Two cylinder-shaped limbs sit on the window sill of Max Morley's workshop.
Covered in bark and in an unusual shade of gray, the Bois D'arc branches seem an unlikely pair to become intricately carved candlesticks, but as Morley explains, with several hours and a wood lathe, these basic blocks can be transformed into something of beauty.
Michele Marcotte/The Daily Sentinel |
Max Morley holds a limb of Bois D'arc wood, which he will later turn into a candlestick using a wood lathe, one of many woodworking instruments in his shop.
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Morley, the grandson of two carpenters and son-in-law to another, started working with wood at a young age. Many of the tools displayed along the walls and corners of his shop are instruments handed down to him from his relatives. And, he's used them to build everything from fences and plaques to the fire place mantle in his home, a project he refers to as his "pride and joy."
Morley suggests that people who are interested in embarking on carpentry needn't run out and purchase every tool on the market.
"The best advice is to decide what you want to build and then buy the tool that it takes to make it," he explains. "Then you determine what the next thing is that you want to build and buy the tools you need to build that, and pretty soon you accumulate all these tools."
Strolling about his shop, Morley points out some of the most fundamental tools that an aspiring woodworker would need for just about any project.
"Probably the most fundamental tool in the shop is the table saw," he says, of a medium-sized table with a circular, jagged blade in the center used to cut wood. "A series of hand tools is also important to have."
He says that hand drills, a drill press (a fixed drill that may be mounted on a stand or bolted to the floor) and a sander to smooth wood are basic tools that are often used in carpentry projects.
Tools like a scroll saw, which cuts and carves shapes, is another good tool to have for creating a wooden object like the shape of Texas, Morley says.
"These are fun to use," he says, pointing to his own scroll saw. "And, some people have the scroll saw as their only tool in their shop because it's the only thing they like to do."
Another fundamental tool of wood work is the work bench, Morley explains.
"It needs to be heavy because you will be driving nails and placing heavy stuff on top of it," he says. His own work bench is a large wooden table in the center of his shop that he made himself.
The type of wood used to build objects is something else aspiring woodworkers should keep in mind.
"There are soft woods and there are hard woods, and each one has its place in the kind of stuff that you work on," Morley says.
He says woodworkers often like to work with exotic woods, ones that are unique in their color, texture and grains, and to find these, you just have to keep an eye out.
For instance, among his collection, Morley has a rare ebony wood, a type of wood used to make clarinets and a piece of Brazilian Rosewood, a type of wood often used to make violin bows that he acquired through a friend.
He says the wood for most of his projects come from various places.
"If I need a good quantity of hardwood, there is a hardwood lumber yard in Jasper, Texas, and another one in Mount Enterprise," he says.
Morley, a professor of music history and literature at SFA, says woodturning or using the wood lathe to make various objects is one of his favorite techniques, and he often uses it to turn hardwoods like cherry, maple, oak, pecan and walnut into bowls and candlesticks.
