Wood Classics begins

Many years ago I was talking with a Chief Master Sergeant about a new tool I bought; it was amazing, it would turn an average skilled person into a craftsman with just a few short hours of practice. I was extolling the virtues of this fantastic woodcutting guide when Chief Mickow asked, “can you build a shadow box?” I said, “I don’t know; what’s a Shadow box?” I could only picture a deep mirrored frame hung on the wall adorned with knickknacks. I soon found out a shadow box was a display case for military memorabilia, accoutrements and a fold US Flag. I was given a challenge, so I began to study a few examples of shadow boxes that I could find, they were rarely on hand except when a military member was about to retire. I found five such shadow boxes and most seemed very plain you might say crude as if slapped together hurriedly to meet a looming deadline (later I found this was often the case). I had the tool and the desire I returned to the Chief with the determination; “if I give it my best I can do it,” I said, and I set out to do just that… my best! I shopped around for the best materials; if you start off with poor quality materials even the best effort would produce a fine looking mediocre product. All the wooden parts were meticulously cut fitted and finished; the interior was high gloss piano black, with a shimmery black cloth framed with a white oak picture frame, the tour de force was the hand-cut mat board with gold accent stripes, it set everything off, the likes of which had never seen before (or since). I was quite happy with my first attempt and people often said that was the best shadow box they had ever seen, therein lies the dilemma, it was one of kind and twice as expensive as all others, many wanted it, be who truly deserved it? At first we decided it was best to auction it off to give everyone a fair chance, but later it was donated to the Top Four a military organization of the highest ranking non commissioned officers. I still had the demand so I decided to challenge myself once again to build two more shadow boxes and to make them in less time; this would help recover some of the money I spent the first time. I used blue and red velvet for the interiors (more traditional colors) and red oak stain on the picture frame to give them an unrivaled luxuriant style, it worked, Chief Mickow bought the first one for an absolutely unheard of $275.00; for comparison the going rate was $50. The dam was broken, there was no turning back the third one also sold for $275.00, and I was dumbfounded. I realized I had a talent and skill that would make people happy. Soon I was swamped with orders, I worked many long hours but when customers like what they saw – that was worth far more than money. It’s been more than a decade and I’ve built hundreds or possibly a thousand – countless (I loss count years ago).