Bench Notes: July | Building More Than a Shop
Bench Notes: July | Building More Than a Shop
Hello from the Urban Carvers shop!
We hope you’re having a great summer. July has been full of projects, growth, a few surprises, and plenty of reasons to be grateful. We thought we’d take a break from talking about products and share a little of what’s been happening behind the scenes.
Building More Than a Shop
When we moved to our home near the lake in 2020, Urban Carvers was ready for a new chapter. Like many people that year, we quickly realized building materials weren’t exactly budget friendly. Lumber prices had skyrocketed, and building a brand-new shop—or renting one somewhere else—just didn’t make sense.
Instead, we looked at the old garage on our property and decided to build around what we already had.
Both years, we hired local contractors to pour the concrete slabs (those jobs were far bigger than we wanted to tackle ourselves!), but from there Dustin and I rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Through plenty of Oklahoma heat—and more than a few 100° days—we framed walls, built the roof, and slowly transformed an old garage into the Urban Carvers shop.
As the business continued to grow, we added onto the shop the following year. Once again, local contractors poured another concrete slab, and once again we spent evenings, weekends, and countless hot summer hours building the addition ourselves.
One of our favorite memories from that time was working with a local metal supplier just down the road. They were so curious about what this husband-and-wife team was building that they came by to see the project for themselves. Moments like that remind us how lucky we are to live in a community where people genuinely support one another.
Today, when we walk through the shop, we don’t just see walls, machines, and workbenches. We see years of hard work, determination, late nights, problem-solving, and dreams slowly becoming reality. Every addition tells part of our story.
People sometimes ask if we’ll ever build a completely new shop. Maybe someday—but honestly, this one has so much character that we think we’ll probably just keep adding onto it as Urban Carvers continues to grow.
The truth is, we weren’t just building a shop.
We were building our family, our partnership, and our future together.
Growing Together
This season has reminded us how much can change when two people lean into each other’s strengths.
Over the past few months, Dustin has been able to spend more time focusing on designing, machining, and creating products, while I’ve stepped into managing more of the website, product listings, blogs, emails, newsletters, and social media.
Looking back over the last couple of years, we’ve let go of a lot of negativity and chosen to put that energy into building something healthy—for our family, our marriage, and our business.
Growth reminds us a lot of a tree. Every season adds another ring. Some seasons bring storms, others bring sunshine, but every season makes it stronger. That’s how this chapter of life feels to us.
We’re incredibly grateful for where we are today, and even on the days when we’re both running on coffee and fighting headaches, we wouldn’t trade this life for anything.
Meet Tank & Dozer 🦝
Now for the fun news…
We’ve been keeping a little secret while waiting for everything to become official, and we’re excited to finally introduce the newest members of the Urban Carvers family: Tank and Dozer!
They’re two bonded raccoon brothers, and they have already filled our home with curiosity, personality, and more laughs than we ever expected.
Right now they’re living inside with us while they’re still little, but we’re already planning a large outdoor enclosure where they’ll have plenty of room to climb, explore, and enjoy being raccoons.
If you’ve followed us for a while, you know we’re animal lovers, so don’t be surprised if Tank and Dozer make an appearance every now and then. We have a feeling they’re going to steal a few hearts—and probably a few snacks too!
Around the Shop
While the raccoons have been keeping us entertained, we’ve also been busy restocking some customer favorites.
This month we’ve added inventory back to several products, including Mini V3 Quick Releases, Ultem Quick Releases, Swiss Cheese Beads, Paracord, Brass Double Cross Beads, and more.
Featured on YouTube 🎥
One of the highlights of this month was seeing Urban Carvers featured in a YouTube video! It’s always exciting to watch someone take a closer look at our products and share them with the EDC community.
If you haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, we’ve linked it below. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did, and we’re incredibly thankful to everyone who continues to support Urban Carvers along the way.
https://youtu.be/YkIM-nNnjmc?is=yoFgcvAMhI_xiR3I
What’s Coming Next 🧵
One project I’m especially excited to bring back is our hanks!
It’s been almost two years since we’ve had them in the shop. After Talon was born, life naturally shifted toward raising a little one, and my sewing machine took a well-deserved break.
If you’ve been waiting for the return of Urban Carvers hanks, the wait is almost over! I’ll be bringing back some of our favorite past designs along with brand-new fabrics that have caught my eye. Whether you missed out the first time or you’re looking to add a few fresh patterns to your collection, I can’t wait to start sewing again and share what’s coming to the shop.
Customer Spotlight ⭐
One of the best parts of every month is reading your reviews.
Seriously—we read every single one.
Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning or just recently discovered Urban Carvers, thank you for being part of our journey.
Every order, every message, every review, and every share helps our little family continue building something we’re incredibly proud of.
We’ll keep making great gear, sharing pieces of our story, and giving you a peek behind the scenes here at Urban Carvers.
See you next month.
— Dustin & Maigen