U.S. Army vet invests in her own wood shop and woodworking business

wood thingamjigs dog crate
Dog crate

 

 

(Q&A with Jessica Brown, owner, Wood Thingamajigs whose shop can be found on Facebook and at www.woodthingamajigs.com)

How did you get involved in woodworking in the seventh grade?

The students in my school were given the choice between wood and metal shops or cooking and sewing classes. Given that I had already learned to cook and sew from my Mom and Grandmother and having spent countless hours watching my Dad do various carpentry projects around the house, the obvious choice for me was to give the shops a try. From the moment I walked into that wood shop and smelled the delicious wood aromas, I knew I had made the right decision.

What equipment and main tools do you have in your shop?

  • Delta Table Saw and Planer
  • Kobalt compound miter saw
  • Jet band saw, drill press, dust collection system
  • 26” Shop Fox dual drum sander
  • Various Dewalt, Craftsman, Ryobi, and Porter Cable power and hand tools
  • Assorted pipe and bar clamps

wall tiles wood thingamajigsHow and when did your business, Wood Thingamajigs, come into being?

Every year my then boyfriend (now husband) and I exchanged one handmade Christmas present. For Christmas of 2015 my present to him was some wood letter tiles spelling out various important words for us and our family. I spent countless hours in our garage and our attic hand making more than 100 tiles. After Christmas, we posted a picture of my handiwork on Facebook, and one of our friends said I should start a business making them. I decided to give it a try as a business in April 2016.

Why the name?

After thinking about starting the business for a while and asking other people if it sounded like a good idea, I decided to go for it. We were sitting on the couch one afternoon throwing around ideas for a name for the business. In the brainstorming, it was asked “well, what will you make?” Wood stuff, wood items, wood thingamajigs.

What types of items do you make? What is a “pet novelty?”

We make everything from outdoor yard games to furniture. Our pet novelties consist of feeders, furniture-style dog crates, cat trees, and leash holders.

What is the largest or heaviest item that you have made? What is the smallest? What is the most special or unique?Wood Thingamjigs cutting boards

The largest and heaviest item that we have made so far is a custom, solid-cherry 12’ 3” dog crate with four separate compartments. This was co-designed with our customer and made to match her existing dining room furniture. The piece we made is used not only as a dog crate, but as a buffet or sideboard. Our smallest product is a hand turned, exotic wood wine bottle stopper. The most special is definitely the wood letter tiles that started this whole adventure. One of our favorite things to make is a cutting board. We like to integrate different species into the boards into unique designs. We love walnut, but we also use maple, cherry, paduak, and purple heart to name a few.

Who are your customers?

We have a broad customer base consisting of everyone from brides to businesses.

Do you have another fulltime job?

Yes, at this time I do have another fulltime job as a purchasing manager for a local additive manufacturing company.

Why did you join the U.S. Army, for how long, what did you do for them, where were you stationed?

I grew up in a family where nearly everyone served. I knew from a young age that it was something that I wanted to do. Right after high school, I enlisted in the National Guard as Military Police. A few years later, I applied to and was accepted into West Point. After graduating, I served at Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. All together I was in the military for 16 years.

I see you are from Massachusetts. How did you end up in Ohio?

When I left active duty, I was married to a man who was from Northeast Ohio.

How did your current husband’s love of woodworking start and is the shared interest one of the things that brought you together? What is each of your roles in the company?

Jason’s love of woodworking also started at a young age working with his father remodeling an old farmhouse. He likes to remember the first time I showed him my limited shop when we first started dating. It is a fond memory for him. Our mutual love of woodworking brings us together. A few years ago I had surgery, and as I was healing and able to move around better we decided to make a project together. It was our first joint endeavor. It is lovingly referred to as “the project” in our family. We have had a few people ask to purchase it over the years but the sentimental value is priceless. When it comes to the business we share responsibilities for our orders. I tend to manage more of the business side of it, as well. We love to sit together and brainstorm the next project or the next step in expanding the company.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Our inspiration is found in a variety of places. Sometimes the grain of a wood catches your eye and says it needs to be an end table. Other times walking through the wood mill we will see a slab that just begs to be made into a bar top. Our inspiration is to be able to live a life where we love what we do and love going to work every day. A place where the work isn’t work. The cliché if you love what you do then it isn’t really work truly applies to our company.

What is your artist’s/maker’s philosophy?

“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.” Louis Nizer

What do you do when you’re not woodworking?

Dream about woodworking

Cleveland Job Corps needs help starting a manufacturing technologies training program that will feed area manufacturers with a skilled workforce

HGR lathe

The WorkRoom Program Alliance, part of the Dan T. Moore Company, is partnering with Cleveland Job Corps, Coit Road, Cleveland, Ohio, to create a manufacturing center at the Job Corps facility in order to offer manufacturing technologies training. This is about workforce development and creating a skilled workforce, folks! Something that every manufacturer I know worries about: filling those vacancies with skilled labor.

Here is their needs list so that they can align with federal standards. As you can see from the list of equipment, this is a seriously valuable program for local manufacturing.

Can you or anyone you know help? HGR is checking its showroom to see what we have that would be suitable, but I’m sure other organizations in the area might be able to make an equipment or financial donation to get this program off the ground. Contact Gina at HGR if you can help: [email protected].

