"After growing up in the big city of Toronto and spending part of my adult life in traffic, I decided to move north, out of the city and into a rural area."

- MIKE

PICTURED: OUR HOME IN 2008

Dad decided on Keswick,

at the time, a small commuter town just north of Newmarket. He moved into what would become our family home for decades to come. A small bungalow that he would turn into our castle.

Renovations began in 2016. In order to dig and build a basement and install a main floor, Dad had our house jacked up onto what one might call huge Jenga blocks. During the spin cycle, our washing machine would shake the whole house! We lived in it the entire time, he was even working from home when they raised it, literally- when the construction team jacked the house up and up onto the stilts.

PICTURED: OUR HOUSE DURING RENOVATION AND NOW!

"My small house met my needs for many years, but after my newly blended family of five moved in, however, it was no longer big enough."

- MIKE

PICTURED: NEWMARKET REDMEN IN 2008. DAD'S ON THE FAR LEFT

Dad worked for IBM for 25 years.

he got in the door in the 90s- the golden age. During this time, he even coached soccer and with the Newmarket Redmen for a handful of years! At IBM, he served as a Business Analyst, Quality Coordinator, and Team Leader.

Simultaneously, my step-mom, Aileen- Dad's wife and mother of three- was working as a travel agent booking cruises and arranging vacations all over the world.

That's when COVID came along and everyone stopped travelling! Sales dried up for Aileen. Then as part of large layoffs in many industries- including at IBM- my Dad was let go as part of a resource action.

"Not wanting to look for a new job at this point in my life, I've decided to utilize my problem solving skills and creativity to pursue a desire to help others- using these skills I’ve developed, the years of knowledge that I’ve built, and my lifelong passion for woodworking."

- MIKE

PICTURED: DAD AT MY SISTER'S WEDDING IN 2021

That's when Dad started Mike W. Hammer!

Initially he intended just to do handyman and renovation work using his experience renovating our house and maintaining it over the years, as well as the large assortment of tools he had collected. I only helped him arrange a website.

But soon, he wanted to pivot into wood products- that always having been his dream, even growing up, to make small wooden toys and gifts and such. A year later and he bought a laser engraver to really take it to the next level, and that's when I really got involved, helping my Dad figure it out and showing him how the vector illustrations could be created.

"It was soon after my daughter left for university to start her own life that my son came along in 2007, so I call him my 'second tour of duty!'"

- MIKE

PICTURED: ME AND MY DAD IN 2009. I HAD JUST TURNED TWO THAT MONTH!

I was born in 2007,

I grew up around my Dad making things out of wood and fixing different appliances around the house. Sometimes we'd even work together (to the degree that a child that age can, haha) to make little trinkets.

PICTURED: ME AND MY DAD RIDING THE TTC IN 2009

I started writing code when I was 9,

I thought it would be cool to be able to make applications for my computer, to do- anything, really. That's when I really got into computers. I've always been driven to create something tangible, to create... things.

Over the years I've gained a lot of knowledge and expertise on the subject, and that's where I really came in handy for this business.

Now, me and my Dad work together to manage and lead Mike W. Hammer. We're aiming to make it as big as we can, to help as many people give beautiful, personal gifts.

Now that you know more about who we are, let me tell you why you should choose us!

Why Choose Us