What's new!
We'll be at the Clarksville Commons Farmers Market tomorrow, September 14, from 10 to 2. There are a lot of great vendors, so come out and say hello!
Some of you have already seen one of the new pieces I've been experimenting with. I'm calling it Mid-Century-Modern Wall Art, because it harkens back to those dark vertical wooden slat walls that adorned many MCM ranch houses back in the day. In any event, they have proven to be quite popular and I've struggled to keep up with demand. In any event, there will be one of these at the Market this Saturday as well as a few other new pieces!
JWS Woodshop
About Me
I have been working with wood for over 40 years as a weekend hobby, but after I retired from a career as a university professor, I started spending more time in the shop. I continued to build furniture and décor items for our home and as gifts for friends and family. Soon, neighbors and friends started asking me to build custom pieces for them. Now I also build for customers like you who want unique and lovely wood items for their homes.
Here is a canoe bench I made. While not exactly the kind of project I usually build, it does convey some of the whimsey that I try to incorporate in much of the work I do. A neighbor gave us an old fiberglass canoe and my wife decided we needed to make a bench out of it. We worked together on the design and I did most of the construction. It sits next to our firepit, so it gets a lot of use.
Wood Working Philosophy
"Each flitch, each board, each plank can have only one ideal use. the woodworker, applying a thousand skills, must find that ideal use and then shape the wood to realize it's true potential."
~George Nakashima
A good example of this philosophy is a live edge coffee table I built. I had the walnut slab in my shop for several years waiting for inspiration to come to me. I finally decided I should build a coffee table out of it, but what design should I use? The unique shape of the slab eventually led me to use a cantilever design for the base. All three pieces of this table came from the same slab.
How I Work
Wood is fascinating to work with. The different species all have unique colors, hardness, and grain patterns. You'll find different grain patterns and colors even within the same board. Wood "moves" with changes in ambient temperature and humidity - it swells with increasing humidity and shrinks when the air gets dry. It constantly surprises - you never know exactly what a board will look like until you machine it smooth.
This unpredictability makes working with wood both challenging and joyful in terms of structure and aesthetics. I love the process of deciding which wood species to combine for a cutting board or serving tray; choosing a live edge slab that has just the right shape and color for a table.
I often consult with my wife on design questions as she has a keen eye for aesthetics. For our outdoor and holiday projects, she almost always comes up with the ideas and typically does the painting and lettering.
This cutting board is an example of how I work. Once I decided I wanted to build a long board, I had to choose the colors and how to lay them out. Walnut and maple are great choices for this kind of board because their contrasting colors and grain patterns. The thin mahogany strips that sandwich one of the maple strips enhances the asymmetrical look. The triangle-shaped cutout for the handle gives the board an extra little unique vibe.
Customizing
If you decide you want a custom piece, I will work closely with you from the beginning. Together, we will decide which wood species are best for your project and its overall design. I often send you pictures of your project as I work through the different stages of a build to make sure you're happy with how it looks.
One of my most enjoyable custom projects is this table I built for an old and dear friend. She said she wanted a kitchen island with a live edge top and storage underneath. We bounced around ideas regarding different styles, wood species, and dimensions. A key aspect of the planning was that it had to fit in her car so she could take it home after one of her visits.