When I was a kid, I was always taking things apart to figure out how they worked. Most times I could put them back together again and in working order. There were some things though that never worked again after I was through with them. I loved figuring out how things worked because then I could use that knowledge to build my own creations. Some of which work and some, well not so much.

Working with wood was never my thing and in fact, I told myself I didn’t like it. Somewhere along the line, I convinced myself that I didn’t like woodworking. Then my dad, a skilled woodworker, told me I could have his old wood lathe.

It was in rough condition but never the less I loaded it onto the truck and brought it home with the intent of getting it working again. While working on it in the garage I found that my son Jackson really wanted to help. Being that he was four I had to figure out things that he could do that would still be contributing to the project. I hated being given make-work projects and I was sure he would hate it too. Working with him and teaching him how to use tools was a lot of fun. I noticed the spark of a maker in him and it awoke the maker in me.

While working on the lathe I was watching YouTube videos on lathe work. Anyone how has gone done the YouTube rabbit hole knows YouTube shows you similar videos. It was while watching these videos that I thought hey I should give this a try. Maybe even get to the point of building new kitchen cabinets for our house.

All the while having my son Jackson helping and learning that he too can make things.

Follow along, laugh at my mistakes and maybe learn something along the way.

Ben J. Schmidt