While serving the latter part of his 24 years in the United States Navy, CPO Sean Arnold tinkered with woodworking in his Brunswick, Maine, basement. For all intents and purposes, this was a hobby, never intended to be anything more.
Then the officers and sailors began calling.
“The guys realized that I had some woodworking experience, and not only that, I had tools,” he says. “One of the guys would ask, ‘Hey, chief, can you make a shadow box for so-and-so’s retirement?’”
The one-offs for service members kept coming and continued for the last couple of years of his career.
“If you’d have told me 20 years ago that I was going to be doing this for a living, I would’ve told you were out of your mind,” Arnold laughs.
Chief Arnold retired from the navy in 2006 as a Navy chief petty officer and launched Basement Woodworks from his home, specializing in custom military shadow boxes and flag cases he could sell online. At the time, he and his wife were also raising three boys, and the opportunity to run a business and be a stay-at-home dad was not lost on him.
Continuing the business as a family affair. Arnold’s father also retired, sold his home in Maryland, and moved to Maine to help.
They eventually expanded from the basement into a 40-by-60-foot building, and not long after that, the local trophy shop, which made brass plates for Arnold’s boxes, was looking for a new owner.
“I raised my hand, and the bank was dumb enough to give me the money, so I bought it,” he says. “I was in debt up to my ears, but I was loving it.”
Acquiring Accolades Awards & Trophy allowed Arnold to combine his tools with a couple of engravers and some sublimation equipment. The basement was more in the rearview mirror as he moved the entire operation to Fort Andross, a historic mill in downtown Brunswick incubating small businesses.
In the 10 years at the mill, Arnold continued to grow his equipment, adding another Epilog C0₂ laser engraver, another diamond drag engraver, a small-scale Shopbot CNC machine for the wood carvings, and a 5-foot-by 12-foot ShopbotCNC machine, which was in storage because, once again, Arnold had outgrown his space. Today Basement Woodworks operates out of a 3,400-square-foot shop on its own property.
“I’ve got a full woodshop in the back. We’ve got an engraving room, we expanded into embroidery, and we started doing direct-to-film processing,” he says. “We kind of live by the motto, ‘If it can be personalized, we can do it.’”
One such order would require much of Arnold’s equipment and attention: the personal effects of Lieutenant Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL who was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan.
“The boys came in with his personal effects, and I had to make a cabinet that was actually going to be bolted into the destroyer [the USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112)] on their Wall of Heroes,” says Arnold. The display was a gift from the state of New York honoring Murphy in his namesake destroyer built by Bath Iron Works, a Maine shipyard founded in 1884 and known for building many military vessels.
Honoring fallen soldiers has become part of the job, and one Arnold takes great pride in.
“I’ve had some very memorable boxes that I’ve had to do here,” he says. “Some of them would make your hair stand on the back of your neck when you get them done.”
While Arnold’s specialty resides with military memorials, his investment in APA and its network has proved valuable to his business. Like many, Arnold has made important connections at the Expo—like his reps from Marco Awards Group. He can also be found on the M2M forum, and dog-ears the educational CorelDRAW stories from Insights magazine.
“Erich Stock comes up here all the time. He comes to the shop, and he’s just gobsmacked when he comes in here. He loves the shop,” says Arnold. “That’s probably one of the most meaningful connections I’ve made through the APA.”
Today Arnold gets to settle in and work with two of his sons. Nicholas helps with woodworking, while Alex, a college junior studying graphic design, handles design, T-shirts, and engraving. Arnold has far exceeded his expectations for his business and continues to see growth, and yet you can take the man out of the military, but you can’t take the military out of the man.
Out front of Arnold’s shop is a sign that reads, “Genuine Chiefs welcome! CPO Selectees must sing Anchors Away then request permission to enter!”
In August, the selectees come from their ship at Bath Ship Yard as part of their initiation, and they visit Arnold and serenade him.
“It is really quite a thing,” says Arnold of the impromptu ceremony. “Any veteran that is transitioning [to civilian life], quickly finds out that it is probably the hardest thing they’ll ever do. I maintain that military connection, and I’ve never had to lose it. Which has been wonderful.”