Computer Programmer Turned Woodworker

[Ed Lada 5,108]

My sisters only son Eric, my first nephew is a pretty cool guy.  He studied computer programming at Case Western U, in Cleveland, OH, on a full academic scholarship because he is also smart as shit.  He spent some years programming including rides for Disney.  Eric worked a bit, took time off to ride a bicycle across the US.  He and his bike took a bus to a friend's house in Idaho, then he biked to California and pedaled back to Ohio. He worked some more, went took some time off to go canoeing in the wilderness area in northern Minnesota.  Then worked some more, took time off to through hike the entire Appalachian Trail (He did half of it one summer while at Case, but they told him if he took time off from school to finish the hike, he would lose his scholarship, so he just started from the beginning again).  Oh yeah, he also loves rock climbing.  He moved to the Boston area, got married and then decided to embark on a new career.  He attended the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts and found his true calling as a furniture maker.  He hasn't done it for very long  but his work is amazing.  He loves the work.  The chandelier below earned him the Members Choice Award at a Philadelphia museum.  You can check out some of his other stuff on his website.  The name came from his experience hiking the AT.  Click on the photos for more details of each piece if you like.

Eric is in his mid 30s and has already some amazing things, who knows what's next.  I only listed some of his adventures.  I thought I have done some interesting things in my life but he makes me look like a rookie already.  I am proud as hell to be his uncle.

This isn't an ad, I didn't even tell him I'm posting this but his work is for sale if anyone is interested.

Long Walk Woodworking

 

[Dorado 921]

Awesome stuff  !

Best of luck to him. It can be hard to find people who are willing to pay for that sort of work. It takes a lot of time and effort to turn out quality one off pieces like that.

[ROADKILL666 533]

Holy shit that is some nice work.I wish I had that kind of talent with wood.

[jerseyguy 1,712]

3 minutes ago, ROADKILL666 said:

Holy shit that is some nice work.I wish I had that kind of talent with wood.

Hell I wish I had that talent at anything.

[SloopJonB 12,608]

That last piece looks as good as anything Krenov has done.

Total props - he has found his calling fershur.

[Ed Lada 5,108]

48 minutes ago, SloopJonB said:

That last piece looks as good as anything Krenov has done.

Total props - he has found his calling fershur.

High praise indeed, thanks.  I'll pass it on to Eric.

[Hatin' life 220]

Looks good.

 

I hope he made a lot of money in computers.  He's in a niche, within a niche.  Tough place to make a living.  And woodworking it's a tough business anyways.

[Ed Lada 5,108]

16 minutes ago, Hatin' life said:

Looks good.

 

I hope he made a lot of money in computers.  He's in a niche, within a niche.  Tough place to make a living.  And woodworking it's a tough business anyways.

Yeah, he's made plenty programming.  That's how he could work and then take a lot of time off to the other stuff.  He is very good programmer and can always find good paying work.  His wife also has a good job, which helps and most importantly he is pursuing something he truly loves to do.  Unlike many Americans they live well below their means.  Eric is very determined, focused, persistent and hardworking.  When he hiked the Appalachian Trail halfway, he could still claim full credit for finishing the trail by picking up where he left off after he graduated from college.  Many people hike the trail in segments, sometimes even over many years before they finish.  But he wanted do do a through hike, meaning without interruption, so he did.  His wife through hiked the AT as well although he didn't know her at the time.  If somebody hikes the AT 1 and 1/2 times and also rides a bicycle across most of the US in 4 months before they are 30, it certainly says something about their stamina and determination to succeed. 

[Mrleft8 3,550]

3 hours ago, SloopJonB said:

That last piece looks as good as anything Krenov has done.

Total props - he has found his calling fershur.

You don't know Krenov.

 But that aside, good on him. Some nice stuff there.

[timber 68]

I think he is a notable young man. He gets my respect. 

for anyone interested in contemporary gallery level furniture I'll throw a couple of names to you. 

Nakashima, Sam Maloof, Stickley, Charles Greene and the Lang Bros., there are a lot more but it is a starter list. 

 

[Mrleft8 3,550]

20 minutes ago, timber said:

I think he is a notable young man. He gets my respect. 

for anyone interested in contemporary gallery level furniture I'll throw a couple of names to you. 

Nakashima, Sam Maloof, Stickley, Charles Greene and the Lang Bros., there are a lot more but it is a starter list. 

