Keepin' it way green.

I doubt it’d be possible for me to build enough trinkets from salvaged wood to compensate for the carbon footprint of the burl wood paneling on the interior of Bill Gate’s jet . That my compost pile is going to somehow save the world is idealism of the most absurd variety.

So, lets get something straight. When I say my stuff is eco friendly or green, it’s simply because I’m down with all the latest slang. All of a sudden it’s cool to make stuff out of recycled materials, and there are a bunch of slick new words to go along with the rage. But, we at WCS have known about this new fad since the beginning. We just haven’t come up with a fancy name for it. We simply call it “making do.”

I’ve been a woodworker since I could hold a stick. I’ve built everything from boxes to boats. Even when I was traveling the country with just a pack, I had carving tools to whittle trinkets to trade with the folks who would help me on my way. Up until a couple of years ago, I’d never spent a dime on wood. Just couldn’t. Besides, if there is one thing I’ve learned about the US, you don’t have to look far to find copious waste. No matter where you go in this country you’ll find all kinds of perfectly wonderful materials being discarded as waste.

It is upon this waste stream that my skills as a woodworker have been honed. I’ve stripped mahogany boards off the wheelhouse of a wreck in the marshes of Charleston, SC. I built a small skiff entirely from shipping crates. I’ve built with wood from salvaged stairs, sheds, flooring, you name it. For a time I carved pipes from beech armrests pulled off aluminum lawn furniture in oppressively hot FL. Since I learned how to make larger boards out of small strips, I’ve made countless pieces from furniture factory trimmings.

Don’t for a second think I haven’t eyed the boards in the mill yards with envy. There’s no lofty purpose here. But, come on, be real. Woodworking was a hobby, at least at first, and by the time I was any good, I had a real job with taxes to pay. You know what that means if you aren’t from landed gentry in the US, broke. We still needed a baby changing table though, so I made one out of pallets. Had some of that mahogany from the marsh left over, it became a bread box. Next thing I know I’m building kitchen cabinets out of salvaged two by fours and old window sash and calling it home restoration. And that’s how we made ends meet.

Since I started trying to live on woodworking alone, things haven’t gotten any easier. And wouldn’t you know it, just about the time I start getting really good, they go and have a war. Next, everyone decided that the world was ending, for real this time. Since then, things haven’t gotten any easier. But at least folks aren’t making such a fuss about stuff being made out of salvaged wood. No, these days it’s all the rage. Let me tell you, that hasn’t always been the case. Not too long ago you had to keep that kind of thing to yourself. I wonder how many jewelry boxes I’d have sold from that gallery in Wellesley Hills if they’d known all the mahogany came from a dumpster? (picture me chuckling)

To this day my wood supply is as cheap (insert more favorable marketing term here) as ever. Has to be. Seen the cost of groceries? My wood comes from the forests around me and the scrap bins from the local factory. And, every now and then I get a board or two from a local mill. But even then, I have to look for the deals. Warped boards that I can re-saw, flip and join. Thin deal that might only get two sheets of veneer but will mean AAA flame maple at $3.50 bdft. And always picking through the short boards.

Now that recycling is so hip, everybody and their mother has an eco-friendly this and a green that. Brad Pitt would have you believe that in his spare time he is an architect designing an “eco friendly luxury resort in Dubai.” I’ve got news for you, there is no such thing as an eco friendly luxury resort. Show me the compost pile.

I’ll show you mine. In fact, I’ll show you my whole operation. Stay tuned. I’ll show you the hand tools and the hand made tools. I’ll show you a shop evolved not around time saving gadgets and power tools jigs, but a love of wood and the pursuit of excellence. And I’ll show you a finished piece that’s as green or eco friendly as it gets. Not because it’s the rage, or because it’s hip. Because its real. Way real. As real as it gets. And oh so original. (imagine heavy gangsta base line here.)
IW