'Everything Is For Sale': Self-Taught Tulsa Woodworker Hangs Up His Tools After 40 Years

After 40 years of building rustic wooden furniture, a Tulsa man is hanging up his tools.

Bill Baker said getting into the business was not planned. His son owned semi-trucks and had a load of red oak lumber that had some water damage and needed to be sold.

"The people that bought it, they wanted good, clear, red oak lumber," Baker said. "The boards that were bad, I threw them to the side. Then one day, I picked the boards up and I made a table. It had a big knot hole in the bottom, it was crooked, and people liked it."

Each of his furniture pieces are unique. Baker has built picture frames, China cabinets, dressers, end tables, desks, poker and dining room tables, chairs, and more. He said the more flaws in the wood, the better. "I had seven children, and they could not mess this up and that is what I built," Baker said. "I built furniture that you could use. You could throw your muddy boots up on it, you could scratch it, you could drive a nail in it, and it did not hurt it."

He also uses old woodworking techniques and does most of his building with a table saw, chop saw, jointer, and hand tools.

"I built my own wooden hinges, my own latches, you pull those pins out of the hinges and those doors come off," Baker said. "Makes it a lot easier to move because, I tell you what, this oak furniture is solid oak, and it is heavy."

Even more remarkable, he is self-taught. "I never had any schooling or training in it, I just picked it up and done a little bit and built some more and built some more and built some more," said Baker.

Inside his home is a lifetime of work. Baker said that is, in part, thanks to his late wife. "She loved everything I built, she wanted to keep it all," he said. "She was into sewing, making quilts, and she wanted all these drawers. I more or less just built things for her, and she would fill them up immediately."

Baker lost his wife earlier this year and said at 86-years-old the time has come to downsize.

He hopes to now find a new home for his handmade pieces.

"Everything is for sale," Baker said. "All except my recliner, one lamp, one end table, and my bed."