 

"Contemporary"?

 You've gone from the turn of the last century to 1980, and Lang Bros. don't count unless you also count the Broyhills, and the La-Z-boys......

[Snaggletooth 5,186]

22 minutes ago, Mrleft8 said:

"Contemporary"?

 You've gone from the turn of the last century to 1980, and Lang Bros. don't count unless you also count the Broyhills, and the La-Z-boys......

Yeahe, G & G wase loungue time aggo to.  Greatte stuffe, the Emmette Browne house, in Passadeena wase maide of moestley ecxotice hardewoodes.  (ANA Gambelle House)

[justsomeguy! 1,032]

50 minutes ago, timber said:

Nakashima, Sam Maloof, Stickley, Charles Greene and the Lang Bros., there are a lot more but it is a starter list. 

 

Don't forget Carl Farbman.

[Mrleft8 3,550]

Let's start with "Cave man" who sat on a rock.

[Snaggletooth 5,186]

1 hour ago, timber said:

there are a lot more but it is a starter list. 

FLLW allso dezined allotte funitiurre, housewares, and hoestesse outfittes.                            

[SloopJonB 12,608]

2 hours ago, Mrleft8 said:

You don't know Krenov.

Actually, I've been an admirer of Krenov for more than 40 years.

Krenov

Soakers nephew

[Snaggletooth 5,186]

3 minutes ago, SloopJonB said:

Actually, I've been an admirer of Krenov for more than 40 years.

Do you licke hise funirtiurre to?                                                 

 

[SloopJonB 12,608]

I only licke windows.

I admire his otherwordly craftsmanship - but I prefer furniture with a bit more mass than that spindly, delicate looking stuff he makes.

Virtually all his work looks like it's only fit to contain jewelry.

[Snaggletooth 5,186]

4 minutes ago, SloopJonB said:

I only licke windows.

me to.               

4 minutes ago, SloopJonB said:

Virtually all his work looks like it's only fit to contain jewelry.

Adgreede!                                

[Mrleft8 3,550]

46 minutes ago, SloopJonB said:

I only licke windows.

I admire his otherwordly craftsmanship - but I prefer furniture with a bit more mass than that spindly, delicate looking stuff he makes.

Virtually all his work looks like it's only fit to contain jewelry.

It's not. First of all you have to understand scale. Krenov was a tiny man. He made furniture to his scale.

 Second, his furniture was almost never intended to contain anything. The cabinet he made to hold smoking pipes was one, and another for the King or something of Sweden, to hold jeweled eggs or something.

 His cabinets were the item that was displayed. You didn't open a Krenov cabinet to see a Gucci boot..... The cabinet was the item. If you had a (rare) Krenov coffee table, you didn't put Sam Maloof books, or "Unit of water, unit of time" on it....

[Mrleft8 3,550]

I apologize. Ed's nephew has done some very nice work, and I don't intend to demean it.

I shall refrain from further comment.

[Ease the sheet. 2,285]

6 hours ago, Hatin' life said:

Looks good.

 

I hope he made a lot of money in computers.  He's in a niche, within a niche.  Tough place to make a living.  And woodworking it's a tough business anyways.

The "art" side of woodworking is all kinds of crazy.

People will try to screw you down on a kitchen but tell em it's an "art installation" and they are happy to move the decimal point.

[Hatin' life 220]

58 minutes ago, Ease the sheet. said:

The "art" side of woodworking is all kinds of crazy.

People will try to screw you down on a kitchen but tell em it's an "art installation" and they are happy to move the decimal point.

Oh, for sure.  We're on the pointy end of the spectrum for cabinetry.  It can be real tough when working for normal upper middle class and killing their dream when they want something wonky, but it's going to cost another $10k.  I think twice in my career I've been given the proverbial blank check, and those are the people that Ed's nephew is going to want to work for.

Like I said, niche within a niche.

[VWAP 1,099]

3 hours ago, Snaggletooth said:

Do you licke hise funirtiurre to?                                                 

 

 

[A guy in the Chesapeake 1,679]

My son is doing some similar stuff - his focus is more on reclamation/repurpose of industrial castoffs into furniture and "visual environments" (think building themes).  I'm sending him that link - thanks Ed. 

 

[shaggy 1,096]

On 11/30/2019 at 3:32 PM, Mrleft8 said:

Let's start with "Cave man" who sat on a rock.

