In his last editorial, Chris asked about what sparked your interest in woodworking. Several readers share their stories. – Editor
“I also took woodshop in junior high school (it wasn’t called ‘middle school’ yet) in the late 1960s. Made some stuff, but I wasn’t hooked yet. I’ve always been a ‘maker,’ and at some point I switched to making with software (paid way better). But as I prepared for retirement, I refaced all the kitchen cabinets before I sold my house and rediscovered a thing that was hiding in me! When we moved, one of my criteria for the new place was a shop. I got it. I now have almost 1,000 sq. ft., and I’ve completely traded bytes for router ‘bits.’ And I’m not looking back! Making furniture, or turning bowls, or whatever suits my fancy, feeds my need to create, and this keeps me busy and out of the house. I’m now 68, and I’ve been retired for 8 years. I get warnings from Google that I have too many pictures—and 90% of those pictures are of stuff I’ve made in my shop!” – Steve Kendal
“For me, it was when I took the motor out of a 78 record player and used it as a lathe to make a toothpick holder out of a chunk of cedar.” – RileyG
“I’ve been making things from wood for several years. I started when I decided to replace all the door facings and jams and baseboards in our home with molded red oak. Of course, that spiraled out of control. When did I know I was a woodworker? I am still not completely sure I’ll ever be a real ‘woodworker.’ I’ll probably die trying to become one.” – Charles Tubbs
“Nice to know that I’m not alone in early ‘rough cuts.’ I used to say that I do rustic woodworking, because that was the only level of precision I was capable of! I did shop in high school, but I was absolutely 100% terrible at it! I became a woodworker in the process of building meditation benches. I couldn’t find anything the right size for that purpose, so I resolved to build one. YouTube made it possible. Along the way, I’ve generally discovered that A) I needed the right tools (or better tools) to make things happen, and B) I needed to know how to use those tools. Even after learning how, I needed to acquire the skill to actually do it. (Much less easy than it appears in most videos, as I discovered so frequently. It gave me a whole new respect for the trades, I can tell you!) My first ‘bench’ was nothing more than a box, minus front, back, and bottom. It wasn’t anything I could put on the market, but I still use it today. Using it convinced me of its value for yoga and for meditation, so I wrote a book on the subject (at Amazon), and I began working on something I could put on the market. Eight years and thousands of dollars later, I’ve gone through 12 iterations of the design, and I have a heck of a lot of equipment I needed for versions I no longer build! (Egad. But the good news is, I’m prepared for almost anything.) Of course, my website still has the $450 version that was my 2nd iteration. I need to update with the $200 wooden version and $85 resin-molded plastic version from an end table I modify with my equipment! Then maybe, at long last, I’ll actually be on the market! (Where a whole ‘nother set of skills lie waiting to be acquired.)” – Eric Armstrong
“Growing up in the 1950s, my grandad owned a corner grocery store, and there were always small wooden crates in the basement. Occasionally, I’d ask if I could take one to make something (bookends, bird houses, etc.). Fast forward to 1969. My wife and I married while I was still in college. Like you, money was really tight. Our first apartment was furnished in family attic cast offs that we repaired, stripped and refinished (a small mahogany drop leaf, a grandmother’s antique bed, another grandmother’s cedar hope chest, a card table and chairs). One of our first purchases was a turntable, amp and speakers. These sat on the floor of our empty living room for almost a year, when my wife wondered whether I could build a record cabinet to house them and our albums. Her grandfather gave me a few reclaimed pine boards that I cut to size with a hand saw. I bought a Stanley No. 4 smoothing plane that I used to joint the boards to glue up the sides, shelves and top of the cabinet. I also used the plane to raise the panels for two raised panel doors on the piece. I designed a base molding, and a talented older friend showed me how to cut the coves in the molding on his table saw. As we worked, I said it would be cool if someone made furniture kits with the pieces of wood already milled and cut to size for guys like me who had the will but not the tools to build furniture. The record cabinet came out better than I expected. That started my love affair with sawdust. A couple years after this