Evolution of A Bear & His Cabinet Shop
I thought I’d tell you guys more about me, while I’m still able.
I started off by being the 3rd born to a Self-employed Carpenter in Southeast Pennsylvania.
Mom worked in a Hosiery Mill for many years (making nylon stockings),and then went back to stitching Baseballs & Softballs at home. She was also paid to teach others how to Sew Baseballs.
Dad was a Self-employed Carpenter, who built 17 homes, without a helper, and also installed Venetian Blinds, Ceramic & Plastic tile, roofs, and small Concrete jobs. However most of his work was Remodeling homes. He was also the most avid Hunter & Fisherman that I have ever known.
I started out in a one room schoolhouse, with First Grade on the left half of the room, and second grade on the right half of the room. We had electric in the school, but no running water, 2 outhouses in the field behind the school, and a pump for water, in front of the school.
We also had a Potbellied Coal Stove in the back of the room for heat. The following year, there were too many first graders to have both first & second in one room, so they put a partition up in the feed mill next door, added 8 school desks, and we had second grade in the Feed Mill.
After another Red Brick One Room School house for third grade, we finally got to a modern multi-room School House, with indoor plumbing.
Then when I got to 10th grade, I chose Cabinetmaking, and half of my day was spent in the Woodshop of the Quakertown Community High School.
Then the following year they opened up a Technical School for 3 schools, including Quakertown, Pennridge, and Palisades, where I attended the Cabinetmaking class during the afternoon of every school day, and graduated there & from Quakertown in 1966.
Over the next few years, I worked at Link Belt, on the drafting floor, Insaco, and Bethlehem Steel.
At the age of 19, with things heating up, I found myself volunteering for the Army. It was called “Volunteering for the Draft”, which meant you only had to serve 2 years, instead of 3 or 4 in an enlistment. But then I added another year to be able to get an electronics course, to which I eventually quit anyway.
So 3 years in the Army, including Vietnam, put me back in Quakertown in May of 1971, alive & back at my Job @ Bethlehem Steel, which had been waiting for my return. Then after a total of 19 years, they closed my shop down, and I found myself in the Unemployment Line, with a lot of Vietnam Vets.
So I ran into an old Buddy of mine, who had been our neighbor & our paperboy when we were kids. He had his own Cabinet Shop in his detached Garage, and asked if I wanted to help him out. It was a ratty little place, but we turned out enough work for him to get another property & build a Pole Barn for a new & bigger shop. Then after about 10 years, and after hiring & firing a few other guys, things got too slow, and I was getting laid off too much, so we bought another house that had a big enough basement to have My own Cabinet Shop in the Basement.
I did just that—The 2,900 square foot basement had an extra block to give the ceiling height I needed, and we ran extra lighting throughout, and we ran Air Lines through the whole shop, and 220V lines where needed for some of the machines.
Then I bought the machines I needed, and got things going, before I quit the other job. I made my “Corner Gun Cabinet” as a test to make sure I & my Shop were ready, because if you can make a Corner Tall Cabinet, you can make anything.
Over the next 12 years, I made about 60 Kitchens & Vanities, and 8 offices, and probably about 25 entertainment centers.
Then when Bear Jr wanted to start his own Tower Business, we borrowed some money to help get him started, and we both quit our jobs to help him, once he got going. He did real good, real fast, and paid us back in full in less than 6 months.
So I worked for him for a few years, on ground work & Rooftops, where I wouldn’t have to climb 300’ or even10' or 12’. Then he got to the point where he didn’t need me much, so I advertised & built a few Decks, and then eventually I got into carving Bears with chainsaws, but that’s a story I already told, and can be seen @ this Link:
Why They Call Me "Bearcarver":
A Bear from Log to Finish
Then my health kept getting worse, and they decided I needed a new Aortic Valve, so I went in as an Out-patient to get my Coronaries checked with a Catheter. The “Doctor” doing the catheter screwed up & poked a hole in my Aorta, so they had to rush me to the ER to save my life. Then as long as I was there & unconscious, they moved up the changing of the Valve, and they replaced a section of my Ascending Aorta. So I spent 12 days in Cardiac Intensive Care, and 28 days in the hospital, before I left with new problems with my Kidneys & my Heart, and old problems with my lungs. Since that I got checked out by the VA, and they said “Agent Orange” was behind much of the start of the problems.
So now I don’t get around so good, and have quit just about everything you can’t do while being dizzy half of the time. This includes Driving, Fishing, Hunting, smoking meat, because of all the in & out of the doors, up & down the steps, and on my feet entirely too much, while needing oxygen 24/7.
I’ll keep doing whatever I can do, and posting anything that looks decent. If I get too boring, and people get tired of me, just let me know, and I’ll disappear.
Meanwhile I’ll put some pictures of that shop I used to have in the Big Basement (Below), and a few Pics of an Insurance Office I made some cabinets for.
I also have some Pics that Mrs Bear scanned of our Big Kitchen that we had in that same house. It was the biggest Kitchen I ever made, and if you guys want to see it, I’ll do a nice post on it, as soon as I get the pics together.
That’s about it—Enjoy the Pics!
Bear
3 HP, 10" Table Saw, with 5' X 8' extended table:
5 HP, 24", 3 blade Planer, with serrated & "Segmented" feed rollers:
3 HP Shaper, with Power Feeder:
8" Jointer:
Radial Saw, with Flip-stop Fence:
Two spindle Horizontal Boring Machine, with 14 locking spring loaded stops:
Edge Sander, with 6" X 156" sanding belts:
Band Saw, Drill Press, and Dust Collector:
Two Stage, 80 Gallon Vertical Air Compressor:
Binks Air Assisted, Airless Spray System, with Cobra Gun:
12" Tubeaxial Fan through wall, with Filters in doors:
Wheeled Drying Racks & filters for incoming spray room air:
First Job was this Small Insurance Office set-up:
Right Corner: (Walnut stain on Red Oak)
Left Corner 45° corner cabinet:
Base Cabinets & full length top:
