The talented carpenter

(Baonghean) - Although he has not attended any formal training, Mr. Nguyen Van Quang in Hamlet 4, Quynh Ba Commune (Quynh Luu) is very "lucky" with carpentry. Each product contains the heart and feelings of a talented carpenter...

Carving, engraving and carving are the strengths of provinces such as Nam Dinh, Ha Tay, Bac Ninh... In Nghe An, there are many carpentry villages and carpenters are not rare, but carpentry workshops, in addition to processing and making rough parts, mainly hire workers from the North for the rest such as carving and carving. But Mr. Nguyen Van Quang's fine art carpentry workshop is completely different because here all stages of carpentry from sawing wood, making, carving and carving are done by the hands of the craftsmen in the village. More specifically, the sophisticated designs on high-end products such as decorative clocks, wooden cabinets, tea cabinets, wooden paintings are all done by Mr. Quang alone. Not keeping the profession for himself, he has successfully passed on the profession to the workers in the workshop.

Mr. Quang and his workers cut and engrave the product.

Mr. Quang's carpentry workshop has been in operation since 1991. He himself came to this profession just to "learn by heart" after a period of working for other carpentry workshops in the area. As soon as the workshop first started operating, the work encountered many difficulties because at that time the capital was low, the customers were not familiar, most of the time he had to buy old items and then reprocess them. The idea of ​​establishing a fine art carpentry workshop began to take shape after he visited carpentry workshops in Ha Tay. More daringly, from a person who had no knowledge of fine art carpentry, carving, and engraving, he learned to draw and study by himself and then became a person who could complete every step of a high-end carpentry product. Customers in the area gradually became aware of his carpentry workshop with high-end, beautiful, quality wooden products and the price was only 2/3 compared to products imported from the North.

Moreover, consumers are very interested in the products designed by Mr. Quang himself because they have their own identity, in line with the concept of beauty of Nghe An people. Recalling the early days of starting his business, Mr. Quang confided: “I was a retired soldier, so when I first returned to my hometown, I was very confused and did not know what to do to make a living. Choosing carpentry, I was actually “gambling” with myself because everything I did started from zero (no formal education, no capital, no sponsor and the market was also zero). But I love this profession and the more I stick with it, the more I love it, especially when the wooden handicraft products I created and made myself are well received by consumers....

Not only talented in product design, Mr. Quang is also bold in business and likes to explore new things. Currently, with more than 40 employees, all of whom are well-trained and can perform many difficult techniques, his workshop is completely capable of handling large orders. Because he wants to expand the scale, he does not hesitate to invest more than 1 billion VND to buy two CNC cutting and engraving machines to carve patterns on wood surfaces completely by machine. In addition, facing the increasing demand and demands of the market, in addition to constantly improving product designs, he also expanded the workshop from 1 to 4 workshops and invested hundreds of millions of VND to buy machinery and equipment such as saws, saws, and steam machines to be more proactive in his work.

To be able to operate the machine, he sent workers to study computer technology, and at the same time invited engineers who graduated from Hanoi University of Architecture to provide technical support. He himself still took on the drawing and design work. Since having the machine, the workload has been 3 times faster than manual work, and many other carpentry workshops in the area have also come to his workshop to ask for help with carving. The products are therefore more diverse and the prices are much cheaper than before. Talking about his boss and his current job, Mr. Nguyen Van Hai - a designer who graduated from Hanoi University of Architecture shared: Although I have been well-educated and graduated from architecture school, I have to learn a lot from Mr. Quang, especially in designing and drawing fine art wooden products.

Another thing that is also very admirable about veteran Nguyen Van Quang is that he always has the awareness to train and create jobs for workers in the area. Mr. Quang himself does not remember how many workers he has taught. Many cases were raised by him from a young age, passed on the profession and lent capital to set up workshops. Many people went to universities and colleges but after a while could not find a job, they came back to him to be taught a profession and asked to work in the workshop. He is also very passionate about social work, every year, he spends a certain amount of money to give gifts to the elderly, poor students and policy families; sponsors football tournaments, cultural and artistic activities of the locality. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, Secretary of the Quynh Ba Commune Party Committee, shared: Every year, Mr. Quang's carpentry workshop creates jobs for dozens of people with an income of 4 - 7 million VND/month. Not only that, Mr. Quang is also an example of perseverance, tenacity, and hard work. He is truly an exemplary veteran worth learning from and following, especially for the younger generation.

My Ha