Cynthia White

Short Essay on Curtis Carter By Cynthia White About 715 words It’s not unusual to find inspiring examples of great woodworking: wood burnings that come to life, intricate carvings, meticulous dovetails, or clever homemade jigs. If, however, the woodworker is a 21-year old working out of his parents’ garage, that’s when I’m likely to snap my head around for a double-take. I had the good fortune to come across Curtis Carter from St. Catherines, Ontario, two years ago when I was researching workbench designs. A friend recommended to me some videos that Curtis had uploaded to the internet showing the new workbench he was building. The workbench was not only a custom design—a cross between Roubo and Scandinavian styles—but Curt had also made his own square pop-up bench dogs, his own wood screws and nuts for the shoulder vise, and he appeared to be working out of a small space with limited tools. He says, by the way, that his workbench remains his favorite project to date, mainly because he looks at it and uses it every day. I got in touch with him and started asking him an unending stream of questions. Not only were his woodworking skills impressive, but he was kind and generous with his knowledge. This was when he was 19. So how does a young man like that acquire such skills? Well, that’s not entirely clear. Curtis says that he took up “fine” woodworking at the age of 17. He worked for a short while at his uncle’s cabinet shop, but when I asked if he had a mentor, he said, no, “I taught myself through the internet and books”. It’s been four years since Curt started woodworking—he’s 21 now--and now he has not only demonstrated a gift for flatwork, but he has also dabbled in wood burnings, turnings, and carvings. In contrast, after two years of woodworking, I could boast knowing how to change the blade in my table saw. Curt clearly has an artist’s eye and sensibility. He told me that when he was younger he did a lot of pencil drawing, and he never understood how he knew how to draw because he’d never had a lesson. He said he always liked building things out of anything he had to work with including cardboard and duct tape. He said that in drawing he always pays exceptional attention to detail in order to capture everything, and he applies this same attention to detail in his woodworking. When I asked him about his inspirations in woodworking, he said Japanese woodworking, Western traditional cabinetmaking, and Krenov’s work in particular. The recent Windsor chairs he made by hand taught him about woodworking with curves. He recommends this type of chair as a great project that is challenging and rewarding. Now, he’s immersed in instrument making. While he is currently working on a banjo and a ukulele, he hopes in the future to make a violin and a cello. When asked what advice he would give to new woodworkers, he said he recommended saving to buy good quality tools—even used ones—to avoid buying the same tools twice. He also suggested getting all the basic hand tools which teach you how wood works and feels and give you a better appreciation of the bigger machines. Curt is apprenticing to be an auto mechanic and does his woodworking on the side. He prefers having a separate and different career because in that way, his woodworking can remain a pleasure for him, and he doesn’t have to worry about earning a living from it. Every time I see one of Curt’s new projects, I shake my head in disbelief. When a lot of young people I know are spending their free time playing with their smartphones and going to bars, here’s a young guy working with limited tools—many of which he made himself, like hand planes and marking gauges--out of his parents’ one-car garage and cranking out Windsor chairs in his spare time. Curt may have some innate artistic talents, but he has also spent many hours, virtually all his free time for four years, honing his woodworking skills. There’s a lesson to be learned here, at least for me: I need to spend less time on Facebook and more time in my shop. A lot more time. See Next Page Note to Rob: Blurb Cynthia White lives on Vancouver Island and hopes Curtis Carter will be vacationing there soon, so he can help her with her bookcases.