Joe Merrey

Merreyman Custom Woodcraft was born in the basement of a suburban townhouse in Towson, MD on October 23rd 2018. I know that date well because it is two days after my wife Jeni and I were married. A few weeks before our wedding I had come across the Youtube channel of a man who focuses on woodworking with hand tools, mainly antique tools, by the name of Paul Sellers. One particular video series in which he walks the viewer through the steps of building a proper woodworking bench caught my eye. After watching a few episodes in the series and devising a plan to “borrow” some of my dad’s tools without his noticing, I decided it looked like a fun project. Jeni and I both took off of work the Monday after our wedding but only I took off that Tuesday. 

So, home alone and equipped with blissful ignorance as to what I was getting into, I returned from a trip to the hardware store, and my dad’s shop, with a hand plane, 2 or 3 chisels, and a handsaw, and enough construction grade lumber to get started on my bench. Safe to say I was hooked. While the bench did not turn out perfectly, there are gaps in some of the joints and it’s about as square as a pizza, it worked, and it did instill in me a confidence with the understanding that if I broke even the most complex project into small steps it could become achievable. I still have that bench, and I use it everyday. I’ve come a long way from those first few days following our wedding and the joy I get from turning rough lumber into beautiful, functional, and well built furniture grows every time I stand in front of the bench that started it all.