Everybody get together and make blueberry pie for each other.
Preorder your copy of Nick Offerman’s Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust in Offerman Workshop today.
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111 comments
Renee from RandMhandmade said 2 years ago
This was very interesting!! Thank you for sharing!
Helen Harwood from FatBerry said 2 years ago
Good story, great team! Thank you for sharing.
Marcy Pendergast from TheEnergyGarden said 2 years ago
Great pictures!
Julia K Walton from FireHorseVintageHQ said 2 years ago
My husband will be wanting a copy of that book ... great interview and photos :o)
Francine from HomespunHeartofMine said 2 years ago
Thanks for a great article!!! :D Such fun!!!
Kashuen Collectibles from Kashuen said 2 years ago
I wish I have a family member can talk me all the tools and how to use them correctly. It sounds like fun to do woodwork.
Niki from JandEdoodles said 2 years ago
Love Nick Offerman, and even more so now that I know of his love of woodworking and crafting. My grandfather was a cabinet maker, and is amazing woodcrafter aside from that. I grew up surrounded by my grandpa and my dad building anything and everything out of wood. It really instilled in me a love of things handmade.
Megan from MegansMenagerie said 2 years ago
Great article! I love woodworking. One of my favorite smells in the world is walking into a woodshop.
Donna Laken from LokenLoomWeaving said 2 years ago
So many wonderful life lessons here, along with photos that made me smile and laugh! This just warms my heart - thank you so much!! :)
renee and gerardo from GTDesigns said 2 years ago
Awesome artist story....I know my hubby will enjoy this one....TFS!!!
accentonvintage from accentonvintage said 2 years ago
Wonderful article! Basic knowledge is so important!
Priscilla from Gardenmis said 2 years ago
Loved reading this! Home ec, shop, community, all quite necessary! Thank you for sharing :)
U.L.Design from UniqueLeatherDesign said 2 years ago
Great story! Bravo!
OHH Baby from OlaHolaHolaBaby said 2 years ago
Offerman for President!
LivingVintage from LivingVintage said 2 years ago
Fascinating article. Thanks!
Katyooshjewelry jewelry from Kattyoosh said 2 years ago
Thank you for sharing.Awesome story.
Mokami from mokami said 2 years ago
Awesome artist and actor! Really good article! congrats!
Shamise Mitchell from ShamisesBlissful said 2 years ago
Great article! Great artist!
Lynn Heigh from VineAndBranchStudio said 2 years ago
The philosophy of learning to make things,including family style relationships, acquiring skills with patience, is a wonderful model for all of us! Love this!
Sue from SuesAkornShop said 2 years ago
Great article. I have always wanted to make things with wood. Maybe I still will!
Olivie Ponce from olivieponce said 2 years ago
Very interesting Story!
Lisa P from TheGoldGator said 2 years ago
Great article! Love him!
Dorothy from JewelrybyDorothy said 2 years ago
Interesting story!
Theres from MoonyWool said 2 years ago
Total studio envy! Great story. :)
TropicalGarden from TropicalGarden said 2 years ago
Inspiring and impressive story!
Gabriel Sutton from GKSFurnitureMaker said 2 years ago
Nicks words are right on point.
Ana R. from ongoodroads said 2 years ago
Love the "back to basics" of this story. Handmade/homemade is always a lovely thing.
ACR from IntoTheBluePaintShop said 2 years ago
Great post !
Madeleine Keller from ThoseGoodVibrations said 2 years ago
Omg Nick Offerman! Ron is my favorite character in Parks and Rec! I had no idea that you actually did woodworking. Good to know haha. Thanks for sharing this!
Michelle Cleek O'Hollaren from sophisticatedpup said 2 years ago
Incredible work!
allwood1 from AllWoodToo said 2 years ago
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Justin from LiebermannWoodworks said 2 years ago
Good stuff, keep at it!
Lenny Mud from LennyMud said 2 years ago
Nick Offerman I love you. And I like you. Best. Post. Ever.
Patrizia Albanese from MaiolicaPatrizia said 2 years ago
Beautiful!
Michelle from aPinkButterfly said 2 years ago
Love the story! Love Nick Offerman! Love the pics!
Cyndy and Wes House from WoodGamesPlus said 2 years ago
Great article Nick! I can relate to it in many ways. Wish you the best!
Marijana Fraska from ArmellaMeaJewelry said 2 years ago
Great story!
ElenApe from elenape said 2 years ago
It's great to know there's a tiny part of Ron Swanson in Nick Offerman! Many thanks for sharing this!
Hajira Gibb from HajiraKG said 2 years ago
Really good article.
Garret Willis from RetroAudioWorks said 2 years ago
When he got the role for P&R the producers called him while he was running his table saw. They asked what the noise was in the background and he told them. They could not believe it. They came to his shop that day to see for themselves and were amazed. They then worked that side of him into his role. He is a master craftsman.
