It’s A Progression

As a part of these three “intro” blogs I’d like to take a minute to remember that every endeavor you may seek to undergo in this life will always be a progression. I constantly feel like my skills and knowledge are lacking. I see so many amazing craftsmen and women and feel so far behind in this woodworking world. When that is in the forefront of my mind I’ve been trying to remember that it’s a progression of skills and if I look back over the years I can be grateful to see them developing.

Way back in the day (for me at least) I started my journey into putting my hands to the task as a carpenter. 2014 was my first real step into the world of building materials, tools, and sweat equity. I started out with virtually no knowledge but was eager to learn along the way. This journey involved decks, framing houses, gutting flip houses, flooring, hanging cabinets, screened-in porches, and a bit of trim here and there. These first few years laid a base of knowledge that paved the way for the year to come.

In 2017 I got married to my wonderful wife (Audrey) and ended up moving out to Laramie, Wyoming. As poor newlyweds we didn’t have much in the way of furniture, so I set out to use my basic set of carpentry tools to make planters, plant stands, bedframes, and a hodge podge of other very very crude pieces of furniture, almost all of which was made with either pallet wood, 2x4’s, or plywood. None of it was very pretty, however, it scratched that itch to explore and create. I continued on with carpentry and was able to set up my first “shop”, an 8x16’ single car garage with one 15amp outlet and three lightbulbs. It wasn’t much, but it made due for where I was at that point in life.

In 2019 we moved back to Michigan to be nearer to family and be with my Mother as she underwent treatment for the cancer she was battling. The house we bought had a nearly 800sqft garage that I was eager to make into a “real” shop. I was able to insulate and sheet the inside and slowly began to outfit it with basic shop tools. It took years and years to save the money for a basic 6” benchtop jointer and 13” lunchbox planer. I also used a job site table saw as my primary table saw until 2021, making do with what I could afford while not wanting to settle. The first couple of years involved lots of experimenting with my first cabinets, dovetails, milling lumber, and lots of jobs here and there that weren’t furniture-oriented. It was really an awesome period of growth and figuring out how to set up a shop and run a small business.

Now we’re partway into 2022 and I’ve been diving headfirst into learning about and building furniture. I’m working as a finish carpenter with my brother and building furniture in my studio workshop. Every opportunity I get to learn a new technique and practice others is exciting. It’s been fun to see the shop space slowly grow, and I try to remind myself often that the joy of it all is in the progression. Even when my mind wants to be ten steps ahead of where I currently am, and I feel disappointed that I forgot a simple step or made a basic error, it’s all part of the journey, and as clique as that sounds, it’s still true.

The piece below is what I would consider my first attempt at fine furniture. It was made in honor of the one-year passing of my Mother. I didn’t realize it when we were talking, but a few weeks before her passing she gave me the final nudge I needed to jump headfirst into fine furniture making and see what comes of it.

So to sum it all up; Thank you for following along with me as I progress through this beautiful craft. I’m sure I’ll look back at this blog years down the road and laugh, but that’s all part of life. I hope for those who may stumble on this and who don’t feel satisfied with their current level of making or crafting, that you’ll step back and look at where you started, and where you are currently, and find joy in the progression. I can’t remember where I heard it, but I find it to be true, “it’s better to compare yourself to who you were yesterday than to who someone else is today.”

So get out there and improve on who you were yesterday and enjoy the progression

-Kevin