Woodworking shop a popular spot at the Kingsport Senior Center

When the doors of the woodworking shop in the Kingsport Senior Center are open, chances are the space is abuzz with activity. Goggle-clad men and women working hard on their various projects with the sounds of sawing and sanding filling the room.

The woodworking shop – the only one found in any senior center in Tennessee – is open Monday through Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with Thursday’s and Friday’s set aside for classes. To say the shop is popular among seniors would be an understatement.

Kingsport native Johnny Chandler has worked with wood all his life. He taught vocational shop for more than 20 years in two local middle schools and one high school and for the past eight years he’s volunteered in the senior center woodworking shop.

It’s not unusual to see a dozen or more people in the shop on any given day, both men and women, working on various wood crafting projects.

“There’s always a lot of people who come to the shop and we’ve had at least 25 people in here at times,” Chandler said. “If someone needs to set up a saw or learn how to do something, that’s what we’re here for. Our knowledge and skills.”

ABOUT THE WOODWORKING SHOP

The shop is located on the first floor of the Kingsport Renaissance Center and contains just about anything you’d need to craft something out of wood – three band saws, two table saws, various sanders and grinders, an eight-inch joiner, a 20-inch planar, two drill presses and five lathes.

And if you prefer to go old school, there’s plenty of hand carving hammers, chisels and clamps.

Ron Grooms, who specializes in cutting boards and dulcimers, has volunteered in the woodworking shop for the past two years. Transferring his knowledge of woodworking to folks who are just starting out is the main reason he volunteers.

“With as many saws and power equipment that we have, it’s very easy to get injured,” Grooms said. “We do everything the proper and safe way and we want to make sure folks walk out of here with all 10 fingers.”

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

In order to use the equipment in the woodworking shop, you first have to join the Kingsport Senior Center ($25 for city residents and you have to be age 50 or older). Then, you have to go through a safety orientation with one of the volunteers and ideally a basic woodworking class to understand how to operate all of the machines efficiently.

The first Monday of each month is when the basic woodworking class is held.

When Larry Eidson was 10 years old, he watched a neighbor build a house. That sparked an interest in woodworking and eventually led to Eidson building houses himself. Today, after more than 40 years of working with wood, Eidson volunteers at the Kingsport Senior Center.

“Some people come in with a new thing they want to do, and we try and help them,” Eidson said. “We let them do their thing, but whatever they do we want them to do it safely. That’s the biggest thing for us volunteers.”