Local woodworker Shaun Boyd didn’t come to the age-old craft directly. He was an economics major at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo before working in businesses, and then went back to school to study film.
But after trying different jobs and traveling, he turned to a skill that was “more creative, doing something with my hands,” Boyd told the Sun.
“I’ve always kind of been into designing and making stuff, and furniture seemed like a logical place to go,” he said. “I just kind of started with that.”
He began the Buellton-based business, Shaun Boyd Made This, and started making wine barrel furniture, which is popular in the Central Coast’s wine country. From there Boyd expanded, focusing on furniture with a modern and strong aesthetic sense.
Now, Boyd is using his business to help spread his knowledge of woodworking. He will host a series of one-day workshops in January, which teach the basics of woodshop safety, skills, and techniques.
“Woodworking has kind of become a dead trade to an extent,” he said. “It used to be something that was in schools and a lot of people learned it. … Other hands-on skills are kind of going away, and I think people look at them as kind of outdated and something that no one does.”
Through his workshops, which will teach how to make a basic cutting board, Boyd hopes to illustrate that woodworking is accessible to most.
Woodworking is a craft, Boyd said, but he likes to highlight the creativity involved in the process. There’s plenty of measuring, cutting, sanding, and other precise techniques, but a project involves imagination and “putting your own spin on it,” he explained.
“It’s getting people to see the creative process and just the actual physical part of making stuff,” he said. “You look at a cutting board, and you’ll see it in a store or whatever, and it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s neat,’ but just that cutting board starts out as raw lumber and you have to mill it and cut it down.
“With anything, there’s quite a process to it, so it’s fun to share that with people and show them what goes into stuff that you kind of just glance at on a day-to-day basis, but someone put a lot of time and effort into that,” he added.
Boyd said that the project the workshops center on is perfect for somebody hoping to learn the basics of woodworking. And while the cutting boards students will get to make won’t be as complicated as the ones he sells, it will still take all the same techniques to get the job done, he said.
“The cutting board is such a great first project because it is simple, as far as just thinking about woodworking in a broad sense,” he said. “It’s just a piece of wood and you cut it a few times and you can put in some different types of wood and make it look cool, but in that simple project you can use pretty much every tool in the shop.”
Shaun Boyd Made This has an online store that shows the range of Boyd’s work, from a simple wooden Bluetooth speaker box reminiscent of a vintage radio to a looping plywood table. He also does work by commission, for those who have a specific piece in mind.
With whatever he makes, Boyd hopes that the work is something that’s enjoyable to look at for customers, whether it’s a cutting board or a table. But looks aren’t everything, he explained.
“It’s one thing to make really cool looking furniture, but I feel there always has to be that function to it,” he said. “That’s one of my favorite things about it, is coming up with that function that still looks great.”
Highlights:
• Marian Regional Medical Center announced that it received a donation for $150,000 from the Cruzin’ for Life benefit car show on Dec. 6. Cruzin’ for Life has set records among lifetime fundraising for Marian Cancer Care at the Mission Hope Cancer Center. In total, the charity car show has raised more than $1 million, and this year’s donation was the largest to date.
• Local businesses and organizations offered discounted or free services to those displaced by the Thomas Fire. The Chumash Casino Resort held rooms at its sister property Hadsten House Inn and Spa for those who needed a place to stay. Pismo Coast Village offered free RV parking. Meathead Movers gave free transportation in partnership with Ventura County Catholic Charities. And the Discovery Storage Center offered free storage for evacuees.
Managing Editor Joe Payne wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, mail, or email at spotlight@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 14-21, 2017.