My shop just turned 25 and I found the first cabinet I ever built

I was cleaning out the back room and found a small oak medicine cabinet I made in 1999. It was for my grandma's house in Akron, and the joinery is so rough compared to what I do now. Hitting that 25 year mark really made me think about how much the tools and even the wood quality have shifted. Anyone else find an old project that shows how far you've come?

4 comments

4 Comments

max_brown13d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, that first cabinet was from 1999? That's not even a quarter century ago that's like right before the whole Y2K panic. I'm sitting here trying to do the math and it's blowing my mind. My first project was a pine bookshelf from 2005 and the thing literally split down the middle after two winters. That oak medicine cabinet of yours surviving 25 years with rough joints is honestly impressive. Most of my early stuff couldn't handle a move across town let alone a quarter century of use.

taraross2mo ago

1999 was a quarter century ago. The fact you still have that first cabinet and it's still in one piece is wild. My early stuff from even ten years back is falling apart. That oak has probably seen more than we have.

the_leo2mo agoMost Upvoted

Actually, I've had the opposite happen. My newer stuff seems to hold up better with the improved glues and finishes. That old pine dresser I had from college? The drawers started sticking after a few years in a damp apartment... real wood doesn't always mean forever.

troy_price2mo ago

Akron is a solid town for that kind of history. I see what @taraross means about stuff holding up, but it's more about the care put in. My old man's tools from the 80s feel heavier and simpler than my new ones, but they both get the job done. We're in a throwaway culture now, so keeping anything for 25 years feels like a win. That first project you made with your own hands has a story no new thing can match, rough joints and all.