Since 2016
About
Makers Woodshop
Makers Woodshop started about 8 years ago as a dream, a desire, to create woodwork that is both beautiful and unique. Something that would not only be pleasing to the eye now, but that would stand the test of time. Not mass produced, but truly inspired pieces that are one of a kind.
who we are
Meet our team
our Vision
Jason Dawson
our artist
travis Thomas
He has the amazing ability, talent, and patience to find the best coating and finish for every piece he puts his hands on. He takes the time to do things right every time. Whenever you see Travis work it’s obvious that he is passionate about what he does. He is also the master of finishes. He has spent hundreds of hours experimenting with various finishes and how they interact with each other to best compliment any wood surface he is working on.
our Brains
Myrthe Dawson
She is the smart one. If you see a unique design that you just have to have, she probably came up with it. She also handles our cad designs, our social media, and so many other things that the list would probably break the internet. One of these days we are going to get our giant wooden 3d puzzles area of the site up and running, and you will then be able to see her true genius.
our heart
Jonathan Weizman
Jonathan has worked with wood longer than any of us combined. He runs one of the largest bandsaw mills in Maryland, has the best truck, and knows how to rock a pair of sunglasses. All of our wood is slabbed on site and he is the one who does it. His passion for a beautiful piece of wood, expertly cut is unmatched.
Our Purpose
Mccabe Lowe
Mccabe has come up with some great designs for our product. He is always pushing the limit of our process to create new ways of doing things. He helps run the shop, everything would be worse without him.
our values
how we make a difference
OUR MISSION
To make beautiful lasting things out of large pieces of wood. Yeah, it’s a pretty simple mission. Oh, and to pay our bills doing it.
OUR VISION
Honestly, this was part of the web template when I started putting this site together. I am not entirely sure that woodshop needs a vision. As much as I would like to pander and say that we are focused on reducing carbon emissions by using wood condemned to the fireplace pile for our tables. But that isn’t really why we do this. Honestly, we just love working with wood, and each piece is a surprise.
QUALITY, EXPERTISE, LASTING VALUE
OUR SUPPLY
We secure our own wood and mill it ourselves on our custom 8’x40′ bandsaw mill. We take wood destined for the fire wood pile and slices it up for one of a kind slab work. None of our wood comes from trees cut down for their lumber. It is all sourced from trees that either fell down, or needed to come down for safety reasons.
OUR PROCESS
We take big, nasty logs, cut them up and let them dry. Then we flatten it with a huge router. Next we sand it, and fill it with grain filler, then we sand it alot more. Fill holes with epoxy if needed, then we finish it with the proper oil, poly, wax, or whatever the application needs, then we photograph it, and try to sell it. Pretty straightforward.
OUR quality
From dining room tables, to dry bars. We can make a table that not only functions as a flat surface for you to put stuff on, but also incentivizes you to clean up a bit. Don’t forget about desks, mantles and coffee tables, we can do those to.
You have questions. we have answers.
frequently asked questions
This is a common and logical question. Why should a table cost thousands of dollars? The reason is that every step of the process is very labor intensive and takes large, expensive machinery.
Let us take you through it:
The Trees:
It all start with the right trees. It takes very specific, old trees that need to be removed (due to it already being downed or in danger of falling down). We love trees and only use reclaimed lumber for our tables. The trees we select are also not good for use as dimensional lumber; they are often destined to become fire wood. We specialize in finding and finishing especially unique cuts of lumber. But until you open them up, you really have no idea what sort of coloring, spalting or other unique features it may have.
The Machinery:
After that, it takes a 8 foot bandsaw mill to cut these massive logs into slabs. The price per slab come out between $200 – $500 green. These slabs then have to dry for 2 – 3 years to be ready for finishing, or you can spend several hundred dollars to have them dried in a kiln, a process that still takes up to a year. Once the slab has dried to less than 10% moisture, depending on species, it is ready to be finished. We use a CNC Router to plane the slabs on both sides. After that we spend an average of 20 hours sanding the wood, sealing the grain, and filling any holes with epoxy. The epoxy we use costs around $100 a gallon. There is also the dye for the epoxy. Mixing containers, rags, silicone and tape, and boards to secure the epoxy as it is poured. And so much sanding paper.
The Finish:
Finally, depending on the type of wood, we use top grade natural oils such as Osmo, Odie’s or Rubio MonoCoat and several layers of wax to create that beautiful end product that is truly one of a kind.
The Legs:
A table of this level deserves some equally great legs to go with it. These range in price from $200-$500.
The Overhead:
But that’s not all. We also have all the normal costs of running a business, the boring bits. Insurance, electric, payroll, equipment purchases, profit?
The Marketing:
Making gorgeous tables is great, but unless people hear about them it won’t do anyone any good. This is not the kind of product that you typically sell to your friends and family; they are not Girl Scout Cookies. We advertise on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to get the word out there but pictures just don’t quite do them justice. To really understand how amazing these pieces are, you have to see them in real life; run you hands across them and feel how smooth they are. To really get people to experience our products we take them to trade shows which average around $2,000 for a space big enough to show off more than 3 of them. There is also the business cards, the brochures, the videos, the website, networking groups, photography, storage, etc.
To quote a gentleman who visited our booth at a recent show, “You have to keep doing this, you can’t quit, the world needs this!” The world needs beauty! The world needs excellence!
We’re just doing our part.
In a word… No.
Our tables are generally finished for indoor use. We use a high level oil finish, with multiple wax layers for a soft satin finish. The wax hardens over the course of the day after being polished, and protects the table from scuffs, water, and general use. It won’t leave ring marks if you set your coffee, or iced tea down without a coaster.
The great thing about the way we finish the table is that if something does happen to scratch it, or you leave it wet overnight and it stains, re-finishing it is simple. You simply lightly sand it (with 220 grit or higher sand paper) to remove the blemish, and re-coat it with oil, then wax. You don’t need to sand it back down to the bare wood like you would with a polyurethane.
