Our Story

How did I get my start as a MAKER? 

My first ever project was a farm house Coffee table . My girl friend at the time now wife said we needed a table. I had never bought anything that wasn't free on craigslist and had no idea how expensive furniture was. So I said could build it, of course it was all big box construction lumber and I had no way to flatten it other than a sander, and now way to cut a straight edge other than a circular saw, so that was fun... The whole thing was put together with pocket screws and no glue. I recently took the top apart, flattened, re-stained and glued it up. I think I took 30 screws out of the top alone. It's really funny looking back because i really appreciate where I started and how little I started with.

What inspired me?

I never really considered myself an artist until I started woodworking. Its an incredible creative outlet. I wake up in the middle of the night to write down ideas or sometimes have trouble sleeping because Ive come across a problem I cant seem to solve. I thoroughly enjoy all of it. Taking an idea from my head to the computer for design and then being able to create a finished product is a great feeling. You get to have a functional piece of art, its something you created. 

 

What has been my favorite project? 

My favorite and most memorable project is a sapele dresser I built for my son. I had to learn several new techniques to get the look I was going for. Resawing boards for a bent lamination of the legs, resaw for the draw faces, the entire front matches across. Templates for curved edges, and the entire skin is quartersawn sapele veneer. I used veneer so I could get a really nice flow around the piece. All in all I am extremely happy with how it came out and hope my 1year old appreciates the work that went in to it.

Advice for someone new:

The piece of advice I have for someone starting is to work with the tools you have. You don't NEED that $1000 machine you saw on Instagram. Learn with what you have and you'll appreciate it when you do get those fancy upgrades. I know it said one piece of advice but here's my second, for a hobbyist like my self time is very limited, that means every thing I build has to count if I want to see progression. I try to incorporate a new skill or something I really want to practice in to every piece of furniture. This has helped me tackle some really technical builds and the challenge it brings is worth the risk.