Mary Jo and Rachael from SouvenirAndSalvage said 2 years ago
We LOVE Nick Offerman and his Ron Swanson character. P&R is a great show and showcases unique individuals staying true to themselves. What better subject for Etsy sellers could there be! Great feature. Can't wait to read his book :-)
Chen Xiaojun from SamgharamaStudio said 2 years ago
awesome!!!!!
DivineOrders from DivineOrders said 2 years ago
Thank you Nick for sharing your values, thoughts & attitudes of 'incredible spiritual and artistic rewards.' Patience, selflessness, and sharing are blessings from above. Much like the Etsy community, we all are better human beings when we share our selves & our blessings. - Peace.
Sherri from ButterflyFeetDigital said 2 years ago
Great, insightful, meaningful! Thanks for sharing!
Valentina . from Exclusive72 said 2 years ago
Great article! Thank you for sharing.
riverwoodprimitives from RiverwoodPrimitives said 2 years ago
Nick rules!
Aga from AgasJourney said 2 years ago
Awesome! thank you for sharing
Natalie Spradlin from TrueBelieverJewelry said 2 years ago
The cover photo is so funny I had to read the article to see what it was about. I love it when people follow their bliss!
Sarah Blue from BluebirrrdDreams said 2 years ago
I love this man! My own woodworking skills are limited to making a birdhouse now and then, but he is right. It is such a good feeling being able to use a hammer and saw.
Stacey from PrintPost said 2 years ago
Great article, and love that cover photo. :) Brings up many memories - my Dad was a carpenter growing up, scruffy beard and the smell of sawdust. Good stuff.
Joni Russell from CrystalMistCottages said 2 years ago
Seriously awesome.
Keri Ramsauer from Lulubellebazaar said 2 years ago
I Heart Wood Too!
Lois Demers from UniqueRabbitDesigns said 2 years ago
Great story and I agree with your step by step learning method. And by the way, lunch is my favorite time of the day too!
Nicole from Crackerjackarma said 2 years ago
Terrific insightful feature ! Love that dog too !!
Dee from LittleBabyBumblebee said 2 years ago
Oh Ron!!! My husband's man-crush! Great article.
Danielle M. from obscurascope said 2 years ago
I really like that point that Nick brings up about how not having a sense of community can lead to isolation and depression. I think that in very large cities, that sense of community can definitely seem intimidating to find. I really love art, so right now I am trying to reach out to my local art community so I don't feel so alone. Great article! :)
Carol Bender from BarnshopAntiques said 2 years ago
Very uplifting, I love this man's sense of humor.
Georgia from JewelMeShop said 2 years ago
Thanks for sharing your story!
Jagoda from yanyula said 2 years ago
Awasome craftmen!
Ombretta from indielabvintage said 2 years ago
Great article! Thanks for sharing!
Rosita from pillowlink said 2 years ago
Incredible photos, story! Point of view to crafting... It rocks! Thank you for sharing this story...
Blaz from Zmaps said 2 years ago
Top, my story of woodworking! You rock Nick! Blaz, Zmaps
UmmNiyatiJewelry from UmmNiyatiJewelry said 2 years ago
Interesting story and nice shop. Congratulations on the feature.
Anna Kozlova from krokozyablik said 2 years ago
The work of wood impress with their vivacity!
Relly from RelsFindsNapaValley said 2 years ago
I find the process of woodworking very interesting, especially turning wood into a useful form of art. Congratulations on your book Nick Offerman’s Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust in Offerman Workshop. Additionally, I'm a fan of you and Megan, I always enjoy both your acting and comedy. Thank you.
Jessica at Little Cu-tees from LittleCuteesApparel said 2 years ago
Great post!
Kalisa L. from MuchandQuick said 2 years ago
Welp, I know a wood worker who is getting this book in the near future!
ezliving from ezliving said 2 years ago
Great Story! great post and thanks for sharing!
Kim Cole from BeachDaisyJewelry said 2 years ago
Wonderful story - loved hearing about your passion for making things and the teachers and family that inspired you! Have fun in your wood shop and congrats on the book. I am a fan, thanks for making me laugh!!
Marshall Moore said 2 years ago
Awesome Story!!
Andrii from OakKitchenBoards said 2 years ago
Interesting story!
Aaron Thomas from ThomasFineWoodworks said 2 years ago
Nick Offerman is a funny guy and an awesome woodworker. I loved his interview with Wood Magazine a couple of years ago. I loved Parks and Recreation but when I found out that that the woodworking facet of Ron Swanson's character was really based on Nick's passion for woodworking and that he was more than just a hobbyist it made it even more enjoyable.
Philip and Christy from WinfreyHomeDesigns said 2 years ago
This is awesome!! What a great article! Love that he has a passion for woodworking as we do!
Janell Reid from JacobandCharlies said 2 years ago
Great Read!
Pavlo Prannyk from DoshkaCo said 2 years ago
Interesting, thank you
LaTeeFah from laTeefahDoLLs1898 said 2 years ago
:).•*
varga49 said 2 years ago
C'Mon Nick ,...Use a respirator!
