Rob Sanders uses a small piece of sandpaper to remove the black Magic Marker ink that covers the top and sides of a wooden kayak he is building at Custom Kayaks in North Topeka. Sanders sands the boat ...

Before 2013, the last time that Richard Purgason had done any woodworking was in his seventh-grade shop class, where he had built a napkin holder that “is not among the family heirlooms.” In the past ...