VENDOR SPOTLIGHT: M.C. Creations Offers Custom Wood Turning

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — Northport native Mike Corbett's booth stands out at the Tuscaloosa Farmer's Market amid the different tables full of produce and greenery. Owner of M.C. Creations, Corbett's hobby of wood turning resulted in a passion for creating custom pens, bowls, candlesticks and other products that are on sale each Saturday morning at the market.

A vast array of multicolored pens, his specialty, were neatly organized across the table, ranging in price from $35 to $85.

"I started out doing just pens, then did bowls and candleholders," Corbett told Patch. "I started out doing wood [pens], then started buying acrylic. It was just a hobby and has kind of developed into a more involved hobby. I still have a regular job, so I do this when I get home."

Corbett works a day job in flooring sales for Wheat's Carpet One and said the Tuscaloosa Farmer's Market is his primary vending location, other than a single specialty event scheduled for a local church later this year.

Corbett's wood turning medium requires the use of a lathe, which gives him a turnaround time of roughly 30 minutes to make a single pen. While some of the more ornate pens may take more time, he explained the process is surprisingly quick.

He also crafts cedar pen boxes for those who purchase his offerings and gives special attention to how he sources the wood used.

"I found a source for these olive wood pens that are made from the olive trees in Bethlehem," he said, holding a thin wooden pen in his hand. "I found a source on those, so I buy the blanks from them and turn those [on the lathe]."

He then commented that the difference in prices for the pens are due primarily to their presentation and not so much their practicality.

"These are slimline pens, they are basic pens," he said, before grabbing an ornate pen decorated with a firefighter theme. "These are specialty pens with much more decor, but as far as the way they write, they will write the same, it’s just more of the theme."

Other offerings on Corbett's table included a pizza cutter and ice cream scoop with hand-crafted handles, which are purchased as kits before he turn the handles on his lathe. The ice cream scoop, for example, comes with a smooth walnut handle.

The ice cream scoops are big sellers for Corbett, who also showed off a limited line of American and Thin Blue Line flags made out of wood.

"It just the environment we’re in," he said of the flags. "I wanted to show we still support things and that's where it started. Then I found out a lot more people have that same attitude. Those are good sellers for me."

While Corbett doesn't offer online sales, his wares can be viewed on his various social media pages and at the Tuscaloosa Farmer's Market each Saturday.