SAN FRANCISCO. During a typical work day, Haomiao Huang spends most of his time on Zoom calls, poring over spreadsheets and presentations and making smart decisions about which robotics and hardware startups to fund and which to drop.
He also spent several months with his wife practicing an ancient woodworking technique in which two pieces of wood must be smoothly joined together. After each failed attempt, these hobbyist carpenters toss another valuable piece of white oak onto the scrap heap.
"We are patient," Lydia Tay said after carefully cutting a piece of wood with a table saw. "We are setting up a table to die for."
Huang, 40, and Ten, 37, who work in the pharmaceutical industry, can easily walk into an upscale furniture store near the woodshop where they work on a Saturday and spend $4,000 on a pre-assembled desk. But like many workers today, tied to digital devices all day, Huang and Ti are addicted to the stress, connection, and sense of accomplishment that comes from working with their hands.
"It's incredibly comprehensive and meditative," Juan says of his time in the carpentry shop. By day, Huang works as a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins, a Silicon Valley powerhouse that has previously invested in tech giants like Amazon, Google, Twitter and Uber. “When you have a chainsaw…you don't think of financing that doesn't fit. … If I don't hold it a certain way, I'm going to lose my hand.”
Haomiao Huang (left) and Lydia Te started woodworking about two years ago. They have made wooden spoons and bowls, soap dishes, picture frames, some floating nightstands and are currently working on a dining room table.During the tech boom, many felt compelled to "move fast and break things," a catchphrase popularized by Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook and transformed into a growth-at-any-cost spirit that swept across Silicon Valley. Now, in an era of layoffs and cost cutting, workers feel the need to slow down and start doing something.
San Francisco is a ticket to the future of driverless cars. This is what it looks like.In recent years, carpentry workshops have appeared in the city, serving those who want to work with their hands. The startups are planning team building sessions, and employees of both tech giants say there is woodworking space on campus (the companies have neither confirmed nor denied this).
“The technicians never believe me when I tell them to slow down. They make it faster and they screw it up,” said Jake Klingensmith, 31, a part-time software engineer who runs a woodworking shop in Clayroom, a large Somme space across the street from a studio at ceramics.
The interest in craft development goes beyond wood. The craft movement, where people use DIY techniques to create things, has thrived in the Bay Area for nearly a decade. During the pandemic, some tech workers have renewed their Lego obsession. Glass blowing, welding, pottery and other arts were also developed.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently wrote on Facebook how he learned to sew by helping his daughters create dresses from 3D-printed materials.
Venture capitalist Ariel Zuckerberg, one of Mark's younger sisters, and several others recently gathered 40 friends in Lake Tahoe for The Learning Man. A weekend of personal loot was heavy at Burning Man; participants taught each other how to sew, how to pin, how to make the perfect French omelette and much more.
"Even techies are passionate about more than just technology," said Zuckerberg, who shared his DJ skills with the audience. When Zuckerberg learned how to sew the Man Learning patch on his Patagonia jacket, he had "a profound sense of accomplishment and it was incredibly satisfying." She liked it so much that she bought a sewing machine.
© Contributed by Ariel Zuckerberg/Courtesy of Ariel Zuckerberg Ariel Zuckerberg (center) makes a "Student" patch on his Patagonia jacket (left) after Michael Beller's class as husband Andrew Jordan looks on. Last month, Zuckerberg and his friends gathered about 40 people for a conference dedicated to teaching attendees about their passions outside of work.It's also a big part of woodworking's appeal, says Clayroom owner Neil Gershhorn (37). For example, a software engineer can publish code and then debug it for as long as he wants. Meanwhile, Gershhorn notes that "if you make a mistake with your sword... that's it."
However, these hobbies don't come cheap. Woodworking classes cost hundreds of dollars, studio memberships and supplies quickly add up to thousands, which further suits the elite nature of the tech world, where engineers can earn hundreds of thousands. dollar. Compared to other pandemic-related hobbies like baking and racquetball, "woodworking has a bit of a higher threshold in terms of tools and access," Klingensmith says. Huang and Te estimated that they spent around $10,000 on woodworking classes, studio memberships and supplies.
