Mike Ziegler

Mike's Story:

I am Mike Ziegler, a lifelong woodworking enthusiast. I say that with a grain of salt because I wasn’t interested in woodworking at the tender age of 7. It was more to my dad figuring out I could hold sandpaper and free labor. My dad, at this time, had just started woodworking out of a two-car garage. What was a chore of holding flashlights, cleaning brushes, and sanding became something more. I realized that this woodworking thing was fun. There are also 400 different ways (Don’t quote me on that) to do the same thing but with your style. This makes woodworking fun for everyone.

Finishing happened more by accident than on purpose. Let’s flash forward in life to high school. It was the late 90s, and I worked after school and summers with my dad in a coop shop. Four 1,000-square-foot rectangles connected in the middle like a big shop, but everyone had their area. Paid their portion of the rent. Sanding was my primary task. One day some lacquer finish needed to be sprayed for one of the coop guys, and they didn’t want to go outside to do it. Did I forget to mention this is in Arizona? Well, now you know, it was late May or early June, so it was around 100 degrees. Why not throw the young guy outside to spray? I Learned a lot about lacquer, issues with lacquers, and additives which are also important depending on the weather.

Fast Forward to 2011, when I started working at Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop, this was part-time store help, which led to full-time, then store manager for the Hickory Retail location, then to Digital Marketing/Technical Specialist. While this is happening at my day job, my wife has a refinishing business she started in 2010 that I help with called Reloved Shabby Chic Furniture and more. The refinishing side of finishing is unique because you are working with several factors, variables, and potential issues. While I am not classically trained or post-educated in wood finishing, I have learned how NOT to finish something. If you run into an issue while finishing, I can walk through your finishing setup, process, or schedule to find where the problem might be and how to fix it.