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Despite my Southern friendliness, I have bit of a mean streak.
On Thursday we visited George Walker‘s home and workshop in Canton, Ohio, to shoot some photos for his upcoming articles on furniture design for Popular Woodworking.
We scouted the first floor of his house and looked at a very nice tall case clock he built, plus a drop-dead gorgeous secretary. Both are in kicking tiger maple (Mr. Walker has a tiger maple monkey on his back).
When we met to pick a project to feature in the photograph, I chose a nailed-together pine boot bench with a routed heart-shaped cutout on either end.
“This piece would nicely show off your ideas about whole-number ratios and column orders, don’t you think?” I asked.
“I was just taking that piece to the curb,” Walker said.
After that wild piece of hilarity, Walker showed us around his shop in his basement. The workshop’s centerpiece is a Frank Klausz-inspired workbench and a wall of hand tools. Walker, a long-time woodworker, uses surprisingly few machines. He has a 1949 Delta Unisaw, a lathe, a drill press and a planer out in the garage. Everything else is hand tools.
As Art Director Linda Watts and Photographer Al Parrish worked on setting up the photos, I shot a few other photos of Walker’s cozy shop, shown below.
My favorite workshop accessory: A faded upholstered easy chair.
“What shop doesn’t have a chair like that?” Walker asked.
I now know what my shop at home is missing.
– Christopher Schwarz
Linda and Al working on a test image.
Some of Walker’s planes in the cabinet behind his bench.
Walker’s hanging tool cabinet.
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