How I Got Here

In the Hospital Ship Africa Mercy's Radiology Dept.My interest in working wood began at an early age. I started whittling with my first pocketknife when I was about 10 years old. I started out like most boys; turning big pieces of wood into smaller ones. But I soon found I needed to do more than just make kindling. I took a carving class at summer camp one year, learned how to make wooden spoons, and even tried my hand at relief carving.

School and the typical things of life soon intervened and I didn’t get back to any serious woodworking until after high school. I spent a summer logging and the guy I worked with liked to make blanket chests and do wood turning. Using his equipment, I made a couple of cutting boards (logging doesn’t leave you much free time). Again, my interest in woodworking was ignited but college and life in general soon banked the flames once more.

Spiders, OH MY!

I studied architecture in college but soon discovered that I could do what I liked about architecture, designing homes, without a degree so I quit school and went to work as a draftsman. After fighting the building industry crash for a few years, I went back to school to learn Biomedical electronics. I dabbled in several hobbies over the years but having my own woodworking shop was always there, hiding in the back of my mind.

After years of working in the medical electronics world and fighting the stresses of corporate America, I once again took up carving as a serious hobby. I took all the classes I could find and got more and more involved with woodworking. The more I got into it, the more I found it fulfilled something deep inside me that had been trying to get out for years, something I didn’t even know was there.

The stresses of work were increasing due to the political environment at the hospital where I worked. When policies were put in place that I could not ethically support, I came to realize that I needed to do something different.

Stumped!

At the advice of family and friends, and a serious kick in the pants from my pastor, I decided to pursue my dream of woodworking. I had seen advertisements in various woodworking magazines for the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, ME. So I signed up for “Basic Woodworking” a two week class that teaches you the basics – how to cut dovetails, how to make mortise and tenon joints and the like. You would think that with a name like “Basic Woodworking,” there would just be beginning woodworkers in the class, and there were, but there were also guys who had been building furniture for many years, even decades, who were there to hone their skills. In spite of the intense schedule of the class, I had the time of my life.

It was everything I had hoped for and more. I had found my true calling! I signed up for the “Nine Month Comprehensive” class offered by the school and we sold our place in Washington and relocated to Maine. We bought a place in Appleton, Maine that had a five year old horse barn on it. After I finished my woodworking classes, I spent several months converting it into a woodworking shop. I started out with mostly hand tools but was able to buy a nice used table saw and a large late 1950’s band saw along with a new jointer and planer. Over the years since then, I have added other pieces of equipment as I have had the money to pay cash for them and now have a modestly equipped shop.

Ric & Pearl and the Hospital Ship The Africa Mercy

Then, a few years ago I had a life changing opportunity. I volunteered with an organization called Mercy Ships. They run the largest non-governmental hospital ship in the world and work mainly on the west coast of Africa. They go to a country along the coast of Africa for 10 months of the year and provide much needed surgeries, eye, dental, and orthopedic care for those who have no access to medical care. They had a need for a Biomedical Electronics Technician, so I went back to my former profession and flew to Conakry, Guinea, West Africa for 4 1/2 months first, to help the live aboard Biomed get caught up. Then, when the ship went into the shipyard in Las Palmas, Gran Canary, (Canary Islands) Spain for its annual maintenance period, I helped remove the old CT unit and install a completely rebuilt unit that had been donated. A year later, I went back for a month to help train a newly graduated Biomed that was joining the crew full time. This time they were in Pointe Ric Washburn in his shopNoir, Republic of Congo. To say an experience like this is life changing is an understatement; it completely changes your worldview and how you look at everything in your life.

To learn more about having a custom designed table, desk, chair, or bench made just for you and your unique needs; or if you would like me to create a piece of artwork for you – a drawing, some pyrography, a carving, or a turning of some kind; feel free to contact me. You can give me a call at: (207) 975-9704, or email me at: ric@crwashburn.com. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Photography of Spiders, Oh My by CR Washburn

Photography of Stumped by CR Washburn

All other photography by Pearl Washburn