So who built the rock??  

[Mrleft8 3,550]

7 minutes ago, shaggy said:

So who built the rock??  

Steroids.

[SloopJonB 12,608]

Don't fergit the WWF

[austin1972 629]

I'd love to learn to work with wood. Neighbor down the road does wood sculpture. Cool stuff.

[A guy in the Chesapeake 1,679]

Seeing stuff like Ed and Austin posted, and some of the other woodshop pics folks have shared makes me feel like I oughta cut the power cord off my table saw and give away my router bits. 

[Snaggletooth 5,186]

Ille tacke the routere bittes, 1/4 iche or 12/ iche?                                                  

[A guy in the Chesapeake 1,679]

1 hour ago, Snaggletooth said:

Ille tacke the routere bittes, 1/4 iche or 12/ iche?                                                  

Many of each Snags - I like making my own stuff, and usually spend way more in tools to do that than I'd ever spend just paying someone else to make it for me.  There's probably a word for that... 

[Ed Lada 5,108]

12 minutes ago, A guy in the Chesapeake said:

Many of each Snags - I like making my own stuff, and usually spend way more in tools to do that than I'd ever spend just paying someone else to make it for me.  There's probably a word for that... 

A normal guy?

[SloopJonB 12,608]

4 hours ago, A guy in the Chesapeake said:

Seeing stuff like Ed and Austin posted, and some of the other woodshop pics folks have shared makes me feel like I oughta cut the power cord off my table saw and give away my router bits. 

I get that too.

Makes me feel totally inadequate.

That's why I spoke out against a Woodworking thread.

[Ed Lada 5,108]

18 minutes ago, SloopJonB said:

I get that too.

Makes me feel totally inadequate.

That's why I spoke out against a Woodworking thread.

Hey, how do you think I feel.  I remember helping him build shit out his many Legos in his basement when he was just a little sprout, even then he had some skills.

Hey, wait, it was my expertise with Legos that inspired him all these years later, to choose his current path.  He owes it all to uncle Ed, after all we share some genes.  Yeah, that's the ticket.  

[Hatin' life 220]

5 hours ago, Ed Lada said:

Hey, how do you think I feel.  I remember helping him build shit out his many Legos in his basement when he was just a little sprout, even then he had some skills.

Hey, wait, it was my expertise with Legos that inspired him all these years later, to choose his current path.  He owes it all to uncle Ed, after all we share some genes.  Yeah, that's the ticket.  

 

I fucking loved Legos when I was a tot.  Probably still do, I just don't have access any longer.

The question though would be:

Did Legos appeal to me because I have a predisposition for building things, and I was going to end up building things for a living no matter what?

Or, did Legos cultivate and create a need to mindlessly put things together, and the need for the little dopamine hit from taking parts and turning them into a thing?

[SloopJonB 12,608]

A friend used to achieve a Zen like state of relaxation by sorting her kids Lego while watching TV.

[Dorado 921]

1 hour ago, SloopJonB said:

A friend used to achieve a Zen like state of relaxation by sorting her kids Lego while watching TV.

I used to achieve a Zen like state of relaxation when I stepped on one in the middle of the night barefooted. 

[Snaggletooth 5,186]

1 minute ago, Dorado said:

1 hour ago, SloopJonB said:

A friend used to achieve a Zen like state of relaxation by sorting her kids Lego while watching TV.

I used to achieve a Zen like state of relaxation when I stepped on one in the middle of the night barefooted.

Aftere the yelleng and cryeng subsidide..........                                              

[Willin' 1,715]

Soaker?

 

[Se7en 444]

On 12/1/2019 at 10:46 AM, SloopJonB said:

Actually, I've been an admirer of Krenov for more than 40 years.

Krenov

 

That is awesome. Intricate without being fussy, and the display of grain in the matched door panels is subtly majestic.

there goes the rest of my night to google

[Ed Lada 5,108]

12 hours ago, Hatin' life said:

 

I fucking loved Legos when I was a tot.  Probably still do, I just don't have access any longer.

The question though would be:

Did Legos appeal to me because I have a predisposition for building things, and I was going to end up building things for a living no matter what?

Or, did Legos cultivate and create a need to mindlessly put things together, and the need for the little dopamine hit from taking parts and turning them into a thing?

