It started with a young boy and a hammer. Guided along the way by a machinist grandfather with a mind for tinkering, a father who could seemingly make or fix anything, and a natural curiosity into the world and how things work, that boy developed a passion for turning raw materials into something new. Whether hand-chiseling joinery for a maple box, turning exotic hardwoods at my grandfather's lathe, forging a new tool from a piece of scrap steel, or 3D modeling and printing an impossible-to-find replacement part, the question was never “Can I do it?”, but rather, “What do I need to learn to get it done?”
Eventually, I came to realize that I not only enjoyed designing and making things for myself, but even more-so, sharing those skills and creations with others. Time and time again I have been asked, “Do you think you could make this?” That thought becomes a tangible thing, an idea brought to life. Now, my own children join me in the workshop to help with my projects, or to make something of their own.
Wood-Forged Craftworks is about more than ‘professional making’. It’s the continuation of multiple generations of thinkers, tinkerers, and crafters. It’s the opportunity to give someone else a new favorite thing. It’s the thought of someone opening a gift that was designed and made just for them, and of the smile that follows.
It’s the possibility that someone else will be inspired to pick up a hammer and make something.
