Four More Years! Update Part 1: A New Hope (Fall 2020-Spring 2021)

Well it’s been 4 years since my last post.  The good news is it hasn't been due to a lack of interest in the trades.  Quite the opposite. Times have been busy and so have I. I will try and summarize the past few years of my quest for knowledge in wood in smaller, more bite size posts.  Here we go!

For some time during my last post working at Aiki, I was looking forward to my year review. I had came on to the team at a fairly lower pay than most with my skillset in the trades. At that time I was more concerned with the work culture matching my character. However, as time went and skills grew, I began to feel frustrated in my rate of pay staying stagnant. I stewed over it for months and eventually came to Luke asking for a raise. When he could only offer a dollar raise, I was disappointed and felt maybe my chances at better pay could be found with another company. I had applied to a local contractor in Lynden which was closer to where we lived at the time. He liked my resume, and offered a job after my interview at pay that was 4 dollars more an hour than what I was making at Aiki. I wanted to give Aiki a chance to match his offer before I made a decision. Unfortunately Luke's hands were tied and he couldn't match it or even come close. It was sad because I really liked working with Luke and David and didn't want to leave. But times were tough and I felt like I was being taken advantage of as cheap labor. I felt it was time to move on as a more experienced apprentice.

This was when things started to get real tough. Two days into my work with the new contractor, I could see we were completely incompatible. It was clear to me that he came from a history of abuse and I wanted no part of it. I left and bounced around trying to find employment during the fall of 2020. I worked as a landscaper briefly for two weeks. Applied to be in retail at hardware stores but struggled to a land position. Then a friend helped land me a gig as a maintenance technician for an apartment complex. That was a literal shit show. Primarily scooping dog poop and taking out trash, occasionally changing water heaters or repairing units. I hated it, and was fired in the middle of winter after having an argument with resident over trash. In short, I was not happy and was very sad I left Aiki in search for better pay.

Around February, a good friend, Forest, I had known from the MakerSpace in Bellingham, could see I was struggling and wanted to help. He works as a contractor from a family of contractors. He wanted to hire me but it is difficult to pay for employees as a small business in Washington. Instead of hiring me, he offered to counsel/mentor me into building my own business and paying me as a sub-contractor. At first I was skeptical it could work. I was still "green" as they say in the trades, learning as an apprentice and I knew little to nothing of what it takes to start and run a small business on my own. However, his offer to pay $35-$40 per hour, was very enticing. I agreed to work on getting my license, insurance and bond, and to work as his sub. He agreed to act as a guide to self-employment and to throw jobs my way as he could. The following are some pictures of us working together to build a new deck for one of Forest's clients, who happened to be very close to my parent's house, up Alabama Hill in Bellingham.

Forest was very pleases to see my hand tool skills to be up to par to help flush the edges of the decking from where the circular saw couldn't reach. I was happy to have an excuse to bust out my fancy Japanese plane and hand saw.

Within a week Forest and I had completed the deck to a happy client.

There was a lot to learn starting a business.  For one was the order to which you applied for things.  Getting a website domain, an email account, business license, LLC with Secretary of State, EIN from the IRS,  business insurance and a bond for being a general contractor, then finally getting a license from Labor and Industries.  I insured myself as a general though I had little experience with hiring subs or knowing anything about permits and codes.  My reason was I didn't want to pigeon hole myself in one thing, say fences/gates.  I wanted to be open to many jobs that may come my way.  Handymen in WA are limited to $2000 per job at a time.  Generals can go as high as they can get.  My job was to make sure I stay within my scope of experience and not bite off jobs bigger then I can chew.  

I named my business Custom Wood Connections, grabbed the domain name quickly, and slowly but surely became officially an LLC by March 3, 2021.  Over the next few weeks I worked on my logo and designing my website.  My Mom's Gate project was a big inspiration for the first designs but after having worked out with a friend at the MakerSpace, I landed on something more simple yet elegant.  I used the Japanese "enso" symbol.  It is an old Zen meaning of revelation of a world of Spirit without beginning and end.  To me, it has always been a beautiful representation of line in design that comes from an Eastern background.  The name of my business was not only to embody custom designed projects tailored to my clients wishes, as well as my passion for connecting wooden structures with compression fit joinery --but to also suggest I connect people with my passion for all things woodworking.  Below are some of the first sketches and the final logo I put on some cool business cards.  A company named Cards of Wood were able to print on nice thin laminate pieces of Western Red Cedar.  

Thanks must be made to Jason Davies, my first official client, who helped design the logo.  As repayment, I took on a small gate project for his backyard at a lowered price.  It was a fun project and he was very pleased with the results.  

Another benefit of starting my own business was the ability to spend more time on finishing my moms garden gate and fence project.  

