How do I talk about my business?

Hello folks,

Its been a while since I updated this website, and in that time a few things have changed. In my own life, both of my kids were born in the years since the update. There was a global pandemic in there. I took time off of working during various periods since updating this website to take care of those kids. Some of those periods of time were extended by the pandemic. I’m back to working full time, but this website no longer reflects the range of work I am either doing or that I really want to limit myself to.

When I first started this business the intention was to focus on furniture. When I built this website the goal was to focus in on my sculpture. Over the past 2 years more of my time has been spent working on small wooden boats. While I fully intend to continue building sculptures, how do I represent those other facets of my business and welcome the range of work I like to do on this one website? Among my favorite projects for different clients that I have built over the past few years are a pair of lounge chairs based on an earlier design of mine, completing the woodwork on an 18-1/2 foot long open sailing and rowing boat which had never been finished, and building a small pram dinghy for a client with two young sons and a vacation property with a pond they could use it on.

As a woodworker and small business owner I operate a small one man shop. A small shop is sometimes limiting. I can’t do very large projects. At the same time, it allows me to keep my overhead low and it can allow flexibility that a larger shop might not offer. Among the questions I continue to ask myself is how much I should focus on one type of work with the intention of making a name for myself in that particular world, versus continuing to pursue a diverse variety of projects. I do love the way that pursuing a variety of projects as changing things up leads to new ways of thinking about each sorts of work. My boatbuilding influences how I approach furniture making and both those types of work influence how I approach sculpture. While many of the techniques are different, they all feed into each other. I’d like the website to better represent my diverse approach to woodworking.

Here are some favorite pictures from recent projects. Keep an eye on this space or visit my instagram to learn more.

One of two matching lounge chairs built to one of my older designs with some revisions.

Found by my client in a craigslist post titled “dead man’s dream,” the original builder passed away before being able to launch it. I build the masts and other spars and finished building out the interior for the client, fixing damage that had occurred to the boat during the time between its original build and the client acquiring it.

A nutshell pram, complete with custom ash oars, and traditional wood shelled blocks.

Current Projects | Instagram @wessinger_woodworks

I’ve always enjoyed the shadows cast by my whale sculptures when they are hung on the wall. . Hanging them from the ceiling in an open space can allow for more sense of movement. Maybe the suggestion of diving or rising back to the surface dep
Keychains?! . I don’t typically make a lot of small items, but as I was finishing some small blocks recently I had some rope grommets( continuous loops of 3 strand rope made from a single strand unwound from a length of rope) that weren’t
Small rope stropped blocks available on my website now! . I have a small stock of blocks available from prototyping blocks for line up to 1/4” diameter and for line up to 5/16” in diameter available now. . The goal is still to sell kits
A few more pictures from my rowing trip up in Puget Sound a few weeks ago. . I’ve been thinking a lot about climate change lately. . The science behind climate change often seems portrayed as some sort of new fad, which is not true. Early exper
I love shoulder season trips. The weather may or may not cooperate, but when it does … . The goal of last weekends trip was to keep things mellow. Two nights camping on the same island with a friend who hadn’t been out on that sort of tr
Round brass thimbles. . An important part of getting ready to produce kits for traditional small block has been figuring out how to produce round brass thimbles. For a long time they were the traditional way of holding eyes in rope open and preventin
Fans of @seventy48 or wooden boats in general, come see this boat in person at the @woodenboatfestival in Port Townsend, September 6-8! . It’s also time to announce something I’ve been considering for a while: I’m putting this boat
Who likes a good kit? I’m working on making kits for traditional rope stropped blocks like these available for purchase! . Its no secret I love small sailing and rowing boats, especially if they are wooden and harken back to traditional types.
More pictures of my recent whale sculpture. I’ve done a poor job of promoting this piece, but if you are interested, it is still available! . DM if interested. Details in previous post. . Also, if you don’t follow @capefalconbuilds , wand
A few more highlights from Seventy48. Video and pictures from the finish line. We were admittedly a bit confused where to beach the boat. 🤷‍♂️ . 1) The sun coming up. Rowing through the night was a highlight, but travel at night poses its own ri