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.