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y grandfather was a carpenter by trade; so his son, Frank, grew up with the familiarity
of hand tools used in that craft. After graduation from high school, one of my
dad’s first jobs was that of working as a Cabinet Maker in an eastside Houston
millworks creating products for residential and commercial sale.
At the
beginning of the World War II
effort, he left that job to become a millwright at the Brown Shipyard, building
vessels for the Navy. When that participation ended, he ventured into other vocational
interests.
His
love for crafting objects from wood did not diminish, however. Woodworking became
his hobby. When he constructed another residence on the property, he converted
the first home into a work shop and began filling it with power tools. Among the
machinery were ones such as table saws, band saws, jig saws, shapers, planers,
lathes, rotary sanders, belt sanders, grinders, and drill presses. He had an assortment
of dado blades for preparing furniture tops with decorative edges.
Quite
a few of my adolescent toys and games were of handcrafted wood. He also built
bird houses of all shapes, sizes, and styles.
In his spare time throughout
the year, pieces were constructed that he gave as gifts to family and friends
at Christmas. Those objects would include night stands, magazine racks, what-not
shelves, and similar handiworks. For the home, he built a buffet cabinet, book
cases, lamps with wooden stands and bases, desks, and tables. I still have one
glass front gun cabinet that I converted into a display cabinet for curios by
adding shelving.
Being
an avid fisherman, another pastime, he built row boats covered with canvas, sealed
with waterproofing. They were of a size that he could lift into the back of his
pickup truck; yet, large enough for two people to fish from. During some of the
heavy rainstorms in Houston, roads
and ditches in our area would flood and we kids would drag out one of the boats
and row in the flood waters; perhaps pretending to be pirates, or something; can’t
remember…
I never learned the skills to follow in his footsteps with his
intensity and passion. Perhaps, though, the gene passed on to my son, who is also
well-gifted in applying the art and knowledge of wood crafting.
©
Bruce Martin
They
Shoe Horses, Don't They?
June 8, 2013 Guest column
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Topics: Fathers
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