Joe's Woodworks About

Joe's Woodworks, specializing in handcrafted Early American furniture and accessories.

A brief history of My Life in Woodworking

For me, woodworking began as a means of exercising my creative talents while at the same time, making useful items for our home. I was one who always believed that it didn't matter if you didn't know how to do something, you could learn, and I knew I could learn from books.

I already had a few tools in my shop but I knew I'd need many more. I started buying tools when I got out of the service and became a homeowner. With each project I'd figure in the cost of a tool I would need for the project then I'd always have it. Some of my hand tools go back to the late 60's and I still use them. It's hard to replace the feel of an old friend like that special hammer or saw.

In the 70's I finally had a house with a 2 car garage, perfect for a large workshop. I bought a 10-inch table saw, a band saw and a lathe to add to my arsenal of hand and portable tools. I built a workbench, hung pegboard and put up shelves. Now I was ready to Create!

The first thing I learned from a woodworking book was how to build a simple carcass or box. I made two nightstands each with a single drawer with dovetailed corners. I still have them to this day. I bought other books and realized that I loved Early American and Colonial furniture. From this period, one has the most basic items of pine all the way up to hutches, chests of drawers and tables to choose from. While each was a test of skill and a definite learning experience, I was also turning out a lot of items for the house and for my children. Other people would ask me to make them things, usually of a custom nature, which gave me a chance to design something unique.

In the early 80's my tools of choice became the chain saw, 4” chisel, and blacksmith hammer. We bought some land and were about to take on an entirely new challenge. I decided it would be nice to build my own log home, not the easy way, but instead by doing it from scratch. With the help of my family, we cut down 256 red pine trees on state land. These were then trucked to our land where they had to be debarked using square nosed shovels. Eventually we built the house and a small barn from the logs. I finally got to where I could setup a workshop in the basement of the house. I got my tools out of storage and started making cabinets for the kitchen and bathroom. I also found time to make a few furniture pieces that we needed.

Eventually we sold the log home we had built and moved to the city, I'm not sure why we moved to the city, but it seemed the right thing to do at the time. I had a house with a single car garage which was used for still , another workshop. This was a fairly prolific period in my woodworking life. After a few years we'd had enough of city life and moved back to the country. This made it necessary to build still another workshop. Now I'm caught up to the present. In my latest shop I’ve made the Shaker Chest of Drawers and a set of storage bins. I hope to make many more pieces of Early American and custom furniture for myself and my family as well as pieces for sale.

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