Even as a child, Mosbaek recalled, he had fun making little boats out of the ends of peach crates and floating them in the livestock water tank.

“It’s a continuation of an off and on hobby that got out of hand. But my first real woodworking experience was when I was in high school at the school shop. We had a couple of good shop instructors that taught me a little bit, and then from there on out, it was a lot of learning on your own and experimentation,” Mosbaek said.

Residing at Devils Lake since 2012, Mosbaek remains close to his roots.

“I call myself a retread. I grew up in the Starkweather area, wound up as an insurance adjuster in western North Dakota, as well as in Minot. Then moved on to Kansas for about 10 years,” he said. His wife passed away during that time. His son still lives in Kansas. His daughters live in Nevada and Bismarck, and he has seven grandchildren who have enjoyed items made by their grandfather.

Mosbaek was finishing college at North Dakota State University in Fargo when he was drafted, serving with the Army during the Vietnam War from 1970-73. When he returned home, he picked up woodworking as something to do in the winter.

“I made a couple of little airplanes, one of which still exists. It crash landed on many chairs and sofas over the years,” he said. “It’s still my favorite toy.”

Mosbaek said he taught himself by starting with simple projects and moved into detail work as his skills improved. He typically starts with flat lumber and a commercially designed plan. The plan serves as the project foundation to which he adds fun details that he dreams up.

That’s where he repurposes all his odds and ends, such as pieces from old model cars or electronic equipment that he calls “valuable treasures of little pieces of nothing.”

“I’ve torn down a number of pianos over the years. You can get enough out of a piano to make a decent cedar chest, but you also get a lot of little-pieces parts. So if you need piping or wires or little clevises or something or another, there’s probably something in an old piano that you can salvage or make it work,” he said.

Some of his highly detailed projects have taken more than 200 hours to complete. Mosbaek sat on plans for a steam engineer tractor for a few years before getting enough nerve to start the project.

“Of all the dumb places to start on a project, I started with the rear wheels, because it looked like the most complicated part, and if I could make that, I could make the rest of it. There were only 98 pieces in each rear wheel,” he said. “That includes the rivets and treads and the rim and spokes and the braking system and everything else that was inside that wheel.”

His State Fair entry last year was a steam locomotive and several cars that he estimates took about 250 hours to complete.

Mosbaek has received a number of blue ribbons and Best of Division rosettes at the State Fair.

His State Fair entry this year in the senior division is a model of an old gas station. It also is eligible to be judged in the State Fair’s theme category of vintage, which will have its own Best of Theme award.

“That is another case of modifying the dickens out of the original plan. Had I worked with the original plan on that, that little gas station would have been roughly twice as large as it is, but a friend gave me two bought gas pumps,” he said. “I had to scale everything down to that plan.”

He also entered a water well drilling rig, destined to become a gift to a friend, in the adult division.

Mosbaek said despite giving away much of his handiwork, he has a house full of items. He said it’s more fun to make smaller items but also practical.

“There’s only so much furniture you can put in your house. I can put a dozen toys in it and still have a house left,” he joked. “For a while there, I was making combines like there was no end to them. I think I’ve made 17 of them that I sold and realized the other day that I do not have one for myself, so I’m making number 18 and keeping that one.”

He recently made his first painted item, a school bus. He favors the natural wood look of the hardwoods – oak, maple, hickory, walnut.

“It’s fun to mix and match the various woods for the appearance,” Mosbaek said. “The hardwoods, to me, are actually easier to work with. You can get a nicer, smoother finish with them, and they cut better. They don’t chip. They sand down and get a nice, natural finish to them very easily.”

One of his recent projects was the repair of a piece of furniture crafted by his father. His father took up woodworking later in life, mostly making furniture and items such as toy horse stables or doll cradles that his grandchildren talked him into, Mosbaek said.

“By that time, I was either busy farming or moved on to Kansas, so we really didn’t cross trails a lot on woodworking, but we just kind of had parallel hobbies,” he said.

Mosbaek said he tries to make it to the State Fair every year to take in a concert and check out his friends’ livestock entries and the youth exhibits. He also visits the crafts exhibits because it is fun to see what others have made and the techniques they use.

He already has plans for his fair entry next year, including the school bus he’s already finished.

“It’s relaxing,” he said of working with wood. “It keeps you occupied and keeps you dreaming of different ways to do things.”