Madrone is a native West Coast tree. It has a scaling bark that is red, green and shades of beige. Its leaves are bright forest green. Its berries are enjoyed by band-tailed pigeons. Last year we had some madrone trees begin to die on our land and we asked Homestead Milling and Logging to log and mill the large diameter trunks. At the sawmill we evaluated each log and discussed how to cut it to provide the best boards for furniture. It is a wood that is not considered to be a commercial species and hence is “rare”. This wood […]

One of the joys of creative work, of any kind, is the chance to collaborate. A good collaboration leads to startling results as you are forced to modify and improve your own ideas through the creative filters and work processes of someone else. And on a personal level, a good collaboration is an opportunity to deepen and strengthen a relationship. Last November I was lucky enough to accomplish both of these things when we completed a table with our neighbor, land-partner, friend, award winning wood sculptor, and my godmother, Holly Tornheim. Holly and her husband Bruce Boyd were two members […]

Words by Robert Erickson. After 45 years of experimentation we have settled on a few select woods for our unique back support design, which we affectionately call “The Floating Back.” The flexibility and durability needs of this design have required us to delve deeply into the inherent qualities of various woods, and one thing is certain: all woods are not created equal. Some have gorgeous figure, some gorgeous color, some gorgeous grain. These aesthetic qualities are what we look for when choosing the wood for our chair seats, arms and headboards. Other woods have less figure, but have knot free, […]

When I joined the family woodworking business as a partner last year I was confronted with a legacy. My father’s rocking chair design—a contoured chair with moulded joints in a lineage that included Danish designer Peder Moos and California builder/designer Sam Maloof—had been around for over 30 years and was in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum. Up against that kind of history I wanted to do something that would make the design at least partly my own, and so the Living Chair was born. The idea was to take my father’s designs and reinterpret them in a new […]

When: November 15, 2014, 9 AM to 3 PM, rain or shine. A picnic lunch will be provided. Where: Meet at the North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center on the San Juan Ridge This event is a chance to get out into the woods and work together as a community to do fire protection around some beautiful, old-growth trees on the San Juan Ridge. Afterwards, we will be holding a picnic lunch at our shop, followed by an optional tour of the facilities where we take local, sustainably harvested hardwoods and process them into luxury furniture. This event is a special […]

We slabbed the California walnut log yesterday and today we are preparing the wood to go into a drying shed built specifically for this tree. The slabs will be so heavy that we had to build a special foundation to support their weight. This photograph gives some sense of the scale. Robert Beauchamp, our partner in this operation, stands on the left.

It’s hard not to like a guy whose eyes well up when he talks about pushing his spirit into his tools, but who also gives a very man cave thumbs up when discussing his beer fridge. David Stine is a man well expressed through his furniture. They’re both held together by the tension of opposites: burly and lithe, lush and minimalist, rural and sophisticated. His whole slabs with live edges leave you in awe of the tree that was. I’m on assignment from my son (and new business partner) Tor, to sit down and talk with Dave about woodworking. At […]

Thank you to everyone who helped to spread the word about Erickson Woodworking over the past week. It has been inspiring and humbling to see the breadth and depth of support from our friends, family, and patrons. Almost 3,000 people signed up in just seven days to make the event a tremendous success. For us this promotion has been a way to connect with our community—a community that was integral to the success and story of Robert Erickson Woodworking, and a community that we are now asking to stand behind the next, multi-generational chapter, Erickson Woodworking. As the different stories […]