About

Blackwater Woodworks is a small art and design studio by artist and craftsman Rick Laufer. It strives to create functional wooden objects that accentuates the natural beauty of the trees that grow in the area.  Each piece unique, works of art, signed and dated.

The work has appeared in many articles and books.   These include The Taunton Press Custom Furniture Source Book: a Guide to 125 Craftsman, by Kerry Pierce; Custom Woodworking  magazine ; 500 Chairs, published by Lark Books.  The studio has been featured in Woodshop News, and is a past finalist and winner of the prestigious Niche award for the blackwater library chair and for the Cooks Tablet Stand, issued by Niche Magazine.

Over the past 20 years the studio furniture has been featured in various art craft shows and exhibitions including the Philadelphia Fine Furniture Show; the Crafts at the Castle in Boston; the Washington Craft Show; the Paradise City Art and Craft festival; the Longs Park Arts Festival; and the American Craft Council Baltimore event. The work has been shown at the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville NC; the Artful Hand Gallery in Boston; the Wood Merchant Gallery in Washington State; The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft; the Target Gallery in Alexandria VA; the Chair Show 4 exhibition sponsored by the Southern Highland Craft Guild.

Design

“Every piece of furniture begins with a sketch.   I'm looking for form and flow and ultimately how a piece feels.   In a chair particularly, angles matter.  If the front leg is too high, the chair won't feel right.  If the back doesn't tilt right, it  won't work.   If its too blocky, it just won't look right.  An arm has to flow out of the leg,  with a consistent line.  The crest has to flow from the back legs.   The spindles have to echo the curve of the legs.    The intersection of the back support and seat is critical to the the ultimate feel of the chair, and the hardest to get right.   We've all sat in chairs that were too upright, with little or no back support.  I test each piece I make for proper fit, and make adjustments as necessary”. 

The wood for each piece is carefully selected to match figure, pattern and grain, using the best kiln dried local hardwoods available.  

Construction

Every piece of furniture is made in the studio, from the milling of the rough timber to the final finishing.   The finish is a natural handrubbed oil wax blend that imparts a beautiful lustrous sheen.

Mortise and tenon joints are used in most pieces.  When possible the joints are precision cut with computerized cutting tools  and then hand fitted.  Several of the chairs use a modified "Maloof" notched rabbet joint reinforced with a floating tenon.

To create curves in chair arms or crest rails the wood is often cut and rejoined at angles with splines or tenons. The curved bench for example starts with a single block of 8/4 wood that is cut in two and then rejoined at an angle using both splines and tenons.s.

The seats for the wood chairs are made from single 2 inch plank of wood about 10 feet long.  Using one board ensures that the grain for the seatplanks will match. To make the seat, five 24 inch blocks are cut from the plank. The block edges are cut at a 3 degree angle, then rejoined with small tenons.   The resulting board is about 22 inches wide and 3 inches thick. It is then sculpted into a seat, with sanders and chisels and rasps and ultimately smoothed to about 400 grit.

Each piece is signed before it leaves the studio. 

Questions?

If you have any questions, please call (410) 847-4267.  Or easier still send an email to: rl1@blackwaterwoodworks.com.