Woodworker

When most people look at trees, they can’t see past the bark, branches, and leaves. For a Woodworker, however, a tree is never just a tree. It’s a cabinet, door, house, table, chair, armoire, guitar, canoe, or carving. In other words, it’s infinite possibility and unlimited potential.

It’s how a Musician feels when they see an instrument, and how an Artist feels when they see a canvas. A tree — or, to be more exact, wood — is a Woodworker’s medium. It’s your job as a Woodworker to turn this raw material into a finished product.

An A+ student in shop class, you’re a lumber lover who’s graduated into a career that’s all about creation and craftsmanship. Employed at sawmills, wood shops, factories, and construction sites — and perhaps even in your very own studio, if you’re self-employed — you’re hired to design, carve, build, and assemble things out of wood, including furniture, cabinetry, tools, musical instruments, and arts and crafts, just to name a few.

Potentially known as a Carpenter or Cabinetmaker, depending on your skills and specialty, you do what you do using a variety of tools — including chisels, saws, drills, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, and nail guns — and products: for instance, glues, stains, sealers, lacquers, and varnishes. Perhaps your most important instrument, however, is your talent, as woodworking is very difficult and extremely intricate.

In a world full of mass-produced plastic, metal, stone, and concrete, you’re at once a traditionalist and a renegade, turning today’s timber into tomorrow’s antiques. (Just remember: Beware of splinters!)