My Story
I have provided fine woodworking to Calgary and area since 1979. I started out building cabinets for a local mid-size manufacture. Thankfully, this was an excellent place to learn the ropes until the company fell victim to a slumping economy. This was both a curse and blessing. The blessing was in opening the door for a small efficient cabinet making firm to fulfill uncompleted contracts left in the wake of my previous employer's closing.
With not a tool, truck or company to my name, I walked into the office of one of the builders left high and dry by my previous employer and said, "I was the guy behind the scenes who would have built your cabinets and I can still be the guy who builds them now." I don't know if he was impressed with my sales tactic or if he just felt sorry for me, but he offered me one home and a balance of 30 more if he liked the first one. Well, now I had to put my work where my mouth was, and off I went to buy a truck, tools, lumber and supplies with my severance pay.
With a 31 kitchen head start, cabinets became the bread and butter but I noticed there was also a need for custom handrails in these homes as well. After a while, custom curved and carved railings became the largest chunk of my work. It became necessary to find a more cost effective way to provide my services. Thus, the infamous trailer-shop was born.
I am certain all who have had work done by Pioneer would remember the infamous trailer-shop. I was able to create high caliber artistic woodwork for them right outside their very homes. The trailer was set up as a shop-on-wheels - all I had to do was park close to the client's home and begin the magic. Having a shop-on-wheels was innovative. A shop so close to the client's home allowed me to provide a much higher-end product with tools only found in a large shop, without time wasted running back and forth to a fixed address shop. It also had the pleasant benefit of keeping most of the mess inside the trailer and not the home.
While meeting the needs of my customers with turned/carved spindles, posts and railings, the love of turning emerged. When my children were small and my mortgage was large, I had little time to devote to whimsical turning and concentrated mostly on those of my talents which paid the bills. After what seemed like an eternity at the time and only a flash in retrospect, my children grew big and my mortgage small. Allowing me privilege and fun of whimsical turning enjoyed by myself, my friends and hopefully many of you.
Where the Magic Happens
I am proud of the art I create and of the studio I create it in.
Though my studio is small in footprint, I have worked hard to build a comfortable, stimulating environment, with equipment that is not only safe but imparts the least amount of challenge in my ever changing pushing of the limits.
Below are just a few of the pieces I use to feed my insatiable habit.
The General above was to be my first serious lathe allowing for a full 20" of diameter, the bi-directional variable speed and weight of cast iron construction make wood turning all about art not the fight of light duty equipment.
Now the Pinnacle to the left not only allows for a full 48" of diameter turning on the inside but adds severe accuracy not found in even high end conventional lathes. Now it’s all about imagination as that is the only limitation left.
Laguna set out to build a wood lathe with the precision and accuracy previously only found in machinists' lathes. I am very happy they got it right. Use this lathe once and anything else is now a toy.
Both of these lathes demonstrate two rules quality woodworkers have known and preached for years. 1) always purchase the very best piece of equipment your budget allows, 2) keep your mind open to a better one if and when you can swing it.
Many of you have written to me asking how I put the logo and information on the bottom of my pieces.
Well here it is, the Epilog Laser. I know many of you thought that I was the Michael Angelo of wood burning, but sadly not.
I do however have to design and create the file on the computer first. For this I use Corel Draw and let the imagination fly. After that the file is sent to the laser for burning. At that point the laser is nothing more than a large and expensive computer printer using light instead of ink.
Though it was a huge expense, it just didn't make any sense for me to create incredible works of art and then sign them with writing equivalent to a four year old doctor on meth.
