MotC: Carl Swensson – The Experimental Woodworker
Carl Swensson's woodworking skills go very, very deep. But they go wide as well.
Sep 23, 2016
*Web Producer’s note – This was originally posted May 27, 2015. In an effort to keep these slideshows future-proof we are converting them all to YouTube videos. This will only help to bring this incredible series to a whole new audience.
Carl Swensson’s woodworking skills go very, very deep. But they go wide as well. Since 1980, when he saw traditional teahouse builder Makoto Imai give a demonstration in California, Swensson has been immersed in Japanese woodworking. And he has learned the craft well enough to have been invited to build doors for a Zen Buddhist temple in Japan and a presentation box for a contemplation stone given by President Clinton to the prime minister of Japan.
But Swensson, who works in a basement shop in Baltimore and calls himself “an experimental woodworker,” is constantly seeking new challenges. While continuing to make pieces in the Japanese vein, he has also learned the techniques of green woodworking-building Appalachian ladderback chairs with traditional European chairmakers tools-Swedish carving, English pipe-organ building, and Swiss coopering. This slide show gives a brief tour of Swensson’s career, and a sense of his remarkable mastery and versatility.
Comments
This man is a true master.
An inspiration to us all, Thank-You, Keith.
Love to see more on his methods and classes. Fascinating.
I was fascinated by his skills and also have been learning the techniques used in Japan. Would love find out more about his classes in Baltimore as I live fairly close in SoMD.
GOD BLESS YOU, máster.
If the Japanese are asking this guy for doors and other frame units, then he's gotta be pretty wonderful at what he does! Whoever commissions work from this guy had better not hide the pieces in storage!
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