Best woodworker you’ve never heard of?

[Christopher Charles]

Hi all,

Came across the this profile on the Tube last night. Interesting story about a quietly successful maker that I had not heard of despite living in the PNW for a couple decades. And great reminder that a small shop can produce fine work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXzZK_-lPxc

[Cameron Wood]

Very interesting and well done profile.

I did notice that one of his apprentices said he couldn't return the table tennis serves because there was so much spin

and then it shows Evert serving in an illegal manner, hitting the ball out of his hand rather than tossing it up.

Not to take a way from his accomplishments but just sayin'...

[Larry Edgerton]

Very cool, thanks. His saying that a good woodworker is not one that does not make mistakes but rather deals with them is verbatim from a woodworker long gone that got me started. Also, I found it interesting that he refuses to stain. That has been my policy for many years. Stain just seems dishonest to me. I enjoyed it.

[Todd Zucker]

Thanks for sharing. Nice seeing a profile of someone who creates his own path.

[Warren Lake]

Refuse to stain? Im sorry mamme I cant make this piece to match your Beidermeyer furniture cause I dont stain. Restoration work usually has to match perfectly. Nailing stuff not easy thing at times. Met guys who only did finishing their whole career. No offence to you on that.

Thanks for posting I like seeing skilled old guys. Nice to see them rather than "I found wood on the side of the road and made this table for 65k and they had tears when I delivered it" Maybe they were cutting onions earlier?

Someone posted that European guy past making the ladders going to work on his bike and that led to few other old school european shops.

[Rob Luter]

I enjoyed watching. Seems like a guy that I could learn a lot from.

[Joe Calhoon]

Thanks for posting, always interested in other long term woodworkers that been in the trade for a long time!
I’m with Larry, it they want stain get someone else to do it.

[brent stanley]

Hi all,

Came across the this profile on the Tube last night. Interesting story about a quietly successful maker that I had not heard of despite living in the PNW for a couple decades. And great reminder that a small shop can produce fine work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXzZK_-lPxc

Very interesting, I enjoyed that, thank you,

B

[Bill Dufour]

How about the New Mexico chapel sprial staircase builder?
Bill D

[Christopher Charles]

I did notice two things-one is that he very likely benefited from good timing and family heritage as waterfront houses on Lake Washington in Seattle go for minimum of ~$3M these days! And second, the 'newest' machine in his shop looked to be a vintage Unisaw. Quite the contrast from most YT videos these days!

[Rod Sheridan]

I have an extensive blank list of woodworkers I’ve never heard of posted in the shop for quick reference.😉

That said, thanks for posting the link, quite interesting

Regards, Rod

[Joel Gelman]

"Refuse to stain? Im sorry mamme I cant make this piece to match your Beidermeyer furniture cause I dont stain. Restoration work usually has to match perfectly. Nailing stuff not easy thing at times. Met guys who only did finishing their whole career. No offence to you on that"

I can understand why he does not like stain. I do not either. I have not used stain since high school, but that is not to say there is anything wrong with stain. It is just something that I think detracts from the wood. I do not think you can fault a guy who makes furniture the way he feels is right. Maybe his color vision is not so good. Mine is not and there is no way I could reliably match color. If someone wants something different, that person can look elsewhere. No hard feelings. No harm, no foul. I once went to a guy named Pete Cornish who made guitar effects pedal boards wanting a custom board. I and many others thought he was the best. He would not make it for me if I used it with the amp I had. I liked that about him. In this case, I chose to change to the amplifier he suggested.

[Andrew Hughes]

Too me just the word stain implies a defect.
I don’t like stains on my favorite shirt or seat on the sofa. I can’t ever remember applying stain to wood and saying to myself that looks better.
I have a memory of a woodworker in Germany that made a kitchen form a single trunk of elm.
Cabinets table chairs the memory has never left me. I remember thinking this is work from the greatest woodworker in the world.
I was still a kid and barely put points on sticks with my pocket knife.
Theres so many great woodworkers that don’t want to be known in my area. Social media has created a sickness of false pride egotism and individualistic beauty.
Good Luck

[Mark Rainey]

The video is over 20 years old. Ominous when he says he is backed up with completed stock and has to move it. He mentions Ikea.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have a memory of a woodworker in Germany that made a kitchen form a single trunk of elm.
Cabinets table chairs the memory has never left me. I remember thinking this is work from the greatest woodworker in the world.


I made all the doors in my house out of a single ash on the property. Its kind of cool.

[Tom M King]

Just makes me wonder what the property tax is on that house now, and who is currently living there. I built our kitchen out of a dead Walnut tree simply because I couldn't afford anything else at the time and that tree was given to me to take it down and move it. I still have some lumber from it, mostly short pieces.

[Warren Lake]

Stain implies a defect? Hardly ive been around stained stuff all my life. At 18 I was selling SG's and Strats and Les Pauls and 335's and 20 other guitars., The bulk of them were coloured lacquer or stains sometimes several colours on one. The 65 335 was cherry sunburst. At least three different stains to get that finish. My Tele was a stained finish and the ES150 was the only natural finish guitar I had.

You likely wont find more stain than on solid body guitars. Some builders go through multiple steps to get the best out of curl and figure and make it pop way more than if was natural colour.

The nicest new made to look old floors ive seen were antique hickory. They had hand work and four different samples of brown. If the hickory was left natural it would have looked bland. Its not going age and darken like cherry. I really like antique hemlock floors but they are a specific thing and dont suit all. still they have the colour and richness from age that is not there on new boards.

On the reception desk below the top is prime cherry and the base is poplar. Customer wanted a dark green antique. Samples were made they pick the sample they like the best. For all the cabinetmakers I met never met one who said I dont stain. I did meet a few who said they dont do any finishing and ship their work off to others to do it. You work with an interior designer then you are going to have to make stuff in stains and colours. Ive done metallic silver up to gloss black mirror. Doing custom work has meant having to match stuff for people. Probably done more clear stuff, its easier for sure. Finishing the top was easy compared to the base.


513595

[Andrew Hughes]

That look absolutely great Warren.
Maybe I use the word defect too broad your piece looks like it was painted and not defective in any way.
Some of the words I hate to hear from a possible commission is. You don’t have to use expensive wood just stain it to look like walnut. Thats not something I could do or want to learn.
Good Luck

[Joe Calhoon]

Warren, lot of skill involved in finishing for sure. Did a lot of that in my works 20 to 40 years ago doing architectural interiors. Staining, glazing, shading, wash coating etc. still have all the equipment, spray booth, Kremlin air mix, fresh air mask, vfd on the fan for off gassing and a dip tank for exterior water base finish. At different times had some good finishers working for me and that was nice. Bottom line for me I didn’t enjoy all the nasty materials and always felt it was like putting makeup on.
In semi retirement only doing hand applied natural finish. If something needs paint or stain I hire the local painter and let him use the booth.