Musical Wood in the Woods

You know I like clever things made out of wood. You know I like forests. You know I like music.  Well, this video obviously rates very high on my "like" list.  It's totally amazing.  Enjoy.



 
You can see the full width version at:  http://www.flixxy.com/musical-wood.htm 

Spirit in the Wood

“…The tree, which is used for the body of the drum, contains a living spirit. Great care is taken to make sure that the wood of the drum is alive.” 
from: “The Beat of My Drum: An Autobiography” by Babatunde Olatunji

Ask my family. Most of my adult life I have wanted a hand drum. That might seen to be an unusual desire coming from a retired white guy in the suburbs, but it was an itch that just wouldn’t go away. At first I thought I wanted a conga drum. Then I attended a drum circle where they had an assortment of African drums to use for the evening. Most of the drums were djembes, the familiar West African style drum, but a few were different. They were taller, had a slightly different shape and a much deeper, richer sound. They are called bougarabou, a bit of onomatopoeia, since the drum name is the sound it makes (bou-gara-bou). I immediately knew what type of drum I wanted. It was a perfect fit for my baritone soul.

Last week I finally got my drum. I love it. I bought it from a shop called “Spirit in the Wood”. With a name like that, how could I do otherwise? Spirit in the Wood is a small, one-man operation. That man is Conrad Kubiak, a professional drummer, drum teacher and drum maker. Conrad is an interesting character. He may be a reincarnation of Leonardo DaVinci. He works out of a small house with detached garage/workshop, on a small road in rural Bucks County, PA. There is no sign and most people would just pass it by. Most people, yes, but any person who works with wood would notice the collection of hefty log sections sitting in his driveway, especially since half of them have large, interesting-looking burls on them, waiting to be turned into works of art.

There is no doubt that Conrad is a wood craftsman. Just like all other wood turners, Conrad has a lathe. The only difference is that while some turners make pens, Conrad makes conga drums. He turns his own drum shells on a monster industrial lathe that must be 100 years old, and takes up half of his workshop. He has personally developed special tooling and techniques that sets his craft apart.

Sure he makes high quality drums out of fine hardwoods, but if you look closely on the dusty shelves you will also fine beautiful bowls turned out of burl and fine crafted wooden boxes that will be magnificent, if he ever gets to finish them. Conrad knows drums, and he also knows wood.


My bougarabou drum

I bought my drum from Conrad, but not one of his hand-crafted works of art. Since this is my beginner’s” drum, I bought one that was hand carved out of iroko wood by a craftsman in the Ivory Coast, a genuine West African drum. But who knows? If I get good, maybe I’ll upgrade to one of his eye-popping cherry wood originals.

The Look, Touch and Smell of Wood

I remember visiting Duckloe Furniture in Portland, PA several months ago. They have exquisite examples of American hand-crafted furniture. Their showroom is filled with everything from Arts and Crafts and Shaker styles to Windsor Chairs that they have been making themselves for over 150 years. The woods and grain patterns are awesome. Words like bird’s eye, tiger, quarter-sawn and burl are used a lot in the wood descriptions of the items on display.

Like a naughty child, I found myself touching everything. As I ran my hand across the top of a table or over the carved decorations I realized how much I love to touch wood. There is a tactile sensation that brings me joy. The smoothness of the finish, the beauty of the grain pattern, even the smell of the beeswax and oil, all contribute to my sensual enjoyment.

I get a similar feeling in my own workshop. It may be the fine sawdust that remains in the pores of your hand after sanding; or feeling the contour of a piece you just carved. I’m sure many of you fellow woodworkers know what I mean. I remember finishing a spoon with wax and mineral oil and then sitting watching TV and just rubbing the finish with my bare hands for quite some time. It was a comforting sensation. You may argue that velvet or leather also gives tactile pleasure, but when it comes to hard materials, nothing beats wood.

I just completed my Salamander Cane. It was my first attempt in carving a critter wrapped around the cane. Instead of carving a detailed snake with hundreds of tiny scales like the award-winning artist, Dave Stehly, I chose a much simpler piece for my first attempt. The salamander is a lot smaller and its skin is smooth and easy to carve. I liked the feel of the wooden cane handle. I realized why canes and walking sticks are made of wood. For some reason, it just seems natural.

Has working with wood heightened your sensual awareness?

