Page 16 - Feb 2020 Shave of the Day Monthly Magazine
P. 16
We got a small workbench,
a cheap lathe, and the bare
minimum of tools to make
some small things on the
lathe. I started by making
wands out of dowels for my
kids, pens for myself and my
family, and bottle stoppers;
the usual fare. As I got more
and more into wetshaving,
I thought it would be fun to
make myself some shaving
brush handles.
As happens in our hobby
of wetshaving, making
brush handles became an
addiction of sorts. Watching
the colors and patters of
the acrylic come to life in
shapes not possible with
pens and bottle stoppers
was entrancing. I decided I
Editors note: It took some would go ahead and do the
prompting but, I asked I’ve always been fascinated most logical thing and open
an Etsy shop so I could keep
Dereck Wheeler to share by wood turning. As a child, making handles, otherwise I
his story with you, the my family had a shed in was going to have to stop. I
shave community. the backyard that contained couldn’t afford the resin and
a small set of very low keep all of the handles I was
quality and undersized making, and I was spending
A brush with turning tools. There was no far too much of my free time
lathe, no wood shop, and I
at the lathe.
death still to this day do not know On February 22, 2017, I
why those tools were in
that shed. Once I had my opened shop. I thought: “If I
own home, I inherited a can sell 25 handles this year,
lot of my father’s tools, to I’ll have paid for my lathe
include that very set. They and the resin!” I didn’t do
languished in my garage for any promotion or marketing
years, while my wife and I because I didn’t expect such
were busy with the ins-and- an amazing response to my
outs of everyday life with handles. I waited and waited
two young children. for that first sale. Sometime a
little more than a week later,
Life settled in, and eventually my wife and I were having
we had some disposable lunch when it happened. I
income. I remembered that couldn’t believe it, I had
old fascination with wood my first sale! I checked my
turning, and made my list. phone, and there it was. My
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