A friend is someone who keeps something that reminds them of you.

I was out this past weekend visiting old friends. I stopped by a friend of mines house. This is where I learned woodworking 12 years ago. It’s nice to go back and see him every once and a while. This is the place I made my first table saw cut and where I learned a lot of other aspects of woodworking. All this greatness happened in the basement of his cape. Tiny little shop, with a hatchway, that could barely fit a 4×8 sheet of ply.

So anyway, I go inside and see these boxes on their coffee table. These are boxes i made 12 years ago, actuall my very first project to come out of that shop. I was like 17 yrs old. It put a big ole’ smile on my face. So I asked ” why do you keep those ragged out of shape boxes?”. They smile and tell me it reminds them of me. How nice was that. These are boxes i bult before having any cabinetry knowledge. I’ve worked in a few great shops since then. I learned a lot and came along pretty far from those days.

I am still an active carpenter pro and hobby. I thank my buddy Mike Martin for taking the time to show me a way of life I have learned to love. It’s not really a project, i Know But more of a toast to my first project from 12-13 years ago when I would’ve said, “do I sand this this before i stain it?” Yup those green horn, guppy days.

So the maple box is a copy from a piece my aunt bought at a tag sale. The little locking maple box(4 pics). It was stamped “made in India” was really cheap and ugly. So I made a few and replaced hers and gave one to the shop mom, who cooked everytime i visited (yeah) It slides and locks without hardware. Wow those were the days

Thanks for reading….....

-- Live by what you believe, not what they want you to believe.