He worked in agriculture to start with, then at 18 joined a civil engineering course. Within two years he was studying suspension bridge construction techniques under Huang Shih-ying and Lin Wan-k'o, and two years later launched off into his own independent career overseeing bridge-building projects all over Taiwan.
初時，他做過農務，十八歲進入土木工程業，從一個小學徒做起，二年後，跟隨吊橋業前輩黃石英、林萬科學習建造吊橋技術；再過二年，林枝木已能獨當一面，到全省各處承包吊橋工程。