Working slowly and deliberately can be difficult for people who have learned to focus on speed and efficiency.
Sharmila Lassen, a 60-year-old retired software engineer, says during a recent Clayroom class that the experience is as much a lesson in patience as it is in carpentry. When he tried to "optimize" (technical jargon to make the process as efficient as possible) the folding of two pieces of wood, he had to smooth out his imprecise cuts. In total you will spend $300 and 12 hours to make the small plate.
Lassen's girlfriend, Alison Jones, a senior vice president at an architecture and engineering firm, joins him for a roller coaster class. "I came here with a headache," Jones says, but working in a carpentry shop calms him down. "I like learning to be good at something," she adds. "Here, I have this thing," he said, picking up the tray, "for the table."
"When you work in woodworking, you're tapping into a history of human craft that has been around throughout the existence of our species," Klingensmith notes.
© Kristen Murakoshi/For The Washington Post. Lydia is working on a floating nightstand that is almost ready to be installed. (By Kristen Murakoshi for The Washington Post) 
© Kristen Murakoshi/To The Washington Post Haomiao Huang chops wood for one of the projects he and his wife are working on. He considers woodworking to be "meditative" and "earthy." (By Kristen Murakoshi for The Washington Post)Enthusiasts believe that this hobby is well suited to the crisis, when many people deliberately do not work or relax. John Soth, 30, who recently moved from Manhattan to the San Francisco Bay Area, sees carpentry as a "nice change of pace" to take a break from working in finance. He believes that the opportunities to work with his hands are "less."
Soth also came to the wood shop in part to meet people because he's new to the area.
Though about half of the country's white-collar workers have returned to the office, the tech giants are among the few places to stay, and vacant offices in downtown San Francisco are at an all-time high, so much so that some offices continue to develop. in condos. Street
As people spend less time traveling, Gershhorn says, they have more time for hobbies and the need to socialize. “There's that kinetic energy that comes when you get to the studio after 5 o'clock,” adds Gershhorn, as miter saws turn and lathes turn as people work side by side on different projects.
Chris Steinrook, 38, the owner of another woodshop in the neighborhood, said the hobby has a certain rejuvenating power for office workers who spend most of the day staring at electronic devices.
Wood Thumb often hosts groups from nearby tech companies for unique sessions that combine team-building exercises. When people come to class, "you can tell they're overwhelmed," says Steinrook, likening their behavior to "zombie robots." By the end of the class, when participants are making cutting boards or a small triangular grid, she notes, "everyone is excited and excited, and the room is buzzing with life."
Huang and Tae ended up in the wood shop in part because they were looking for a new way to communicate. The fans are "a great experience for us," says Juan.
The couple has a rule that if one burns to finish something, the other will carry out the project. When Tae needs a new piece of carved wood to hold the nightstand to the wall, Juan steps in to build it. And when Juan feels defeated trying to master the complex joint angles of the dining room table they've made, he hesitates.
On a recent Saturday, instead of cutting a piece of wood that could become a table leg, they went back to basics and built a prototype. Building a model from leftover trees is one of Klingensmith's tips, but it took time.
"I'm so close," Te Huan said, proudly holding the dowel and pin after running the wood through the table saw.
Juan suggests using a mechanical sander to work the edges until they are flat.
"Then I'll move real fast," he reasoned. It's so close. A little more patience."
He pulled out a blade, then sandpaper. After oscillating for almost 30 minutes, the two pieces of wood got closer. It's not perfect, there are small gaps between the two pieces, but that's not something a little glue can fix.
© Kristen Murakoshi/Washington Post Haomiao Huang (left) says woodworking is a "great social experience" for him and his wife, Lydia. (By Kristen Murakoshi for The Washington Post)