Margaret Ovsova from SculptureFelting said 2 years ago
You are a true master of his craft ! It is great!
Patti Trostle from PattiTrostle said 2 years ago
Great article!!
Cristy Ramos from ArtisanBathandBody said 2 years ago
I love this story and the humor put into it. The passion put into woodworking is definitely noticeable. I love the picture of Nick covered in all that sawdust - to me it means Dedication & Hard Work. Such an inspiration for many. Congratulations on the book! Cheers!
Marta Simon from Cutethingscollector said 2 years ago
I love Parks and Recreation and Nick Offerman´s character, Ron Swanson!! I´m a Galician big fan!!!
Robert Cornelus said 2 years ago
Offerman is a real dick. His wealth buys up the good wood so us starving woodworkers can only buy up the crap wood. This is a reality and not a lie. It's becoming a real problem since Globalization kicked in.
Jess Nicol from washedoutbrownnow said 2 years ago
Bringing craft back in the world, I love it!
John and Thea Bronleewe Starr from 6by6Arts said 2 years ago
Great article!
Marvin Gnagy from moepaints said 2 years ago
Great article, a model for the young ones of today, those willing to listen and learn and those who want everything for free. Hard work is a fact of life.
Karolina from TheGlassMountain said 2 years ago
What a fantastic article from a hilarious and inspiring man :) My father is an amateur wood worker, he's made so many things over the years for our family...Furniture, doors, beds for the family dogs, even the front porch at their house..I suppose that's where I got my own love and respect for handmade crafts :) Nick is right, it's so important to know hold on to these skills and values.
FabGiftsDesign from FabGiftsDesign said 2 years ago
Great, great article : )
Nancy from anotherghostquilts said 2 years ago
Great article. Resonated with me as a hand quilter, especially the patience part! Thanks.
Soap Sista Peters from CHEROKEEWEAH said 2 years ago
Thank you for sharing your talents. I briefly took woodcrafting as a military craft decades ago and it was fun but for me , intimidating. Now I wish I had stuck with it. More importantly, I really appreciate you emphasizing the importance of being able to fix your own back yard. I have a son and home ec would be great to learn in school but many vocational classes are no longer being taught in schools. Therefore, please continue to be successful in what you do which I know will bless others in learning the trade! Soap Sista
Nikki from WiseApple said 2 years ago
What an awesome read - loved this article! <3
Dave Rhoten from davesigns said 2 years ago
Great article..Very pleasant and informative...what a great inspiration to "wanna be" woodworkers. I'm in my 80s and my life is woodworking...and it also happens to be the main activity that I love (aside from sharing with my family)....and I try to learn something new...or try a new idea... every day. I don't watch TV..but I'm gonna try to catch a Parks & Rec episode. I'm gonna order the book.
Brian and Tracy McKearney from SnowDogQuiltWoodwork said 2 years ago
Awesome Article, thank you for sharing! Wood = Fun :-)
Geert from Wooddesigndforyou said 2 years ago
Such great article . Verry inspiring . I love to do woodworking and create usefull items . Strange , funny and unique items ☺.
التقوي للخدمات from atqwa2000 said 2 years ago
كشف تسربات المياه بالرياض
التقوي للخدمات from atqwa2000 said 2 years ago
شركة عزل الاسطح
التقوي للخدمات from atqwa2000 said 2 years ago
شركة عزل بالرياض
التقوي للخدمات from atqwa2000 said 2 years ago
شركة كشف تسربات المياه
التقوي للخدمات from atqwa2000 said 2 years ago
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التقوي للخدمات from atqwa2000 said 2 years ago
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التقوي للخدمات from atqwa2000 said 2 years ago
شركة رش مبيدات بالرياض
Amelia Qualters from ameliaqualters said 2 years ago
I love this. Nick seems like such a cool and down to earth guy. Definitely a good lesson to be learned in this article.
Parkpoom Nuntalit from RayOutLab said 2 years ago
Great story!
Emily Lim from shuqi said 2 years ago
Love your story. Thanks for sharing?
Denise Elliott Jones from DeniseElliottJones said 2 years ago
nice!
Elizabeth and Jeffrey McGee from AdliteCreations said 2 years ago
Great story! Goes to show that when you have a passion for something it can lead to great things. For me my passion is woodworking too but it's also cathartic and more than just creating handmade pieces, The other half of what makes it so great is our awesome customers and how happy our products make them. There's no substitute for that :-)
Andrii from OakKitchenBoards said 2 years ago
Cool :)
Relly from RelsFindsNapaValley said 2 years ago
Great book with great ideas. Thanks! BTW, I saw your interview at the Today show the other day. Congratulations!!!
Jess Masters from RefinedRock said 2 years ago
Yes!
Aevar og Helga from MaidinIceland said 2 years ago
Greinilega afburðarmaður! - Awesome Guy!
may Ghaff said 2 years ago
nice story , Thank you for sharing.
Achara Patthong from AcharaSilver said 2 years ago
Good Works !