Bill Beningfield has made more of the wooden furniture around his house than he’s bought.

There’s the stereo cabinet, which even holds an old-school turntable. There’s the silver chest, the curio cabinet, end tables and the sideboard to his dining-room table.

Soon, a watercolor he bought in Sicily will be displayed in a basswood frame he’s spent two years crafting.

“I’ve been pounding nails into wood since I was very, very young – maybe 3 or 4,” says the 68-year-old Beningfield. “I have to be building things. That’s my fun in life.”

The self-proclaimed “troll” of his basement woodshop is fairly typical in Lawrence – many people, especially retired men, find woodworking to be a getaway that blends artistry and practicality into a satisfying pastime.

Beningfield may have been working with wood for more than 60 years, but he recently embarked on a new project: a guitar.

He’s doing it the way he does most of his projects, without many modern conveniences.

“I prefer to do things by hand,” he says. “But as I get older and my joints act up, I’ve had to start using more power tools.”

Robert Mosely is another Lawrencian who has come into his prime as a woodworker during his retirement.

Mosely’s specialty is rocking horses. He’s made 25 out of pine through the years, and donated all of them to others, including many to charities.

“I ride each one before I give them away,” he says. “I want to know they’re going to stand up to the pressure.”

Mosely has a free-standing shop in his back yard. His projects have included a 7-foot DVD case, map displays for the U.S. state quarter collections and even a toilet paper dispenser that looks like a fishing reel.

“If I see something I like, I build it,” he says. “I don’t plan head of time for anything. I build the things I like.”

‘Putter’ for money

While Beningfield and Mosely don’t attempt to profit from woodworking, others use it as a side business.

Nathan Raines, 34, is between jobs – he starts a new one in Kansas City, Mo., in June – and is looking to make some money selling his woodworking projects.

He specializes in outdoor furniture, including benches, planter boxes and potting tables.

“I just kind of putter with it now,” he says. “It keeps me out of trouble. It’s a hobby where I make money. Worst comes to worst, it pays for itself.”

Raines says he taught himself most of the trade and purchased most of the tools he has in his garage over time. Though he sometimes puts his wood pieces on the curb for sale, he says the process is more “Zen” for him.

“I enjoy it,” he says. “It helps me keep a peace of mind. It’s my escape from the rest of the world.”

For Kevin Loos, another younger woodworker, learning the craft has meant saving money at furniture stores.

The 35-year-old picked up the hobby six years ago. Since then, he’s made hall benches, tables, picture frames and other items – both for his house and as gifts for other family members.

“That’s the curse of being a woodworker,” he says. “You see a piece and think, ‘Oh, my God, it’s a thousand dollars. Maybe I’ll do that myself.’ That’s the curse – you look at it with a different eye.”

A diehard Nebraska University football fan, Loos’ downstairs woodshop has become a way to work off the frustration during the Cornhuskers’ recent slumps.

“I can go down there for two or three hours,” he says, ” and it really takes your mind off things.”

Loos, an engineer at ICL Performance Chemicals in North Lawrence, hopes the items he makes as gift will stand the test of time. But without any formal training, he sometimes wonders.

“I’m worried my mother-in-law will sit down on that bench someday and it’ll crack,” he says.

‘Productive’ hobby

John Fittell has been a woodworker since he took a high school class on the craft in 1962. He says spending time in his woodshop has meant producing items that will stand the test of time better than those he would buy at a store.

In high school, he produced a rocking chair based on plans his teacher made three years earlier. The teacher’s chair was given to John F. Kennedy Jr. at his inauguration.

“That chair’s still sitting in my living room,” he says.

Fittell, 62, says the first grandfather clock he made is still running, and it should “go on for hundreds of years.” The clock is made of walnut trees he helped chop down in Olathe.

Woodworking has been a way for Paul Kincaid to remain constructive in his older years. Kincaid, 85 and still a part-time dentist, has slowly built a shop, adding tools when he needed them.

“I have a workshop that’s more worthy of itself than I am of it,” he says. “I have a weakness of buying tools and not using them like I should. I’ve had to buy some behind my wife’s back.”

Kincaid’s woodworking resume includes hope chests, candelabras and various tables.

“I don’t know what it is,” he says of the allure of woodworking. “I like being productive. If you sit on the couch and watch television all day, with your mouth hanging half-open and tapping your knuckles … well, this is a lot better.”