Origins of C-5 Creations
C-5 Creations (pronounced C bar 5) is a tribute to my father and grandfather.
C-5 was our family cattle brand. Using that to "brand" my projects was inspired by an episode of Little House on the Prairie.
The episode is titled The Legacy. It opens with a present day couple finding an antique table at an auction. It has Charles Ingalls CI brand on the bottom. The auctioneer tells them he sees an occasional piece of furniture with that marking, but does not know who the craftsman was who created the piece.
The episode then segues to the 1800's where Charles Ingalls crops have failed, so, being a woodworker, he goes to the city to make furniture.
This was my inspiration to name my company C-5 Creations. My grandfather (for whom I am named) had been a farmer and a woodworker. I still have some of his hand tools.
My father farmed his whole life, and I started out as a farmer, but became an engineer instead. I had a good career doing that, but always had a love for woodworking. I guess it's in my blood.
So, back to Little house - Charles has a good run making tables until a factory manager buys one of his tables, copies it, and begins mass producing them at half the price.
I had forgotten this part of the story when I chose my company name. About four years into selling on eBay and Etsy, someone bought one of my products, copied it, and started selling against me. Through fierce price competition, I prevailed over my copy-cat and he ceased selling copies of my design. I suppose I should have patented my device, but the patent process is so involved and expensive, it would have eaten up all of my profits to do so.
My engineering side tends to influence my work. I enjoy the design process as much as the craftsmanship. I see every design as a challenge, and use 3D modeling to refine everything before beginning construction. I have built numerous items, large and small for family, friends and neighbors.
For Internet sales, I tend to concentrate on small items that are easy to ship, but I have built pieces of free standing and built-in furniture that were large, heavy, and had to be transported by truck. I am typing this story while sitting at a custom made computer desk I built 12 years ago. It is sized to me and my office, and full of special features unique to how I work. It has been in the same place since the day it went into service, but it can be moved - if disassembled into it's 27 separate components.
My bobbin winder came to be after my wife took up bobbin lace. When I saw how much effort it took to wind dozens of bobbins before even being able to START a project, the engineer in me said, I can fix that.
My bead roller product came as a request from a bobbin winder customer to make a set of rollers that weren't available anywhere.
So that's how C-5 Creations came to be. I wanted to make useful, quality items that I could be proud of. If you have a specific item to request, I'd be happy to discuss it. As a retired engineer, I love designing things.
