Wood furniture can easily be displayed in furniture stores. However, what if you can create that furniture and be proud to know that you did it?

Rene Sutton, woodworking major, said having that satisfaction in knowing that one can learn to handle hand tools as well as created a simple jewelry box out of wood is what is fun but, that he looks at it in another way.

“I am taking this class because I look at it has a hobby.” He says now that he’s retired there is time on his hands to learn everything from sharpening hand tools to sharpening one’s chisels.

Sutton commented that he has taken woodworking at Cerritos for three years and that he has enjoyed the class because of the basic things he has learned.

Rich Higuerra, woodworking major, also agreed that there are things that students can learn such as using power tools and hand tools. But for him it all comes down to one thing.

“Within furniture making, whether cabinet making or a tool box making there is a sense of perfection.”

Having worked in carpentry before taking a class in woodworking, Higuerra explained that having a skill in photography is the same way as woodworking.

“As a photographer one has to know the f-stop and film speed, he added, “and that is the same with selecting the wood to make a cabinet and its fabric.”

Higuerra says that during this semester, the projects that he has done are a coffee table and a night stand.

For him, it’s more of knowing that what he has created comes out beautiful in wood.

Carl Jammerjohn, woodworking instructor, agreed.

Originally, having a career in mechanical engineering, he said that the reason he switched to teaching woodworking at Cerritos in 2000 was because he hoped to pass his skills on to students who were interested in the field.

Although the class is male-dominated, Jammerjohn says that within the program there are at least 15 percent of those who are women.

One of those women is Pam Goldman, woodworking major.

She explained that the reason why she decided to enroll in the class itself is because she along with her husband Ron have had an interest in woodworking but also have their own magazine, called, “Woodworker West.”

Furthermore, Goldman said that she is also a graphic design major, “but in five years of being in the woodworking program the No. 1 thing that I’ve learned is technique.

“The other reason I come to the class is for the social aspect of it.”

One of the projects that she has been able to complete is a wooden tool box and she explained even though it took three semesters to complete, one of the things that came out of it, “it gave my pride in my work.

“Also, students have to know that it takes extra hours,” she continued, “as well as efforts to do the projects.”

In describing Jammerjohn as an instructor Goldman says that it is great that he is knowledgeable in what he teaching.

Moreover, for Goldman to know that she’d had furnished her own furniture it is better than the KIA furniture displayed.

Steven Lansing, woodworking major, would take it as more than just Jammerjohn having knowledge for what he teaches.

“There is a level of structure within his lectures, everyday.”

Lansing did say that he had no interest in woodworking until he enrolled in his first class last summer and from there he commented that there were things he learned.

“I would say the first thing I learned,” he said, “and the most important was about safety when it came to using power and hand tools.”

Neil Smith, woodworking major, said that the reason he took the class at the beginning was because he needed a cart to use at home.

He too says that it is exciting to know about woodworking because, “in the home we have a TV area, an office and this class will give us the opportunity to fix that furniture in the space that is left ourselves.”

Jammerjohn says that is the reason for his passion, that there is a traditional method to woodworking and also the enjoyment one has for it.