John, you do beautiful work. I envy you. I always wanted to do woodworking, but don't have the tools or talent required. I dabble in remaking things, but never made anything but simple shelf units from scratch.
You would be surprised at what a novice can accomplish. My wife had a young woman who worked for her, who said she always wanted to learn how to do some woodworking. She asked my wife if I could teach her some of the skills. So to make a long story short, she used to come over to our house, in San Francisco, 2 times a week, after work, and we would head downstairs to my workshop, and we would work together on some of the techniques, that are required of traditional woodworking. This went on for awhile and she acquired a few hand tools. She started in on making herself a bedstead, in her apartment no less, and finished doing a very creditable job of it. I don't think she went on to become a full time woodworker, but she did finish that one project, and had some other ideas for doing other projects. We lost contact with her when we left San Francisco, but given the place and skills she had I was impressed with her results. So you see, with dedication, anything is possible.