BY KADIE VICK
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Baker’s Woodworking Company provides customers with handmade wooden rocking chairs, cutting boards, stove covers and more.
“I do custom woodworking and I do restorations,” said Baker’s Woodworking Company Owner John Baker. “Whatever somebody wants, they can shoot it to me, I’ll sit down, discuss it with them and we’ll come up with a plan.”
Baker said that he began woodworking as a hobby and that he has enjoyed growing his hobby into a business that brings him peace and relaxation.
“I started woodworking as a hobby, it just seemed to be peaceful, something that you just kind of get lost in and not worry about what’s going on around you,” he said. “And it’s still that way. I just enjoy it, it’s a relaxing thing. If you’re doing something you love to do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I wish I could have found this years and years ago.”
Through his previous career cutting trees, Baker said that he realized that he could use the trees he was cutting down to build things.
“Years ago, I worked for a tree company that cleared lines for the Alabama Power Company, and we would cut down trees and things like that,” he said. “I’d try to salvage what we cut, I would bring it to the house and make stuff out of it. Over the years, it’s kind of expanded. Eventually, the company I worked for got taken over, and they didn’t need us anymore. So, I went out alone to start doing woodworking, and I have been fiddling with it ever since.”
One of the most popular items that Baker makes is rocking chairs. He said he sells around 20 rocking chairs a year, but he will also make other items that customers request.
“The main things I do are the rocking chairs and cutting boards, but I have customers call me up and ask, ‘So can you build this?’,” he said. “So I do branch out. I do cabinets and tables, I use all kinds of exotic wood — walnut, maple, peduke, purple heart and woods from all over the world. There’s no limit to what we can use or what color combination I can put together.”
Baker said that his rocking chairs are built with much more care and technique than what can be found at big box stores, and that they also offer lumbar support.
“These chairs are sternly built,” he said. “They are built out of the best lumber I can source. These chairs support your lower lumbar; they have a curve there, the arms are wide and I can put cup holders on them. Your basic chair that I make has around 100 3-inch screws in it.”
One of Baker’s recent projects was building grooming caddies as a prize for the annual Alabama 4-H Club State Horse Show in Montgomery.
“I just did a job for the Alabama 4-H Club for their Annual Horse Show in Montgomery,” he said. “They didn’t want to do trophies, they wanted me to build them a grooming box, or what is called a grooming caddy, where they put all the supplies they use to groom the horses. I had plaques made for that, and put them on it, and they presented those as the trophy.”
Baker said that customers have been pleased with his work and that he appreciates the relationship he has with them.
“I’ve never had anything brought back because it didn’t function right or anything, and I just have a good relationship with my customers,” he said.
Through his business, Baker said he has enjoyed providing customers with his products and enjoys the positive feedback he receives.
“It just means a lot to me when I get to my delivery and the customer says, ‘Oh, this is beautiful. Oh, this is fantastic. This is far beyond what I expected,’” he said. “That just tickles me. And then they go and tell their neighbor, or tell a friend or go to church and tell somebody about it, and then I’m getting a call from that person, wanting the same thing. When people put that much faith and trust in me, to send me their money or to just talk about my product, it means a lot.”
For more information, visit Baker’s Woodworking on Facebook or www.bakerswoodworking.square.site/.
