The Short Bio of Bill Cummings
Member of Art League Of Germantown MD since 1987.
I have been a woodworker since my introduction to it by Sister Mary Joseph
in a Jr. High School sloy (woodworking) class. Diversions along the way:
a stint in the Coast Guard and a career servicing IBM mainframe computers.
But I’ve always had a woodworking project going. I’ve had
no formal training but have read extensively about furniture construction
and design. My uncle left me his hand tools when he passed away. Every
time I open his toolbox I sense his spirit from the aroma of the work
he did three quarters of a century ago. His tools are just as good today
as they where when he used them and I use them almost every day I’m
in my shop.
My goal as a woodworker is to create the feel and patina of the early
American woodworkers. The early craftsman left a surface that seemed to
have a feeling of depth -- a patina created by time and the early building
and finishing techniques. You can see the tool marks left by the scribe,
the plane, and the saw. All leave their distinctive mark on the finished
piece. You won’t find that in modern factory made furniture.
I do not reproduce others’ designs. My original pieces are greatly
influenced by the Shakers of the 19th century and the Craftsman movement
of the early 20th century. Other influences in my designs are the works
of Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who influenced Wright.
Like their furniture, my work is usually finished with a few coats of
Tung oil and then a few coats of hand applied carnauba wax. Tung oil and
clear wax preserves the beauty of the wood, protects and makes the wood
feel alive and breathing when touched. Tung oil and wax also is easy to
repair if the surface is damaged by water or burn marks. Tung oil and
wax ages to a deep patina sought after in all fine furniture. However,
pieces that will be subject to extreme use will be finished with a polyurethane
water based finish.
My techniques create a finished product that could have been made any
time in the last few centuries. Turned segments are left with minute lathe
tool marks and imperfect tapers, no two tapers are exactly the same. Dovetails
are created in part by power tools but designed just as the early craftsman
did. All wood joints will be made with dovetail or mortise and tenon connections
or some other appropriate secure method. I do use modern day glue that
will last a lifetime.
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