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KENTVILLE, N.S. — Nolan King is not your typical 14-year-old.

Instead of relaxing during the summer, he’s hard at work at his own business. Or, if he is relaxing, it might just be on something he made himself.

It all started when the Kentville resident, and soon-to-be Grade 10 student, was 13 years old. His dad, Andrew, found plans to make a bench and said they should give it a try. With that bench, his woodworking hobby took root.

From there, King says his father started to post on Facebook what they were making, and people started to want them and buy them.

“It just took off from there,” says King.

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What started as making benches, has grown into building picnic tables, garden benches, and outdoor foot stools. Basically, King says that if you have other outdoor wood projects such as raised flower beds and garbage boxes, he could build those as well.

“I got my woodworking skills from my dad,” says King. “He is the one that taught me everything I needed to know about how to woodwork and how to do it safely.”

King can now make just about anything and fills a lot of custom orders. These could be for anything like foot stools, side tables, or an “L-shaped” picnic table that he is making now. Once he knows what he is going to make, he can then go in search of the pattern.

For his projects, King uses hemlock from a local mill. As an added bonus, delivery is included within 30 kilometres of Kentville.

And for the most part, King makes everything by himself.

There are some parts his dad helps him with in regard to the business, like dropping the benches or picnic tables off and helping him to figure out what needs to be done. Other than that, King says he does the rest by himself.

“Woodworking to me is like something I go to some days when I’m down or my brain is just running on full tilt,” says King. “It makes me feel calm and not stressed out.”

King says it’s even better when his dad helps him, as it makes for good laughs and fun times. It makes things way better, he says.

When King completes his work, he says he feels so accomplished with what he did.

“And when you see the customers’ reaction, it makes you feel so good about what you did.”

Besides perfecting his woodworking skills, King says he has learned so much more through operating the business. He’s had to learn how to advertise, how to deal with money, how to talk to people about the things he does in his business and provide customer service.

“I’ve learned so many things that will help me in life sometime down the road,” he says.

Right now, King says he has no further plans to grow or change his business model. He likes keeping it seasonal, building from April to the start of September when school starts.

When not woodworking or at school, King likes to play hockey and golf and go to the lake.

Anyone interested in viewing what King makes or placing an order can find him on Facebook under Benched by Nolan.

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