Oh! I am glad you asked!
I am a couple of things. First, I am a husband and a father. Nothing comes before those.
I do delivery on the weekends to help make ends meet. I also catch a photo here and there where I can, while out to do the deliveries and at other times.
I manage a small hold farm with llamas and goats.
I gather loads of wood that would otherwise be sent to waste, and I use it to make furniture using mostly hand tools. What I cannot use from the logs I gather, or any other waste, I make into firewood to heat our home, or yours, if you come buy.
And finally, I am a chandler. I make beeswax candles both with molds, and by hand dipping.
These are my primary occupations.
When required of me, I also assist my wife’s business by making what she needs to sell, so for example, we got started like this with hairpin lace looms. They took off, and we have been selling them since through her Etsy store and at Farmer’s Markets.
Let me show you my first proper piece of furniture. It was a small table with a drawer in the front. I made it following direction in a video course I purchased online. The exciting part of it is that there were no plans or measurements. It was simply freehand, much like earlier furniture would have been in small rural shops across the colonies.
Terribly sorry about the resolution! But this is the table. I am very happy with it, but it does not get much use as it is the only one I have in my collection. I would like to build a few more and sell them. They are not difficult for me to make. I just need the dry wood to work with, and that is going to require putting my mill to work. I am learning on that and trying to get to the point where I produce good wood with no warping or cupping and properly dried with little waste.
Importantly, some of these are some of the tools I made the table with. After general stock preparation, the whole table was built by hand, with hand tools. Even the taper on the legs was done with a hand plane.
The candle stand was made by outlining the star shape and etching the designs with a laser, then cutting out the star shape with the bandsaw. The center was even found on the laser, then, with an egg-beater drill, I put the screw hole in the middle, then fastened down the candle cup. I was able ot make several of these fairly easily.
A birthday candle is fairly quick and easy to hand dip and depending on the length can cost a little or a little more. The labor is the same, but the materials have to be accounted for.
Larger candles are more expensive. This is an example of one I have dipped then straightened as I go, with no weight at the bottom of the wick to hold it there. I rely on my hand to make adjustments as I go to straighten it. It has, I think, a more primitive look to it, and is suitable to someone who wants either that, or the look of a candle made out on the trail. With a weight attached to the end, the candle naturally comes out straighter. There is a little more work involved. But it looks like a candle made in civilization.
And as a final example, I turn you back to the one in the star up above. That is a candle made in a colonial style tin taper mold. They are very consistent. They are all sized the same and are reliable for candlesticks.
Finally, on the topic of candles, this is a handmade candle box filled with beeswax candles. I refuse soy or other candles and use only beeswax because it is natural and seems to have more benefits than ails. The smell is warm and lovely, and the wax in the air attaches to the dust, weighing it down and cleaning the air for you.
I built two Roman workbenches. One for the shop, and one for the front porch. I am modifying the one for the porch so it can do a lot more than the one for the shop. It is meant to provide me a warm place to work over winters, if we still have those in the future. This Roman will serve as a place for grandchildren to come visit Grandpa.
This is the porch bench in progress. It ideally will serve also as a sort of shave horse when it is finished.
I had a container for sourdough starter that lost its lid to breakage before I ever even got the chance to use it. Then my oldest daughter asked to use it, so I made her a lid to go with it. She never has done anything with it since. Snob!
Another project for the lathe and for the walnut wood a neighbor gave me has been to make carver’s mallets. I like this type of mallet, a lot. I keep saying I am making them to sell, but I like them too much to let go of. I need to make some to sell!
Finally, I needed a place to store a few tools out by the sawmill. I thought it would be fun to make it look like a place nobody would want to come snoop around in. The best part it that it would very easily convert into an actual outhouse. I think a plastic bucket to catch waste in under a little bench built on the supports of the bottom shelf, and we would have the necessities should we ever find ourselves without proper disposal. Just dump the bucket way out back when you are done!
Those are some of the things I have made. I will next move on with the skills acquired and make some more of the same, and some things new. I intend to get more complicated as I go with designs, but slowly. When all was said and done, the table was not that hard. A couple more and I will be totally convinced of that. I also will make them of different shapes and sizes, adding to my maker’s skill, and further convincing me how easy it really is. Also, having built the one, I already have ideas on efficiency.
So, this is where the new woodworking season begins. I really look forward to it getting under sail. Then there are also some things to do with the sailboat to get it up and running and in ship shape, which is it not, by far, right now! I could use some teak to really get it set up. Maybe the hand planes will reveal some under the grey wood that is there now. That could save a load of money!