Welcome to Medullary Ray

self portrait, Jacquelyn Smith Whether you make wooden spoons, modern coffee tables, or far out executive desks, being a woodworker is interesting work on many levels. We do work with dead plant material which has many challenges. It's a nice mix of technical, creative, deliberate and happenstance. Want to try it out? Take a class at a community center or college that has some tools and give it a shot. If you are fortunate there may be a woodworking school nearby. If you get serious here are a few pointers to keep in mind . . . Just when you are convinced you know most things about the work, something presents itself to show you otherwise. It doesn't really matter how long you've been at it. There are very few shortcuts. When you feel the urge, resist. What's the saying . . ."do it right, once". The resources we use do have a limit. Your life and energy are precious. What we create can carry on and inspire many if we are present and respectful of ...

  Woodworking is a brutally honest work. There are many truths in this life.   For me, the whining sound of a 10” carbide tipped saw blade spinning toward my face driven by a 3hp motor , is one of them. It is very real, tangible, and responsive. The number one thing to remember when running wood through the table saw is to hold the wood down flat to the table as you glide it along the fence. NEVER LET UP. Dust and particles are spraying at your face; chips of wood are beating at your stomach and chest. Never let up. Once you commit to the cut you must stay true to your course until you have cleared the blade. There is no room for wishy-washy indecision. It can be life threatening and certainly is limb threatening with every cut. Hold it down and push the board through without turning away.   When building, I have to do the same. Assemble and look over every aspect. Proportions, color, grain and texture either work together or fall short of intentions. ...

LIFE is FULL of NATURAL COLOR!  There's NO STAIN on this Outside Dine Table made from Reclaimed wood by Perfect45Degree The reclaimed wood in this gorgeous dine table has literally been around the world. It has crossed the mighty seas. Yes, somewhere around the globe someone cut down trees and milled this beautiful hardwood into 4" x 4" sticks so they could stack heavy railroad rails. They shipped the rails from the other side of the planet. Still an amazing concept for me when I visualize our globe and all of the land and water between me and the South Seas. Just think of all of the conversations that have taken place next to, over and under this wood. How many languages? Were the trees near a path or road? Somehow this wood has ended up here, in my town, for sale, thrown randomly into a plywood box as if it were Popsicle sticks. Five dollars each. 36"wide, 9'2" long (divided into four sections) with an angle iron base It was w...

Work is flowing in and out of the shop!  Here is a recent custom project I have been designing and building for an awesome client in Austin, TX. He wants to 'wow' his wife with this incredibly meaningful gift. Click here for more info about this piece Together they traveled to Scotland and saw the Kelpie tombstone below. We used this image for the main inlay in the top. Every bit of inlay supports the water horse and Celtic theme. I even carved the pulls like waves of water.  The box turned out beautifully! The Kelpie (water-horse) design on the top was inspired by a gravestone in Scotland: I hope it will hold her finest pieces and bring her peace and joy when she reaches into it at the beginning and at the end of each day.  Velvet lined drawer with walnut dividers . . . Made of Leopardwood, walnut and Maple and African Blackwood. hand carved legs accent this piece As my professor said "she is one very lucky woman". Enj...

Welcome to my blog about my life as a woodworker. I make gorgeous furniture and other useful things out of wood. Its not a lofty job, but I love merging creativity, skill and furniture. Please share this post in some way to help me spread the word about my work. I also provide many helpful links and ideas about marketing your own work. I have been in business most of my life. I began making cabinets, then building and renovating homes and now I am happily designing and crafting furniture.  Being a furniture maker is a perfect fit for me and business is starting to flow after a long grueling start up.  Businesses change all the time. We adapt to our current situation in order to grow or maintain or reduce, depending on what is needed for the best profit margin or other gain. In today's market I am constantly promoting my work in order to find clients rather than compromise the integrity of my work. Showing online is one way that woodworkers are trying to sell their...

Recently I was reminded of one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s most famous lines "I have a dream" . "So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream" Can you hear it? "It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream, I have a dream" . I hear it in my head just the way he said it, don't you? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking into one of those old fashioned microphones with passion and conviction and  eloquence. He kept repeating that phrase " I have a dream ". What would he say today? I was almost 2 when he gave that speech in August of 1963. No, I don't remember hearing the speech live. But all my life I have heard it in movies and documentaries and radio. Do you remember how you felt hearing his words, listening to his speech? He dared to challenge a long held institution to free a group of oppressed people. Do you recall feeling like your own dreams were within reach? If only it were possible...

Auto mechanics are fairly accustomed to people wandering into their shops with broken down cars or maybe the number one visitor is trying to find directions somewhere. I've done it, have you? In my wood shop I am pretty tucked away and if I have my doors shut it often means I'm concentrating! But occasionally I'll get a visitor. Woodworking is one of those things that many people are curious about. They like to look. Changing out a fuel filter is a bit less romanticized in our culture, wouldn't you say? One day I was busy working on the finish of my Mondrian Inspiration (the post right before this post) and in walks a computer engineer. She immediately was drawn to it, said how beautiful it was, loved touching it, and told me about how it reminded her of circuit boards. I could understand that even with minimal information about circuits. The next time she saw it we closed a deal on making a dining room table specifically with her circuit board designs. She has be...