Measure Twice, Cut Once
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Neil McComb at work in MSA’s woodshop.
Not many eleven year olds are comfortable operating a miter saw or a sanding belt.
Neil McComb was not your average eleven year old. He was born and raised in the Cayman Islands. Like many boys his age, he enjoyed hanging out on the beach and playing baseball with friends after school. In addition to these traditional youth activities, Neil found himself drawn to one of his father’s hobbies–woodworking.
His father’s company has a charming and complete woodworking shop. From a young age, Neil gazed into the well-lit space and admired his father creating useful and beautiful furniture. He was in awe of the precision. In awe of his father’s skills. In awe of the organization of the tools and machines. Wisdom seemed to cry out from the sawdust, and Neil was there to regard it.
Before long, Neil was being introduced to squares, tape measures, chisels, and clamps–tools that soon would feel as familiar to his young hands as the soft leather of his baseball glove. Day after day, Neil worked in the shop with his father. His palms became calloused, and sawdust became as commonplace to him as the sand of the Cayman Island beaches. He had found a passion.
“Before long, Neil was being introduced to squares, tape measures, chisels, and clamps–tools that soon would feel as familiar to his young hands as the soft leather of his baseball glove.”
After following his father’s lead for many months, Neil started to chip away on projects of his own. “My father always believed I should learn woodworking and safe use of power tools. I was eleven years old when I first began working in the woodshop.” While young, Neil was a quick study. One day, he noticed that his grandfather’s sawmill had large slabs of stunningly beautiful wood. He got permission to use the slabs and built a series of tables for his family. This project furthered his interest in woodworking and was influential in his path to Miller School.
When looking for a boarding school, Neil was drawn to Miller School of Albemarle partly due to the robust Design/Build curriculum and the school’s breathtaking woodshop located on the second floor of Caton Hall. In the spirit of MSA’s mission to educate the Minds, Hands, and Hearts of students, the popular Design/Build courses introduce students to woodworking, beginning with hand tools and progressing to advanced projects. Even though Neil was a long way from the sandy beaches of the Cayman Islands, he was right at home in MSA’s woodshop overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains when he enrolled as a seven-day boarding student his freshman year.
One afternoon last fall, he and fellow Design/Build student Jacob Exum (‘22) started thinking about ways to build things that had a story behind them. Neil was taking Land Management at the time and had been milling slabs of wood from a giant oak tree that had fallen during a storm on campus. The duo spoke with Land Management teacher, Andy Guptill, about using some of the large slabs to build custom tables–much like the ones Neil had built at home in the Cayman Islands. Guptill enthusiastically agreed and helped them pick out the most appropriate slabs from a giant oak tree that had fallen near the Lotus Pond the previous winter.
For their first project, Jacob and Neil decided to design a coffee table that would fit in the Head of School’s den. Having spent time in the Head of School’s house during Advisory Dinners, both Jacob and Neil were impressed by the masterful woodworking throughout the house. From magnificent trim work and custom doors to a grand staircase with custom lattice work, the house is a visual representation of the type of craftsmanship the pair was learning from Mr. Hanson in Design/Build. They wanted to add to this with a meaningful and useful piece of furniture–one with a history unique to MSA.
After a month of work, they designed and then built a table for the house constructed entirely from wood milled on campus from storm-downed trees.
Head of School, Mr. Drude, remarked: “It's wonderful to have this coffee table in our den. Whenever I look at this table, I think of the fact that it was made by students from wood on our very own campus. The craftsmanship of the table and the pride Neil and Jacob showed building it is a testament to our unique program and approach to learning by doing.”
“Whenever I look at this table, I think of the fact that it was made by students from wood on our very own campus. The craftsmanship of the table and the pride Neil and Jacob showed building it is a testament to our unique program and approach to learning by doing.”
Neil recognizes that what he is learning as he becomes a master craftsman has applications to life outside of the woodshop. Neil explained: “Two important lessons I have learned in Design/Build are how to make the best out of a short amount of time and how to be efficient with materials. These two things are very important in life.”
Neil has had an ideal teacher to help him grow as a woodworker and person. Mr. Hanson has led MSA’s Design/Build program over the past decade into one the premier high school woodworking programs in the country. He inspires students with his calm demeanor and masterful skills. Before joining the MSA faculty, Mr. Hanson was a F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet pilot in the United States Air Force. This experience gives him a unique perspective as a teacher and woodworker–one that is helpful and motivating to students. Neil explained: “One thing that I have struggled with in the design and build process is looking at a problem from a different perspective. Mr. Hanson has helped me do this in the workshop and the real world.” Mr. Hanson helped Neil bridge academic understanding and hands-on experience with practical life decision-making. Neil continued: “He has taught me something equally important–measure twice and cut once. This is something that I of course remember every time I go to make a cut. However, maybe more importantly, it is something I now apply to decision-making in life.”
Neil McComb has made excellent use of his time and materials in the MSA woodshop. Using his childhood experiences, he recognized an opportunity to utilize wood from campus to create a meaningful and beautiful piece of furniture for the Head of School’s house. The craftsmanship seen in the table is right at home in the den of MSA’s most magnificent residence. Like the builders of the Miller School of Albemarle, Neil has created a masterpiece that will be enjoyed for many years to come.
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