One of many things we love about artist/designer/craftsman/journeyman Max Lamb‘s work is that he ALWAYS has an unusual take on the practical AND he loves to reveal his process, offering in a powerful lesson in EMPOWERMENT.  This video shows him making a wood stool out of huge chestnut tree log he hauled home from Springfield Park, London. It especially interests us because we lugged home several fallen tree hunks on our trusty Magna Cart after Hurricane Sandy, then wondered what to do with them, having no access or facility with a chain saw. Fallen trees are a readily available raw material for a lot of people.

The big revelation from Lamb: you can fashion rough-hewn slabs and furniture parts out of fat tree trunk by using Steel Splitting Wedges, axes, hammers, a drawknife and a good amount of muscle and gumption.

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Once he fashioned the stool, it was sent to Wajima in Ishikawa, Japan to be lacquered by Hidetaka Wakashima, a master of traditional lacquer ware.

We’d love to make something like Lambs rough-hewn bench:

Now that we know how (roughly), we just might try…

Related posts: max lamb wants you to know how he does it so you can too
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