My Intro Into Woodworking
When you can’t find a place to start, what better place than the beginning, right?? Let’s go there for this first post! As I mentioned in the About Haley section, Papa Randy is the reason I took to woodworking. Seeing the beautiful items he could make from a regular looking piece of wood was something just short of magic. I swear, I was in AWE every time he finished a project. From sitting on the back porch and watching him carve beautiful pictures into wooden panels to seeing massive pieces of furniture with secret hidey holes, every item filled me with such wonder and joy. (The first three pictures on the left are his work, but these are just basic things he did that we have pictures of on hand. Most of the exquisite pieces were sold.)
When I was 12, he started letting me come out to the shop with him to watch what he was doing. At first, I’m sure he set me to work to keep me from talking his ears off while he tried to concentrate. After he saw that I was actually very interested in learning his craft, he started to teach me everything I was willing to absorb. Eventually, “stay over on that side of the shop out of the way” turned into “go run some 220 over that poly if it’s dry and put another coat on while I work on something else”. After a couple years, I was free to use any wood from the scrap pile to make anything I wanted and rarely needed supervision with the tools. I was able to change the blades on the skill saw when I inevitably turned a cut too fast, knew which grits to use to achieve the look I wanted, and even when to put the power tools down and put in the manual labor with the hand planer or chisels.
Of course, I also learned a lot of my swear word vocabulary out there too!
The cross on the left was a skill saw practice item. It didn’t even get a real hanger, just a tab from a metal can. Lol. The date on the back says March 23, 2007. This was a very early piece for me and I’ve come a long way (hopefully you can tell by what I post in the future! hahaha), but this still hangs on my mom’s living room wall.
The knowledge that my papa gave me focused my mind on something positive and useful. As an adult, that gift turned in a hobby that brings me so much joy. Who would’ve thought that allowing me to help built rocking horses for baby shower gifts would turn into building a home for my own babies?? While he won’t get the chance to spend that time with my kids, I know that he lives on in what he taught me, what I will teach them, and how they will eventually use it in their own lives. I will forever be eternally grateful for that wonderful man.
Much Love,
Haley