Quantity Equipment
1 Comparator
1 Drill Press
1 Drill, Electric, Portable DWT
2 Gauge, Height RUT
1 Grinder, Bench, Electric
4 Grinder, Die, Pneumatic
3 Grinder, Die, Pneumatic
1 Grinder, Metal, Floor, Electric BAL
1 Grinder, Metal, Floor, Electric FALCON
1 Grinder, Metal, Universal SHOP FOX
1 Grinder, Portable, Electric DELTA
3 Grinder, Portable, Electric DUM
1 Grinder, Surface CHEV
1 Lathe, Computer Programmable
1 Lathe, Metal, Engine, Permanent
2 Lathe, Metal, Engine, Sliding Gap KIN
1 Lathe, Metal, Engine, Solid Bed ACR
1 Lathe, Metal, Engline, Permanent ACE
2 Lathe, Metal, Engline, Permanent JET
1 Machine, Bending CHI
1 Machine, Forming PEX
1 Milling Machine, Computer Programmable EMC
1 Milling Machine, Computer Programmable INT
1 Milling Machine, Computer Programmable TEC
1 Milling Machine, Computer Programmable TEC
1 Milling Machine, Metal, Vertical ACE (1)
1 Milling Machine, Metal, Vertical ACE (2)
1 Milling Machine, Metal, Vertical ACR (1)
1 Milling Machine, Metal, Vertical ACR (2)
1 Milling Machine, Metal, Vertical DAY
1 Milling Machine, Metal, Vertical FALCON
3 Plate, Surface, Stone
1 Router PTR CBL
2 Sander, Portable, Orbital SKIL
1 Saw, Circular, Portable, Electric DWT
1 Saw, Metal Cutting, Band WIL
1 Saw, Metal Cutting, Circular MIL
1 Saw, Reciprocating PTR
1 Sharpener, Drill Bits OTMT
1 Vacuum, Wet/Dry
   
 
Quantity Technology
1 Combination TV/VCR/DVD
1 SMART Board technology
1 3D Printer
15 Scientific calculators, such as TI-30xa
   
Quantity Furniture
12 Student Desks
12 Student Chairs
2 Student Computer Work Station
1 Instructor Desk
1 Instructor Chair
 
Quantity Hand Tools
  QA and Measuring Tools
10 Set of 1″ Mics, 6″ dial calipers and 6″ scale
1 6″ digital calipers
10 Metric scales
1 Gage blocks, 81 pc. Set, grade B
2 Surface plate, 18 x 24, lowest grade
1 Surface plate, 24 x 36″ with stand
2 Height gages, vernier
2 Height gages, 12″ dial
3 Angle plate
1 Plug gage set from .011 to .500″
5 Holder for plug gages, to make go/no-go gages
2 Machinist square
6 Combination square
10 Tape measures
5 Drop indicators with magnetic stand and 22 pc set of points
3 Vee blocks, set of 2
3 Test indicator set
3 Radius gages, set covers 1/32 to 1/2
1 Set of 5 micrometers covering range of 1″ to 6″
2 Thread gages for 1/4-20 UNC-2B, for NIMS benchwork project
1 Optical Comparator, 14″, new, with Fagor Digital Readout and cabinet, Suburban Tool
1 Stage center for Optical comparator, MV14-CTR
1 Estimated equipment shipping costs
  Metalworking Tools
5 Scriber
5 Hammer, ballpeen, 8 oz
1 Parallels for milling vise set
1 Milling vise, TTC, swivel base, 6″ wide jaws, opens 5-1/2″, wt. 100#
1 Vise, angle, for drill press
10 Allen wrenches, set
5 Oil cans, small
12 Files, mill
12 Files, rattail
12 Files: bastard
20 File handles
1 Tap and die sets, including wrenches
2 Hammer, ballpen, 16 oz
5 Power hand grinders, (Makita)
1 Drills, complete 1 to 60, A to Z, 1/64 to 1/2″, set
5 Reamers, for specific projects
5 Dead blow hammer
3 Bench vises
4 Worktables
8 C-clamps, assorted sizes, 2 of each
10 Eye loupes
1 Tapping head for drill press w/ collets
5 Prick punch
1 Soft jaws for vise
1 Drill chuck for milling machine, for NIMS
2 Magnetic base for indicator
1 Millermatic 210 MIG welder
1 Miller Synchrowave 180, TIG welder
1 MSC 3-in-1 metalforming machine
   
Quantity Personal Protective Equipment
1 SDS “Right to Know Station” and HMIS labels
1 Red can for rags
2 Fire extinguishers, recharble for student practice
1 Eye wash station
1 First aid kit
1 Lock out/tag out kit with forms and 10 booklets
1 Spill clean up kit and additional “snakes” and oil-dry
1 Hand washing facilities
   
Quantity Consumable items
1 First aid supplies
1 Red and green labels, for good and bad parts
3 Layout dyes
1 Dye remover
20 Hacksaw blades
3 Replacement files: bastard, mill, rattail
5 Handles for files
1 Replacement files: bastard, mill, rattail
5 Deburring tools, countersinks
1 Metal for projects, should be donated but if have to purchase
2 6″ buffing/polishing wheels, for pedestal grinder
50 Discs for hand power grinder/sander, abrasive
20 Discs for hand power grinder/sander, polishing
10 Cutoff wheels for hand power grinder
1 Sandpaper, sheets: series of rough to fine
20 Scotch-brite pads, medium and fine
1 Oil, lubricating
3 Cutting fluid (tap magic)
1 Surface plate cleaner
2 Stones for surface plate
1 Sharpening or replacing reamers
3 Recharging fire extinguishers
1 Misc
1 Shipping
1 Curriculum, workbooks, and certification testing
Quantity Other Items
1 Annual Contracted Machine Maintenance, Service & Repair

HGR drill press