My interest in woodworking started when I was a teenager.

I had seen how my grandpa and my uncle either restored or fixed furniture and sometimes made their own pieces. It made me want to start learning to do woodworking myself. When I was 16, I took a wood carving class which got me even more interested. Since then, I have had the opportunity to do some projects here and there. The most recent one I did was some woodwork on custom metal tables and chairs.

Now to metalworking. It was last summer I made my very first wooden ring out of a tree branch. I used nothing other than a sheet of sandpaper and an old pocket knife.  After I finished that, I was browsing the web and learned how to make rings. That’s when I stumbled onto the idea of metal rings. I thought to myself, “what if I can make them out of metal?” My very first ring was made with a drill bit and a sander (which wasn’t an easy task). I really liked the outcome of the ring and I wanted to improve the design. Since then, I have invested in better machines.

New Projects

Some might ask how I find my next project. Well, I browse online quite a bit to find new ideas; or I might be communicating with someone and something pops into my head and I think, “that would be nice to try”.  Not all ideas work out equally well, but it never hurts to try, right?!

I like to change things up and am always on the lookout to better the product.

Sometimes I get stuck and my idea doesn’t work; something just isn’t right. First, I try to figure it out myself, but if I can’t, I’ll go ask my dad and get his opinion. And somehow, his ideas always seem to work well.

My inspiration comes from seeing different ideas and wanting to try them as well as from family and friends encouraging me to try something.

Motivation is harder at times, especially if something hasn’t worked out the way I would have liked. In the end, it’s been my parents who help me focus to stay motivated and encourage me to ask the Lord for help and direction.