first successful project, I saw an ad for a grandfather clock kit from the Emperor Clock company. It had all of the lumber and parts milled and pretty much ready to trim or miter and glue/screw together. I built two of these (which are still in the family). I learned a LOT repairing and refinishing antique pieces, observing how they were designed and constructed. That experience has colored everything that I’ve built. Fifty-plus years on, I’ve acquired a collection of tools that make wood working much easier and have built about 100 different tables, cabinets, built-ins, chests, sideboards and small projects for members of the family. My proudest achievements include a reproduction cherry armoire to match an antique Eastlake bedroom set (bed, dresser, and commode) that we have, a slate bed oak pool table and a black walnut bourbon storage/service piece called a Cellarette. I could never make a living as a cabinet maker (it’s a hobby and stress relief), but I love every minute I get to spend in my shop.” – Mike Campanella
“I have a picture my parents took of me with my diapers on, nail apron and hammer in my hand. My dad did a lot of house renovations and I was right there. When I was young, my dad said he always bought an extra pound of nails for me to drive into wood. I was told I started making a bird house and after hours of cutting and nailing I threw my tools in it and said, ‘It’s a tool box.’ I built projects with my dad, curved top pirates chest, real bird houses and back yard play houses. When I got into high school I met the new shop teacher, Mr Smith. With his guidance I made a complete bedroom set out of walnut. So when people asked to make things for schools and the town, he would pass it to me. I won regional woodworking shows. I bought an old house and restored it, making many of the moldings, adding a porch, building a garage (which is my shop) and do projects for others. I have taught many children and adults how to woodwork. I like it to this day and still make one-of-a-kind pieces. I am 72 and going strong.” – Mark Erickson
And several weeks ago, Chris shared a story of a former executive he once knew who retired reluctantly and without hobbies. It has prompted several replies from fellow readers. – Editor
“As a junior/senior high school woodworking teacher of 37 years, I am retiring (graduating) from high school this year. Like you, my plans are to build a very large shop/garage and continue doing what I love, second to teaching, and that is working in the shop. I have been fortunate enough to have large wood, welding and mechanical shops at my disposal on my weekends, but I have collected most of the tools I will need for my shop. I am excited to start my new ‘job’ and travel with my wife in the future. I have seen too many people retire and die from boredom (literally and figuratively) because they had nothing to do.” – Darwin Feakes
“I can’t tell you how much I agree with you. I have a family business, and I see employees all the time who don’t want to retire. They say, what would I do at home—sit around and watch TV? And I think, OMG NO! I would build so many things, and when I was done building all the things I needed, I would build things to give away and teach others to build things. I guess I can finally see the value of not doing woodwork for a living. I have not grown tired of it, and I look forward to doing it in retirement. I feel for those who don’t have hobbies that they look forward to doing for the rest of their lives.” – Todd Teresi
“(Retirement) is more complicated than that. First you need to increase your volunteer work to help others. Maybe start at your house of worship or kids (or grandkids) school. What can you help organize, or fix? Plan some of those trips that you wanted to go on while you still have your health. Do NOT plop down in front of the TV and let your mind go to mush or you’ll die within the year. Try to work in some woodworking as a special treat for yourself. And once in a while, ask yourself how you got everything done and still went to work? I can’t seem to get everything done that I want to and I’m not going to work. Right now, I’m checking the emails in between waiting to apply the next coats of finish to something I’m modifying for someone at our synagogue, after doing online continuing education to keep up my pharmacist’s license, and doing data entry on a project I help my wife with while she’s at work. It’s a good day. You might also ask how you got here already…didn’t I just graduate from high school? But we’ve got our 60th (seriously!) graduation reunion this summer. Send your article to your previous editor and mention that you are thinking about him.” – Paul Tanenbaum