Handcrafting furniture

I'm getting back into more woodworking lately. Here's one of my new tables made from a tree that fell over in a storm, which I also made the 2010 Art Prize project from. The table has inlaid slices of stone and geo spheres. It measures 15 inches wide, 54 inches long, and about 25 inches high. The legs are taken from Maple tree limbs. For inquiries contact me by my e-mail, andrewjagniecki@gmail.com, and I'd be delighted to produce your ideas.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been experimenting with creating things out of old cigar boxes. I’ve been using carving, pyrography and decoupage to transform these old wooden boxes into interesting works of art. The photo above shows a “good” result: a jewelry box for my daughter: beautiful Honduran mahogany with a nice thick top for carving. Unfortunately, on some other attempts I ran into problems. I’m glad the boxes are inexpensive, because a lot of them wind up on the scrap wood pile. Most of them are made to look exquisite in the cigar store, but a closer inspection shows their flaws. Here are some of the problems I have found working with recycled wooden cigar boxes. I hope you an learn from my experiences and save yourself some grief.

Severe Warping – Cigars demand a moisture rich environment. The wood for the box is probably newly cut and very moist. The air in the cigar store is kept humid. Then you bring the empty wooden box home to an atmosphere that is very dry by comparison. The result is severe warpage. See the photo below. Beautiful wood…nice box shape…but totally useless.

Laminated Wood and MDF – Some boxes are painted or stained. You sand of the finish only to find medium density fiberboard or cheap plywood. Bummer! The plywood is also a prime candidate for warping.

Label Removal – Otherwise known as a time-consuming exercise in screaming and cursing. Why is it that the nicest looking boxes have labels attached with glue that could be used to build steel bridges? Forget water as a solvent. Try paint thinner or mineral spirits. I even tried acetone. The label came off, and so did the finish. Because the labels are so hard to remove, you can easily scrape the surface if you are not careful. Labels on the inside of the cover are especially troublesome to remove. They are usually very colorful and foil coated. I tend to leave them on as reminder of the fact that the finished box was a cigar box at one time.

Cheap Hardware – Don’t expect the hinges and clasps to be top quality. In some cases, you might want to replace them with better hardware.

As a result of all this, I have become pickier at the cigar box bin. I now know what brands of cigar have the best boxes to work with. I still enjoy recycling these old ladies into beautiful maidens.

Herbie's Auction

I’ve always been fascinated by trees with names, but we’ll talk more about that some other time. Right now I want to focus on one specific tree by the name of “Herbie”. Herbie was a 217 year old elm tree, and held the official title of the biggest elm tree in New England. It towered 110 feet above Yarmouth, Maine. It was about 8 feet in diameter at the widest point. Herbie died from Dutch elm disease. The only reason Herbie lived as long as he did was because of the loving care of Yarmouth’s tree warden, Frank Knight, who cared for the tree for over 50 years. Frank is 102 years old himself. I’m not making this up folks. It’s a great story.

Herbie had to be cut down in February of 2010. That in itself was no simple task. We’re talking about over 40 tons of wood, and about 6,000 board feet of usable lumber.

If you read this blog, you know I believe there is something special about these old trees. You also must know that I believe that the spirit of the tree is, in some way, reincarnated in the beautiful and useful objects that are made from their wood. The good news is that even though Herbie the tree may be gone, he is still alive in his wood. When Herbie came down, Chris Becksvoort, a New Gloucester furniture maker found himself in charge of the wood distribution. He had the great idea of letting artisans and craftsmen use the wood from Herbie to create objects that could be auctioned off. The auction would raise money for the Arbor Fund of Falmouth to plant new trees. He got his idea from the Onetree Project in England where artisans did the same thing with a 170 year old oak tree that was dying and had to be cut down.

Over 80 artisans and artists participated creating over 300 objects for the auction. Objects included benches, tables, carvings, lamps, bowls, vases and an electric guitar. There was even a mobile made from paper from Herbie. The auction was held two weeks ago and netted $25,000 for the arbor fund. Click on the links to see an article on the auction and a video of a news report on the entire story.

This is the guitar made from Herbie wood by Andrew Olsen of AO Guitars.

These turned and carved vases were made by Jacques Veresy.

Reclaiming the wood from any old tree is a great idea but I think that using the wood from an important historical tree is very special. Apparantly The people at Historical Woods of America agree with me. Visit there website and find out more.

Have you ever crafted something out of wood from a special old tree?

Ah, the burn of a good cigar... box, that is.

I picture one of my early ancestors, thousands of years ago, forging a metal spear point out of bronze and laying the hot metal object down on a piece of wood. “Hey, would ya look at that!” he would say, as the hot metal spear point burned a design into the wood. Thus, the art of wood burning or pyrography was born.

