Woodworking is not an easy art to master, it requires a lot of precision, patience, and time. If you want to create the perfect desk, table, or bookshelf, you can literally spend days, weeks, and in some cases months to complete you creation.
Not only do woodwork creations with glass included also requiring etching, they also take time to properly design.
Most people would be at a complete loss, myself included, when it comes to making a table like this one.
The craft isn’t just time consuming, it can be incredibly dangerous. With sharp tools like saws and machinery, not paying attention can cost you a finger or even your life.
Despite the time and the potential danger, Clay Gurganus, a blind man, has been creating amazing works like the ones you see above for many years. He runs the company Blind Guy Woodworking, and he recently explained that he lost his eye sight in 1984 after a long fight with diabetes. He eventually began taking a class at the Iowa Department for the Blind and one of the options was a shop class.
In 2010 Clay purchased a table saw and his new business was born.
During the day, Gurganus works for the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in the financial aid department.
At nights and on the weekends he runs his woodworking business.
There are no corners cut. He uses all of the same machinery that any good woodworker would utilize.
He says, “I could remember sobbing” when doctors told him that there was no way to restore his sight.
After learning to Woodwork his entire life changed forever, “You’ve got to face your fears, because fear will cripple you. You’ve got to have an attitude of ‘I can do this,’ or else you’re not going to make it.”
His work is precise and beautiful.
[Photos Blind Guy Woodworking; via KCCI]