It was funny how I gave my mom a detailed list of materials I would need to purchase to finish her fence, the cost for gas and food stops to get the lumber, but I forgot to account the time it would take to get to Tacoma and back to Bellingham.  The whole damn day.  It was exhausting but well worth the trip to acquire a large order of Alaskan Yellow Cedar from the Cedar Outlet.  I was very glad my girlfriend, Mara, was able to help navigate through the stressful drive through Tacoma and back.  

Before I sign off, I'd like to continue my tradition of giving thanks to those who had a big impression on me and my passion for woodworking.  This chapter I felt it was appropriate to thank Forest Stone, the man who gave me the courage to start my own business in carpentry.   Forest has been a great friend and strong pillar in helping me get experience as a general contractor.   Because of him I was confident in proposing to Mara.  I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, it was more a matter of could I see a future to provide for her as financially stable.  Forest showed me how, "This is the Way".   I am very blessed to say she said yes and soon we will be celebrating our 2nd year married.  I promise more pictures to come of my adventures with Forest and wedding pictures of Mara and I, but for now I will end with this.  

New Chapter

It's October, 2019, and a year has past from my last post.  A lot has happened...  let me catch  everyone up.

First the sad news.   My wish to finish the Carpentry program at WTC was too expensive and had to end 3 quarters short.  Hoping I could dovetail my part-time job as an apprentice with DLH, I quickly realized that was not possible.  They needed someone full-time, and I think they were disappointed I wanted to finish what I started at the school rather than learn from them.  The free tuition I was riding on was only good for two quarters through the Worker Retraining program, and I wasn't finding many scholarships due to the fact that I had already gained a Bachelors Degree.  Rent was going up combined with no work, made living in Seattle no longer economically feasible.  I had to move back to Bellingham.

I did however learn many great things from my teachers at the WTC.  Dave and Katy were excellent instructors and I couldn't have asked for a better example of how to be a great woodworking teacher.

Here some photos of the work I did in the second quarter, focused on remodeling and interior trim.

 Above is a photo of my workstation.  We were learning to cope with coping joints...  bad pun I know but an excellent exercise.  I was really proud with my window trim, especially the miter returns on the stool, all my measurements came out right were I wanted them.  The pre-hung door was a new one for me as well.

 

It would have been nice to finish the program but I feel fortunate to have played a part of the the WTC.  

Winter of 2019 was not an easy one.  I applied to many construction jobs in Whatcom County but none were looking for an apprentice level carpenter in the slow season.  

While I was looking for work, I had to keep my hands busy.  With what little money I had, I paid for a monthly membership to the Bellingham MakerSpace.  For those who don't know what a makerspace is, its a awesome place where people can learn how to use 3d printers, laser cutters and CNC routers.  I was working on an old board game project I had started back in 2011.  

What became an small project to occupy my time waiting for a job to turn up, slowly became my creative obsession.  The prototype of the game is still being refined but I was moderately pleased with what I could achieve with the CNC.

As I became more familiar with the staff and volunteers at the space, I was inspired to try teaching hand tool courses to make projects like small trivets to Shoji lamps.  My intention was to blend old with new.  I wanted to introduce people to learn and appreciate high quality Japanese hand tools, but also learn the benefits of modern building methods with laser cutters and 3d design systems.  It was a great idea that a lot of potential that I wouldn't mind revisiting someday.  Of the 4-5 students I had great time sharing with them why I like woodworking.  However, it didn't bring in much money and I was struggling to get by.  Strongly recommend you check out their site at:

https://bellinghammakerspace.org

After about 3-4 months without full-time work I tried applying to retail gigs again.  One hardware store that was hiring for minimum wage for a stocking position had me go through 5 interviews before turning me down...  lame.  Fortunately, I did get a reasonable offer to work with Lowe's Home Improvement as a Pro Customer Sales Associate.  It wasn't what I really wanted to do, but it got me back on my feet working full-time.  I made a lot of great friends and learned more about  building materials but I had to move on.  

A friend of mine gave me a tip on a company he thought I would work well in.  Through good connections and good timing, I was given an interview with Aiki Homes, a sustainable building company located in Bellingham and building locally.  The interview went well though they wanted to see me at work before making a full commitment.  After working a full shift in soaking rain, still eager to help in any way I could, they were very happy to give me an offer not long after. 

After a month with Aiki Homes, I am very happy to say I made the right choice to sign on with them.  Luke, my lead carpenter is an excellent craftsman and great role model.  I can learn a lot from him.  He and everyone in the company, have been a joy to work with and I can see a future much longer then a month at a time.  I don't think I have ever been able to say that.  Below is an image of the spectacular project we're currently working on.  

You can see more of what they do at:

https://www.aikihomes.com

Before I go I thought I share some pictures of my mom's planter boxes that I built last December.  The garden has really filled in and is looking great.  Thanks for following these posts.  I will continue to share my passion for woodworking.