As crude as that early experience might have been, my recent experiences have not been much better. I have taken up the art of pyrography, which means I have invested in a decent burner transformer unit, a few tips of assorted shapes and a tip holder pen. I’m just a beginner, and still in the experimentation stage, but I’m starting to really enjoy this new hobby.

I am very fortunate to have a cigar superstore about 5 miles from my house. They sell empty wooden cigar boxes for one dollar each, ten for $6.00. There are sitting in a huge crate right near the entrance to the store, which doesn’t seem to stay full very long. I’ve been stocking up on boxes for several months now. Some of these boxes are very well made out of solid exotic woods with beautifully crafted box joint corners. Why do I feel like I’ve just given away my secret? Oh well, there are lots of boxes to go around.


This new interest of mine combines art with recycling, which makes me feel good about the enterprise in general. I’m still not sure what I will be doing with the finished boxes, but Christmas is coming up and they might make good gifts.

Have you ever tried pyrography? Have you ever tried to turn old cigar boxes into new works of art?

These are for the birds

Spring is here so I built a few birdhouses. Actually I built one new one and refurbished two others, all with scrap wood. Admittedly, they are not much to look at, but they meet all the latest recommended birdhouse dimensions and include all the latest recommended features. I’m not sure the birds care how the outside of their houses look.

There are some interesting things to consider when building a birdhouse. For instance, the size of the entrance hole and height above the floor of the birdhouse is very important to appeal to the right species of bird. Also, the popular perch stick is just below the entrance hole is not needed, nor recommended. It provides a place for predators to sit and wait. Another feature to prevent hungry squirrels from chewing through the hole area is to reinforce the hole with a ¾” thick block of wood, making the entrance passage longer. All the specifications and suggestions you will need are on the internet. If you are interested, go to the following websites: http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Building_Bird_Houses.html. or http://baltimorebirdclub.org/by/house.html

After I finished hanging the birdhouses on nearby trees, I got to thinking maybe birdhouses are an opportunity to get creative. As long as all the proper dimensions and features are included, and the birds don’t really care what the house looks like, why not carve something on the front. Perhaps a wood spirit or something humorous. Here’s a challenge: Design a clever birdhouse and send me a photo of it. I’ll publish the best ones on the blog.

"A Reverence for Wood" by Eric Sloane

What books do you keep on the nightstand near your bed or on the shelf next to your favorite chair? Those books (and magazines) probably say a lot about who you are and what is important to you. The subtitle of this blog, “a reverence for wood”, was not chosen casually. One of the five or six favorite books on my nightstand is “A Reverence for Wood” by Eric Sloane, originally published in 1965. Actually, the book I have is called “Sketches of America Past” and combines two other Sloane books, “Diary of an Early American Boy” and “A Museum of Early American Tools” along with “A Reverence for Wood”, in a single bound edition.

I first read “A Reverence for Wood” back in the early 1970’s and remember being totally captivated by it. I have re-read it many times since then. It’s my kind of book, lots of interesting illustrations, all by Eric Sloane himself. It is also a historical book about “the old ways” of making practical things out of wood. It shows that our ancestors had close relationship and intimate understanding of wood that, for the most part, has been lost by our present generation. It is a book about history and the ingenuity of the early American pioneers. It has definitely been an influence on my life and my pursuit of woodcraft.

I was not going to post this entry on my blog since I couldn’t imagine my blog visitors, most of who are interested in woodworking, as not having already read “A Reverence for Wood”. It is practically required reading for anyone interested in wood. But then I thought perhaps there are people out there, especially visitors from other parts of the world, who may never have heard of the book. But even if you have read the book before, it is worth getting a copy and going through it again. Every time I open it, it gives me a new incentive to go make something out of wood.

Have you read “A Reverence for Wood”? What are your thoughts about the book, or other books by Eric Sloane?

New Piece

Treasure Boxes

Artful Adornment

Lilly Collection

Why Lillies?

I guess, because I live around all these lakes here in Mid-West Michigan along the shoreline of Lake Michigan and it's in-lets, tributaries and such- cannot help but be influenced by the beauty floating on the surface of my surroundings

Most of these have sold, but I am enjoying this carving technique and so can easily make more if anyone is interested in me customizing one.

Starting a New One

Process of sculpture

Current Projects...

I've started playing around with making barrettes and other accessories, as a nice gift for my wife, daughter and for sale in some local shops.

Some Favorites