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Palms Resident Loves Woodworking

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Harry Olson demonstrates how the power shovel he built out of wood functions recently in Sebring. "I made the dump truck and the steam shovel as a keepsake for my daughter in Arizona," he said.

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By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: January 16, 2009

SEBRING - When Harry Olson, 90, of Sebring, gets his hands on a chunk of wood, it brings a smile to his face because he can see potential for it to become just about anything.

Born in Hammond, Ind., in 1918, Olson said Thursday that he has been working with wood since he was 7 or 8 years old.

"We couldn't afford to buy toys, so I made my own toys," he said. "At age 4, my favorite toy was a carburetor from an old Buick. Grandpa had a Buick dealership. I used to take that carburetor apart and put it together again.

"I started making my toys at 7 or 8. I just had a saw and a hammer. My first toy I made? That was probably a little truck. Then I started making airplanes. It was out of one of those old orange crates; that was real good wood."

Now, when The Palms shuttle is headed that way, he goes to Lowe's or The Home Depot to buy his wood.

It seems he's always been handy. At age 13 or 14, Olson said he began making his own machines and parts, including building his own lathe, drill press and table saw.

"I couldn't afford to buy them," he said. "I made them out of old car frames, connecting rods and I don't know what all I had."

His most recent work consists of an old style power steam shovel and a 12-wheel dump truck. Both wooden items are functional using strings, pulleys and hand cranks.

He and his wife Dorothy, 83, moved to Florida in 1980, moved to Manor Hill in 1987; and to Sebring Village in 2000. The former home owner built a workshop in the back and he got busy with his love, woodworking.

Since then they moved to The Palms of Sebring, where they provided him with workshop space.

Both he and his wife are on oxygen with numerous health issues, but they don't let it get them down, he said.

"I made the dump truck and the steam shovel as a keepsake for my daughter in Arizona," he said. "My daughters asked, 'Will you make us a keepsake?' I made a truck with a flatbed with a man who beats a drum every time the wheels turned. I gave it to my daughter in Miami."

These are not made from kits. He designs them himself and took him months to finish.

"He makes a blueprint drawing to work from," said his wife, Dorothy Olson.

Next he headed downstairs to his woodshop. It belongs to The Palms of Sebring, but he donated all of his tools to get it started.

He pointed to an old anvil and vice given to him by his uncle, George Smith, when he was just 14 years old.

He makes his toys out of Luan plywood, oak, aspen and pine, with the occasional tack nail and a metal screw.

Olson was right when he said he believed it comes from trees found in the South Pacific.

Luan can be cut easily into small pieces without risking layer peel-back and does tend to be softer and lighter than some types of plywood, according to www.insidewoodworking.com.

He is a World War II veteran, having enlisted in 1942 to the Navy, Headquarter Squadron, Fleet Wing 2, based in Hawaii, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1945 he left the service and went to work in his hometown of Plymouth, Ind., for an ice cream company.

In 1950 he started working for Worthington Corporation in industrial refrigeration, installing cooling systems in shopping malls, schools, hospitals, manufacturing plants and even a nuclear plant. He helped install an outdoor ice rink in Aspen, Colo.

"That's when Aspen was a little old town in 1957," he said. "Worthington provided college professors from MIT to come out and taught engineering and refrigeration. It was good for them and it was good for me."

He worked there as a company troubleshooter from New York City to Minneapolis to southern Virginia to Memphis.

"That was all my territory," he said.

Olson doesn't just make toys. He repairs things around the apartment and even converted an old television console in which the tube went bad, into an entertainment center. He converted his old golf pull-cart to carry his shotguns when he used to shoot skeet.

He gave it to his shooting partner.

He also fixes things for residents around The Palms, like broken chairs or such. He also makes things to sell at the Apple Festival and picture frames for ladies who want to frame their jigsaw puzzles.

"If something needs done or fixed he can do it one way or another," said Dorothy Olson.

He even has made some items for dementia patients, like a miniature window box that locks and unlocks. He thought anything that may stir a memory or help with dexterity is good.

"There's that run-away mind again," said Dorothy.

Olson showed off his workshop Thursday afternoon; his haven where he gets most of his work done.

"When I step in the door, oh, I feel so good; I'm in my workshop," he said. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have this. This is my playhouse. I'm very grateful to have this space."

Highlands Today reporter Joe Seelig can be reached at (863) 386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com .

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