Oklahoma Man Turns Hobby Into Career

It's not everyone who finds a job that doesn't feel like work, but one Tulsa man found great joy by ditching the time-clock.

Michael Benton calls it a hobby that got out of hand.

He said it started as a way to provide stress relief from a job he didn't love, until one day he said, why not.

"We do clocks, jewelry boxes, humidors – hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind type pieces," he said.

Benton’s specialty is called marquetry - inlaying a picture or design into wood.

"There's probably 17 different kinds of wood used in the face of that," he explained.

He calls himself a lover of technology - using computerized lasers to cut out designs and the pieces to inlay - but the assembly of the very intricate jigsaw puzzles is all done by hand.

"This takes about 8 hours to do this piece," Benton said.

Right now, he’s working on a piece for a retiring police officer with the New York Port Authority. The best seller, however, the thing that keeps the lasers humming, is engagement ring boxes - they have dozens.

Benton said, "We sell anywhere from two or three a day to 20 a day."

Each one has an inlaid design on top and can be inscribed inside; and, on the off chance she says “no,” there’s a money back guarantee.

Benton does all his business online – you can find more information here.