Good question.  That brings up the age old 'nature vs nature debate.

Now that I am old, I discovered the Lego Technic line.  They are awesome, Lego on steroids.  I buy them, build them and give them to my wife's young grandson.  It's a win-win.

This one took about 18 hours to build.  It has almost 4,000 pieces and many motorized moving parts, the buckets, conveyor, treads, the entire boom rotates, etc.  I 

I have also built a motorized mobile crane and several others.  Expensive and amusing way to spend time.  Not a good idea to make a little mistake early on only to discover that hours later, due to the sequential assembly process.  Don't ask me how I know that painful lesson.

[Snaggletooth 5,186]

59 minutes ago, Ed Lada said:

Good question.  That brings up the age old 'nature vs nurture debate.

fixte, I thick.                                            

[Ed Lada 5,108]

26 minutes ago, Snaggletooth said:

fixte, I thick.                                            

Yeah, nurture.  Apparently it isn't in my nature to nurture my proofreading skills in spite of my sig line.

I will offer a reasonable defense in this case.  I was rushing so I could go to the florist, get a shit ton of roses and a vase, and then to our favorite restaurant to have them put the roses on the table tonight where we will celebrate my wife's birthday.  We live in a small town, but being on the German border and not far from Berlin, we have a world class restaurant that I consider the best restaurant between Berlin (65 miles to the west) and Warsaw (300 miles to the east) and better than many restaurants in those cities as well, and not nearly as expensive.  The chef is a good friend of mine and that's a bonus, she does a kind of Euro fusion cuisine, and very well at that.  To top it all off, I have a bottle of a 2005 Clos de Sarpe, Saint-Emilion Gran Cru Bordeax.  "I'm not drinking any fucking Merlot!"    Parker gave the wine 97 points FWIW.

[austin1972 629]

@Ed Lada and you didn't invite us? I thought we knew you, man.

[Ed Lada 5,108]

6 minutes ago, austin1972 said:

@Ed Lada and you didn't invite us? I thought we knew you, man.

Well shit, too bad the Concorde isn't around anymore, you could have made it.

Next time.  I'll tell you what, you come over and I'll treat.  And bring an even better wine, how's that?

 

 

[austin1972 629]

4 minutes ago, Ed Lada said:

Well shit, too bad the Concorde isn't around anymore, you could have made it.

Next time.  I'll tell you what, you come over and I'll treat.  And bring an even better wine, how's that?

 

 

Careful what you say! We have a vacation fund growing (slowly) and I've worked with lots of off-the-boat Polish folks since I lived by Chicago and became friends with many.
I'd love to go to Poland.

We were thinking Croatia but a free dinner could swing my opinion!

[Ed Lada 5,108]

6 minutes ago, austin1972 said:

Careful what you say! We have a vacation fund growing (slowly) and I've worked with lots of off-the-boat Polish folks since I lived by Chicago and became friends with many.
I'd love to go to Poland.

We were thinking Croatia but a free dinner could swing my opinion!

Hey, Croatia is less than 1,000 miles away.  Just fly to Berlin and I'll come and get get you.  You are one of a select group of SAers I would happily meet.  Since I know Anetta well we can go off menu if necessary.  They also have a degustation menu once a month, 6 courses of bliss!

[austin1972 629]

1 hour ago, Ed Lada said:

Hey, Croatia is less than 1,000 miles away.  Just fly to Berlin and I'll come and get get you.  You are one of a select group of SAers I would happily meet.  Since I know Anetta well we can go off menu if necessary.  They also have a degustation menu once a month, 6 courses of bliss!

Sweet! I'd be with my SO, so you'd be picking up 2. Her name is Jiffy. Not kidding!

Anyways, your offer is very kind and I'm going to talk to the Admiral about it tonight.
Thank you.

[SloopJonB 12,608]

7 hours ago, Se7en said:

That is awesome. Intricate without being fussy, and the display of grain in the matched door panels is subtly majestic.

there goes the rest of my night to google

IMO when he was alive, James Krenov was THE best woodworker extant.

And I didn't even particularly like the style of things he built - too spindly and fragile looking for my taste.

BUT - his craftsmanship was absolutely otherworldy. He reputedly never used sandpaper or other abrasives - only cabinet scrapers.

And my grandfather was a patternmaker so I can probably recognize skilled woodworking better than most.

