OUR FAMILY WOODSHOP O U R M O T T O I S R E D U C E, R E U S E, R E C Y C L E

Our family woodshop functions on the motto: reduce, reuse, and recycle. For at least three generation on my father’s side of the family this motto has served them well. For the first two generations this motto was established out of a need to save money and not be wasteful. It was not a throwaway society. What has been passed down from my great grandfather, grandfather and father is a great lesson on how to reduce costs by reusing dismantled items, which is also a form of recycling. I have been shown that we often have “more time than money” as father would say.

Our woodshop has the usual machinery and tools, such as two table saws, a skill saw, chop saw, drill press, band saw thickness planer, and a router table. With the exception of the chop saw they were all purchased second hand or given to us. We have the necessary power and hand tools used for carpentry and bench work.

Our wood supply consists of very few new purchases. Some of the wood comes from trees that were either fallen in a storm or were simply cut down and milled at a friend's saw mill. People who know us will sometimes give us wood they no longer need, knowing that it will get put to good use. Scraps are used as fuel to feed our wood stove in the shop to keep our wood warm, dry, and to prevent warping. The wood shavings are used to line the floor in our small barn, supply bedding in the laying hens’ boxes, and dress a couple of walking trails. Long thin off cuts are used as row markers or bean poles for our garden. We even collect wood shavings from one of the local school shops when we don’t have enough to go around. We take apart free pallets for the wood stove and to make things with. My bed frame, for example, is made from used pallets and a dismantled climbing wall.

Sometimes our home is referred to as “Olson Elementary”. “Olson” for our street name and “Elementary” because many of the wooden parts of our home have been made from reused/recycled products purchased from salvage companies that have either taken down an old school or from one that was getting partially renovated. We have wood flooring throughout our home that was originally a school gym floor. Our inside and outside doors came from the old Mission Elementary School that was demolished. These floors and doors are one hundred years old! Our home is practically a museum. Our small barn was built from wood purchased at a nominal fee from a contractor who demolished a wall that was set for expansion of a school gymnasium. Structural beams were purchased second hand from an old portable classroom and used for expanding our shop. The forts that my siblings and I built were all made from wood scraps.

Some of our furniture was also made from discarded items. Our kitchen table, for example, is made from a couple of old oak bleachers. The chairs are from phased-out teachers’ chairs that were in disrepair and left for the landfill. It usually took two chairs to make one solid chair. Our pantry is from a refurbished chemistry cabinet and the china cabinet is from old cabinets from the school that was demolished. The cool thing about our home is that it is only 27 years old, but is living history because some of it is one hundred years old! Where there is a need in our home for a small piece of furniture, the first thought usually goes to whether or not we can build it, refurbish something old and make it new, or simply repair rather then replace.

This year I built four woodwork projects for school. They were a rifle rack, a book shelf for my sister, a quilt rack for my other sister, and a small audio system stand. The cost of these projects was based on having to buy the necessary materials. However, I was able to cut costs down significantly because of our well stocked woodshop.

Although I may never become a carpenter by trade like my father and forefathers, I certainly have had a good example of what society now calls an environmentally responsible and, maybe even, a “green” way of living.

OUR FAMILY WOODSHOP BY MITCHELL VISHLOFF