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woodezine - Volume
III - Issue X - OCTOBER 2005
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John John Crouse is an industrial arts graduate of the Oswego, New York campus of SUNY, with graduate credits in woodworking and furniture design from RIT. |
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| He operates a workshop and studio in Wolcott, New York, where he designs and produces custom cabinetry, fine furniture, and lathe turned bowls and accessories. |
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John has been an exhibitor in crafts
shows throughout the Northeast, showing and selling his work at Amercan
Crafts Council fairs in Baltimore (Maryland), Rhinebeck (New York) and
Springfield (Massachusetts). His work has appeared in the 100 American
Craftsmen exhibition in Lockport, New York, and in the Ohio Designer
Craftsmen fairs in Columbus. He also has exhibited at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art's Fine Craft Exhibition. At left is one of his exquisite
lignumvitae bowls.
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| John has taught woodworking and industrial arts at the junior and senior high school levels in suburban Rochester. Below are three more of his lignumvitae turnings. |
| John's interest in wooodworking dates back to the early 1950s when, at the age of 13, he bought his first table saw. His love for the medium, appreciation for the inherent qualities of wood, and his understanding of the tools and equipment necessary for the production and finishing of his woodwork is evident in the beauty and functionality of his pieces. Below are three of his laminated bowls, a set with a tapered design. The piece on the left of this photo awaits a finish. |
| Below are a pair of his bamboo bowls. The concave one on the right has wenge strips, and the convex one on the left has Walnut strips. These pieces are unfinished. |
| "I don't have a fancy chuck for my lathe," John told Woodezine. "I screw the back of the lignum vitae to my face plate, and turn the bowl with a Revere-type bottom. When I'm done, I turn it over and put it on a wooden face plate. Then I bolt a plywood ring over the bowl and turn the inside of the bottom, which removes the screw holes. I think I came across that idea at Fundy National Park in New Brunswick (Canada)." |
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John once worked for a company that made cases for Hamilton Clocks and Seth Thomas clocks. He worked on specialty mantle clocks - short runs, 100 to 200 at a time. There, he learned a lot about making and using jigs. And he did "a lot of work on a big, old, mean shaper with a couple of 1-1/2" diameter spindles that were turning at 7,000 rpm. FUN!" Pictured below are two views of a 5" x 9" laminated concave walnut, maple and cherry bowl. |
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At left is a 4" x 8" spalted maple concave bowl, and below right is a 4" x 8" bamboo convex bowl. John gets the bamboo from plywood scraps and the end grain looks like it's quartersawn. He glues narrow strips together to attain this unique look. |
| Below are an assortment of John's bowls awaiting their finish. As you can see, he is quite prolific. And the bottom photo shows some of his lignumvitae blocks. He has a substantial inventory of these and might be willing to sell some, if anybody is interested. |
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This is a fairly rare species nowadays.
According to our copy of "A
Guide to Useful Woods of the World", it grows in Florida, the
West Indies and parts of Central America. It's very oily and extremely
heavy, and its grain is wavy and irregular.
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| The wood is used for bushings on ships' propellers, bearings in clocks, mallets, bowling balls and, of course, turning. There may be some restrictions on its export, as it has been designated an endangered species. You can contact John at the e-mail and postal addresses listed below. |
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Contact the Artist... John Crouse Visit him online at http://www.designsinwoodbyjc.com Or send John an e-mail
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