Out Of The Woods

Furniture maker Bob Brown has a unique approach to his craft — he lets the wood tell him what it wants to be.

Your average furniture maker can manipulate pieces of wood into anything from a desk to a dining room set. But Bob Brown is not your typical furniture maker. Instead of carving a timber into submission, Bob lets the wood call the shots.

“Once I see the tree or timber, I can visualize exactly how the finished product will look, kind of like a sculptor or a chainsaw carver sees the end result before they make a cut,” Bob says. “As we harvest the wood, I’ll put pieces into separate storage areas. For instance there’s a pile that will make good bedposts,one for lamps, one for table bases and so on. Then when it’s time to fill a particular order, I can go right to the appropriate area and sort through the material. I find it doesn’t work well if you try to force a piece of wood to become something it’s not. It never turns out right.”

Building furniture hasn’t always been Bob’s vocation, however. For nearly 25 years, he was a contractor and remodeler — he even built a handful of log homes. In fact, he and his family live in a log-and-timber home, so he’s fully aware of the natural aesthetic his regular customers seek.