The Spring 2020 Craft & Culture Fellow has been hard at work in his home studio producing wood furniture using hand tools; exploring and refining his lifelong craft through Arrowmont’s Appalachian Craft initiative.
In addition to progress in his studio, John has been exploring the use of technology to document and share his work. Last week, he produced his first video – a demonstration of his technique for quick, homemade wooden dowels. Click here to view the video, or visit https://youtu.be/o5WafKI9M4o.
This week, John created a cedar chest with handcrafted pulls and cedar dowels (made using the technique he describes in his video, above). John said of this project,
“This piece is made from solid cedar, beginning with lumber from a chainsaw mill to the finished project completed by hand. A chainsaw mill is an attachment for a chain saw that allows for a constant thickness cut. I made the attachments for my saws but that are commonly called Alaskan sawmills.”
This project was made from a tree that blew down on a local property and owner was delighted I would remove it at no cost. Much of the furniture I make begins this way. It’s part of the process for me to salvage a tree and turn it in to something beautiful.
