The Start of Something Meaningful.

There are moments in life that are so profound and meaningful that they leave a mark, an etching on the mind that could never be altered, let alone erased, no matter how hard we try. There have been many in my life. For me, one of the most unexpected would come in mid-February 2023. I got my hands on a couple of slabs of mango wood from my brother. He had planned to make an epoxy river table out of them but didn’t have the time or resources to do so. And to be perfectly honest, the slabs would’ve probably ended up on Facebook Marketplace if I didn’t know a friend with a thicknesser.

 I didn’t expect to see anything marvellous beneath its dirty, rough-sawn surface, but as the surface was slowly taken away by the thicknesser blades, so too was I. A beautiful golden grain lay little more than a millimetre beneath the surface. Its colour and wavy strokes were remarkable; its burl spectacular. A piece that wouldn’t have sat out of place as a cigar box on an ornately carved desk in a multimillion-dollar mansion somewhere. And that’s what it would become.   

I clearly remember spending days cutting out the box joints for this piece. And at least twice as long carefully cutting out and inserting its decorative hardwood inlays into its meticulously cut grooves. I added cedar into the interior walls, floor and top. And, although it wasn’t perfect, and most likely would do nothing to preserve a single cigar, I was still proud of it. It was my first. A sentimental piece that not only shows how far I’ve come in terms of my woodworking, but also the importance of chasing something worthwhile despite the inevitable challenges that will follow. And for those reasons, it sits as a centrepiece in my room… minus the expensive cigars, of course.