[SloopJonB 12,608]

3 hours ago, Ed Lada said:

  "I'm not drinking any fucking Merlot!"   

Yeah - those fuckers are mean.

[Ed Lada 5,108]

3 hours ago, austin1972 said:

Sweet! I'd be with my SO, so you'd be picking up 2. Her name is Jiffy. Not kidding!

Anyways, your offer is very kind and I'm going to talk to the Admiral about it tonight.
Thank you.

You're welcome.  I figured you would bring a partner, no problem, love the name. 

To further entice you and Jiffie;  We had Argentine beef tenderloin with blue cheese sauce and grilled shrimp, with salad,  veg, and pureed potato, coffee and cake for dessert.  Since I brought the wine which was excellent even if St Emilion wines usually have a high percentage of Merlot, the Cab Franc gives it some backbone, the bill came to less than $80.00 total, including a good tip.  Yes, that isn't a typo, I told you it was inexpensive, some of the food and the labor costs are low.  The tenderloin is by far the most expensive thing on the menu  Tipping isn't expected here, but I brought wine so I tipped about what a bottle of their house wine would cost.  The 25 long stemmed roses and the vase were just a little less than the cot of the meal!

I'm in the bottom photo, my wife on top.  Oh wait, this isn't Instagram?  I just wanted you to see:  a.) the food presentation, b.) that I am real, and c.) that my wife looks good at 61 years old.

 

 

[austin1972 629]

Jiff, my Mom and me. Good to see you're a skinny fuck too.

 

[Ed Lada 5,108]

4 hours ago, austin1972 said:

Jiff, my Mom and me. Good to see you're a skinny fuck too.

 

 

A good looking group.  You have that 'gentleman farmer' look for sure.  

Not nearly as skinny as I used to be.  When I was in my early 20s, I was 6'5" and weighed about 165 on a good day.  When I was a young teen I was a bean pole, very long legs, very long arms and nothing else.  My friends said I could stand sideways, stick out my tongue and I would look like a zipper.   

Nowadays I work hard to stay at a reasonable weight, ~225-230, and that's what I weighed when I left the Army 25 years ago.  I think that's pretty good being that I'm 64 years old now.  Except now maybe the weight has been redistributed.  I feel an an obligation over here to let folks know that not all Americans are 'super sized'.

[Jiffy B 21]

On 12/4/2019 at 3:38 PM, Ed Lada said:

You're welcome.  I figured you would bring a partner, no problem, love the name. 

To further entice you and Jiffie;  We had Argentine beef tenderloin with blue cheese sauce and grilled shrimp, with salad,  veg, and pureed potato, coffee and cake for dessert.  Since I brought the wine which was excellent even if St Emilion wines usually have a high percentage of Merlot, the Cab Franc gives it some backbone, the bill came to less than $80.00 total, including a good tip.  Yes, that isn't a typo, I told you it was inexpensive, some of the food and the labor costs are low.  The tenderloin is by far the most expensive thing on the menu  Tipping isn't expected here, but I brought wine so I tipped about what a bottle of their house wine would cost.  The 25 long stemmed roses and the vase were just a little less than the cot of the meal!

I'm in the bottom photo, my wife on top.  Oh wait, this isn't Instagram?  I just wanted you to see:  a.) the food presentation, b.) that I am real, and c.) that my wife looks good at 61 years old.

 

 

It is too bad this did not work out, Austin1972 has been talking about going to Croatia for awhile now.  And I am sure he would have loved to meet you and your wife. He also LOVED good food and wine.

[Ed Lada 5,108]

7 hours ago, Jiffy B said:

It is too bad this did not work out, Austin1972 has been talking about going to Croatia for awhile now.  And I am sure he would have loved to meet you and your wife. He also LOVED good food and wine.

I am sad that we couldn't meet you and Matt.  

If you ever get over this way, let me know.

[tekton 1]

Jiffy B... my condolences for Matt's untimely passing. I wish you healthy grieving and Peace. 

I always liked his words and posts. He was clearly a thoughtful person with multiple passions and accomplishments. More strikingly, he and I are the same age. I've viewed my days a bit more proactively since his death. 

[woodtick 32]

Hi Jiffy B.. I never met Matt, he must have been a very special man. I hope you get some sense of relief from your pain by how respected he was here, as evadent. You yourself must be special too, my respectful condolance, heal quickly, and smile with your memories.