Craftsmen go with the grain

Larry Martin worked to the whirring music of a lathe as he used his

fingers to rub polishing wax into his latest woodworking project.

Martin used a small white cloth to buff the spinning maple, which

was in the process of becoming the lid to a small wooden box. When he

finished, the wood was still warm from the friction, and the polish

gave a slight gleam to the various shades of brown that ran through

curved lines and spots in the maple burl.

On a tree, burls are a misshapen growths. For a craftsmen, they

are “little gems of the tree,” Martin said.

Martin worked on his project with other members of the Orange

County Woodworkers Assn. on Tuesday at the Orange County Fair’s

visual arts venue. When the lid was ready, Martin set to work on the

rest of the box, using a gouging tool that spun on his lathe to

hollow out another piece of wood. The wood seemed to turn to liquid

as the metal tool dug into the block of maple. As he worked, wood

shavings flew onto Martin’s green jacket, which was already spotted

with sawdust.

A few fairgoers stopped by to watch Martin and his fellow

woodworkers as they demonstrated their craft to the public.

Woodworker Ross Gilroy encouraged people who passed by to pick up and

touch the group’s handmade wooden bowls, rattles and goblets that

were on display, rather than just look at the handicrafts.

“These guys are incredible,” fairgoer Brandon Slaney of Costa Mesa

said as he checked out the display.

He was impressed not only by the quality of the work, but their

materials.

“I’m just amazed at some of the pieces these guys have,” Slaney

said.

About 90% of the group’s projects are made from donated materials,

woodworker Ed Straub said. The group often receives donations of

woods, such as mahogany, oak and walnut, that would otherwise end up

as factory waste. Landscapers have also helped the woodworkers score

raw materials.

“When we hear a chain saw running, we run to see what kind of tree

is coming down,” Straub said.

Despite various offers from visitors, the woodworkers don’t sell

their goods, but Straub said a child may wind up the lucky owner of

wooden clay roller if he has the right look in his eyes.

Last Christmas, woodworkers donated handmade toys to children.

Currently, group members are participating in the Freedom Pens

Project to make wooden pens for military personnel in Iraq and

Afghanistan.

Tuesday, Straub used a tool called a tapered reamer to carve out

holes in a piece of wood that was on its way to becoming a stool

seat. The tool consists of a piece of metal housed in a slit cut into

a narrow wooden cone. The metal barely emerges from the cone, which

has two handles that make a T shape at the cone’s thicker end. Straub

used both hands to twist the reamer through the seat, the metal

digging through the wood.

Straub prefers old-fashioned hand tools because power equipment

makes too much noise to let him listen to the radio as he works.

“I can listen to jazz music at the same time,” he said.

Woodworkers in Straub and Martin’s group have been at the fair

since opening day and plan to make a showing until the fair closes

Sunday.