Woodworking in my life: How and Why it all started
It all started in my grandparents’ terrace eight years ago. I sliced open my left thumb while trying to carve out a piece of wood, and to this day, that’s the only permanent scar I have from woodworking.
Why woodworking?
I get asked this question a lot. It’s a very uncommon hobby around where I’m from. I could’ve collected stamps or started drawing. I could’ve picked up a camera and started photography. Instead, I decided to grab a knife and start chipping away at blocks of wood. But why?
I was as curious about this as the others and tried to trace my way back to the beginnings. I can think of a few reasons.
That was around the time I met a boy who used to work for my father. On visiting his house, he showed us the different crafts he does using dried coconut shells and scrap pieces of wood. To say my thirteen-year-old self was impressed and inspired wouldn’t be far from the truth.
This was also around the time my grandfather used to get me to work in his backyard, chopping down some old trees. So, I guess I was being exposed to too much wood. And something clicked.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Or creation in this case. I needed a nice gift to give someone special, and I needed to make it myself, to keep it personal, instead of something store-bought. And making something out of wood just seemed like a natural idea.
Because I’m a curious soul. I’ve always loved trying out new things, and this was one of those rare situations when everything just seemed to fall into place perfectly.
The first woodworking.
So I grabbed the wooden handle of a broomstick and a kitchen knife and tried to carve something out.
Instead I cut open my left thumb.
After cleaning up all the blood and ignoring all the lecturing from the grands, I tried again, this time with better success. I used a hacksaw, an old screwdriver in place of a chisel, and a hammer to carve out a little coin-pendant, and engraved a trident on one side and the owl of Athena on the other (strong Percy Jackson vibes). And thus, the journey began.
Where am I now in woodworking?
Eight years on, I run a YouTube channel where I post making videos of the different woodworking projects and my Instagram grid is filled with all the different woodworking projects I’ve completed. I’ve come a long way from where I began. From carving stuff out that was hardly recognizable, to stuff that are being received with great enthusiasm, it’s been a great journey of self discovery and self- growth. And it hasn’t been smooth.
I’ve had to take huge breaks due to other commitments like exams, but somehow managed to continue it while I could. After all this time, I’ve still stuck to using handtools: the tried, tested and trusted hacksaw, chisels, the same hammer from eight years ago and a blade.
I have had the opportunity to upgrade to power tools a few times over the years but chose to let it pass. I take great pride in the fact that my projects are small, slow and handcrafted with care, so I wasn’t exactly in a hurry to upscale my work.
Hustle or Hobby?
It’s become a common conundrum. In the age of young billionaires and quick money, hobbies have given way to hustles. Way more kids nowadays are growing up listening to phrases like side-hustle and passive income, and there’s nothing wrong there, everybody would love to have an extra buck or two. But the fact that worries me is the lack of interest among the young ‘uns in maintaining a hobby that would serve as a welcome distraction from the stresses of life, an escape to enjoy.
I’ve had many well-wishers telling me that my stuff will fetch a nice price but in all honesty, I just can’t place a price on any of my works. I realized after some time; it’s because some things are simply priceless.
And again, there’s absolutely nothing wrong in converting a hobby into a hustle, but my question is that if it loses the essence of why it was a hobby, what’s the point?
