As someone who struggled mightily - and never finished - building a broom holder in shop class at Wagner Junior High School, I am in awe of Moshe “Mozi” Weisenberg, 14, a personable teen with a sharp sense of humor.

Mozi's family moved from Brooklyn to West Mt. Airy 10 years ago. He and two of his three siblings are home-schooled. The family does not have a television set. “My parents have a different approach, you could say,” Mozi told us, “and I agree with it. A lot of people overuse TV.”

Without the distractions of what some used to call “the boob tube,” Mozi has been building things out of wood, such as tables and chairs, since he was nine years old. He learned how to do it by reading books and watching YouTube videos, not from attending classes taught by professionals. One of the things he learned is that in order to be proficient at woodworking, you need really sharp tools, so he learned how to sharpen knives (of course) by reading books and watching YouTube videos.

Mozi soon realized that other people could benefit from his knife skills, and three years ago he began sharpening knives for friends and their parents. Word-of-mouth spread, and in the past three years he has sharpened knives for about 100 people, many of whom are repeat customers. He began by charging $5 per knife, but that figure is up to $10, and the increase has not cost him any customers. “I was supremely undervaluing my work,” he said. “I used to think $5 was a lot, but I realized I need the money to buy wood and do other projects.

“People do not understand how sharp their knives can be,” Mozi added. “Most just dispose of them and buy new ones. We live in a throwaway society. That's the wrong mentality. But the knife sharpening is a side hustle. My main thing is woodworking. I do that most days, usually about one and a half hours at a time. I'm obsessive. Once I latch onto how to do something, I will do it again and again.” 

The first thing Mozi made — at age 10 — was a kayak, eight feet by 22 inches that took him three months to create. He used it a couple times at a lake in the Peace Valley Park in Doylestown. “I used it for one and a half years and outgrew it,” he said. “I could not fit my legs in it anymore. My younger sister used it then. I have thought about making a bigger one.”

Mozi's father, Joey Weisenberg, who attended Columbia University, is a musician, composer and Jewish music educator. He got some well-deserved recognition last year when he used chainsaws, angle grinders and a gigantic lift to carve a 40-foot-tall upside down handstand circus performer out of a dead 300-year-old chestnut tree in the yard of the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts at 6452 Greene St. in Mt. Airy. 

Mozi's mother, Molly Weingrod, who attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY, is a licensed therapist who specializes in maternal mental health. She teaches mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting. Mozi’s brother, Lev, is a student at Science Leadership Academy in Fairmount, and his other siblings, Bina, 11, and Emanuel, 9, are both home schooled. 

Mozi uses a foot-powered lathe, which he made himself, in his basement workshop, which resembles a hardware store. Lathes are machines for shaping wood and other materials. Most lathes are now electric-powered. “It took me all spring to make it,” Mozi said. “I read books and saw videos to learn how. They were built commonly like this about 200 years ago. Then came steam- powered, then gas-powered and then electric. They are made today out of metal. I make things on it, a handle for the lathe, for example. I will make chair legs with it. Almost no one makes or uses them anymore. Some people like me like the feeling of turning the wood instead of turning a switch.”

Stella Singleton, owner of Needles & Bolts, a quilt shop at 6819 Germantown Ave. in Mt. Airy and a customer of Mozi's, told the Local, “Working with Mozi has been a fantastic experience for both us and the customers. His attention to detail and craftsmanship has filled a much-needed service in our community. It has been about a year since we started this initiative, and we're excited to see how his business continues to grow.”

Mozi admits he is an introvert by nature, but he does have some close friends, and he is on the varsity ultimate frisbee team at Science Leadership Academy, even though he is home-schooled. “This is the second most rapidly growing sport after pickleball,” he said. “There are even professional leagues now. Every couple weekends we play eight-game tournaments.”

Did Mozi ever get cut on the sharp knives? “Yes,” he said, “and I accidentally smashed my finger into a belt sander. Most of the nail came off. This is not an easy, safe hobby. … I built a vanity for the bathroom, and it took 20 hours. I built a desk for mom and bedside table that took 60 hours, but I get better and faster each time I make a piece. People used to build their own stuff, but that has been lost.”

Mozi sells his homemade cutting boards for $35 to $65 at the High Point Market. At first it took him 10 hours to make each one, but now he can make one in two hours. He and his dad and some helpers recently built a huge deck on stilts in the back of their house that could easily accommodate a dozen or more guests.

In addition to his wooden creations, knife sharpening and ultimate frisbee, Mozi does a lot of birding in Wissahickon Park. “I have gone many times over the last year,” he said, “usually twice a week. I go with my sister early in the morning, and I can ID many of the birds. This is what happens when you don't watch TV or do social media … I love Mt. Airy. We are very lucky to be around so much nature.”

Is college in the future for Mozi? “I'm not sure,” he said. “I think I might work in the trades. So many kids go to college and pile up student loans and then can't find jobs. There are other things more important than money.”

For more information, email moziweisenberg@gmail.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com