Thoughts on Work and Monkeypod

 

We've been working really hard, constantly. Never before have I looked forward so eagerly to Sunday, our one day off. When I think about why we're doing all of this work, the only logical conclusion is that we love woodworking. That may seem obvious, but its a question that I've asked myself pretty often. I don't think that there is any other explanation for the effort that we put in. I think that if we weren't driven by love, we would have given up a long time ago. The love gives us strength -- strength to keep going, to keep striving to improve our furniture, and to give better service to our clients. 

Each part of the process gives us the energy to move forward and attack the next step. Talking to our colleagues who run the sawmills on Oahu and seeing what wood they've cut lately has us stoked for the future. Looking at a new slab of monkeypod excites us and makes us want to flatten it and get to the sanding. As we sand each piece, the character in the grain pops out and we can't wait to put the first coat of lacquer on. Every little, seemingly endless epoxy fill brings us a step closer to having a final product, and we feel like we're almost there. Seeing that piece in our client's home is the final bit of fuel, which gets us yearning to start the next project. And the cycle continues. 

Now that is quite a romanticized version of our job. It doesn't include all of the cleaning endless dust and monkeypod shavings, sharpening tools, keeping our machines running smoothly, updating the website (or at least trying to), bookkeeping, taxes, marketing, drooling over $30,000 tools that we want (anybody want to invest???), and at the same time keeping up with physical fitness, and keeping the fridge stocked with food so that we can be mentally and physically able to do our best. And, on top of all of that, I work roughly 20 hours a week building cabinets with my friend and mentor. I'm incredibly lucky to be able to do any of the above, and I can't wait till tomorrow so I can keep going at the shop. Although, right now, Sunday sounds really nice...

Okay, enough of that! Lets get to some pictures. You're probably tired of seeing this monkeypod console, but this is probably the last time we'll post about it. It is happily in its new owner's home now.

I've got time for one more. There are lots more pictures but I've got to make some shop drawings and write some quotes before bedtime, so I've got to cut the blog short. The next pictures are the top for a kitchen countertop piece. 

That's all for now! Coming up, we've got a monkeypod headboard, monkeypod dining table, three massive monkeypod floating shelves... we've been working on getting all of those pieces ready. Hopefully they'll all be done soon! Thank you for reading and mahalo for your love and support.

-Danny

 
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