Learn All About Mark Henry, the Dedicated Founder of Bayside Signs
Bayside Signs was established by Mark Henry, an impassioned woodworker with extensive skills in hand carving many different projects. We invite you to continue reading about how Mark learned and mastered woodworking.
Early Start
Mark Henry first discovered woodworking when he was just a young boy in his father’s small shop. He would go after school and on the weekends, picking up woodworking skills from his father.
The senior Henry would sit at their kitchen table and hand-carve some of the most beautiful pieces Mark had ever seen. Mark’s father once made a western prairie wagon with a canvas cover as well as hand-carved miniature people and horses.
His most impressive piece was a duplicate of the warship Old Ironside. It was carved impressively with full details, including cannons, people, sails, and rope. It was over 3 feet long and 3 feet high.
Tandem of Expert Builders
Mark’s father was never afraid to act on his curiosity and always found new things to build. The father-and-son duo had even built a telescope that entailed hours of grinding lenses and melting various types of metal using a homemade kiln.
With the metals, they would then make their very own molds.
Multi-Faceted Builder
Mark also learned how to work on cars and rebuild engines after being overcharged by a mechanic for an alternator replacement.
He learned to build most things by using the loading lumber at the steel mill. This lumber was a 4x4 oak log he used to place under steel rolls on flatbed trailers.
He recalls how he would pull up their driveway with several pieces of the loading lumber sticking out of his trunk. This would be a regular occurrence in his blue Plymouth Fury 3.
To this day, Mark has never come across a harder wood to try to drive nails into. He would have to pre-drill the holes for the nails, and even then, the drill bit would break most times.
Back in those days, if you bent a nail, you would have to straighten it out. Doing so nowadays would attract weird looks from people wondering why you’d go through so much for a single nail.
Creativity and Resourcefulness
All of these short stories have one common theme: they wasted nothing back in the day. Mark and his father became quite creative about not spending money, often making a homemade replica of a piece of equipment you could easily buy in a store today.
Mark still has these life lessons engrained in him today, always remembering the value of being frugal and taking pride in his work.
Recent Passion Projects
Mark has successfully flipped a house by totally renovating it. He built a Florida room addition with a hot tub, tiled floor, and tongue and grooved cedar walls.
He had also made a 32x32 addition to his 2-story house. The vast space includes a workshop and game room on the upper floor.
Interested in Discovering More?
If you’d like to learn more about company founder Mark Henry’s background and expertise, reach out to us today.