I got into woodworking when I was 11. I checked out a library book about making wooden toys and used a simple hand scroll saw my dad had kicking around to make some of the wooden animal figurines for my younger siblings. Then I started making swords, daggers and shields since I was interested in all things knights and castles.

I saved up and bought a cheap, underpowered Craftsmen jigsaw and my production output increased. Then my parents bought an old farmhouse and had it renovated. I shadowed some of the carpenters and learned a lot.

When I was 17 I asked to work for a local furniture shop that made reproduction furniture. I told the owner that I would do anything, sweep the floors, clean the windows as long as I got to be in proximity to the equipment and expertise in the shop. Eventually I graduated from sweeping the floors to milling lumber, sanding case pieces, gluing up panels and then making full pieces of furniture. I was going to go to a technical school for fine woodworking but decided computer science would be a better career. I still miss having a shop.