We live in a mass-produced, disposable culture. That is an unfortunate truth. Things are built cheaply, and are made to be replaced. I find this mentality discordant to the craftsman's mindset. At the time of writing, Spindlecraft is a one-man shop. While many businesses out there will try to use words like "we" to make them seem bigger than they are, I put up no false pretenses. I am a one-man shop, and I choose to embrace this. This may mean that I cannot fulfill massive orders overnight - but it also means that every single product I sell is hand made, hand inspected, and personally examined. No automation. No assembly line of machines. Just me, making each product one at a time. Products that are well-made, personally ensured, and designed to last.
Technology is a great thing. In fact, it is a very important part of this business. However, as we all know, too much of anything is rarely a good thing and technology is no exception. As the owner of this company, I began to realize that the large majority of my life was being spent in front of a screen. Woodworking was my escape from that. Creating products that were tangible. Real. Physical. Capable of being handled. When so much of life these days is experienced through a screen, I wanted to create products that were intentionally physical. Products that cannot be truly experienced through a screen. Products that pay tribute to simpler times and still work as well as they always have: sometimes even better than what modern technology can offer. At Spindlecraft, we embrace the physical and the timeless, and use this value as a guide for all of the products that we create.
Have you ever owned anything that you just loved showing people and talking about? Maybe a favorite pair of shoes, a favorite shirt, or even a new gadget. That is what I strive to create at Spindlecraft. Products that beg to be seen, shown off and talked about. It has been said that a persons favorite topic of conversation is themself. If that is true, then the products we buy reflect our own tastes and personality. So naturally it feels good then when somebody compliments us on something we own, because it is a credit to our good taste and refined sense of beauty. As such, one of our leading core values is to help everybody show the world their own sense of style and good taste by creating products that you will love showing off and talking about.
A forest, in and of itself, can be breathtakingly beautiful. Nature is so strikingly complex, and there is so much beauty within that most of us are never even aware of. We tend to recognize beauty in the big things: a beautiful sunset, a breathtaking view from a great height, or a masterful painting. Unfortunately, we too often overlook the fact that there is beauty in even the smallest of things. An old decaying branch from a tree long dead for example. It might not look like much on the surface - but when stablized, turned and polished, that old decaying branch can be turned into an unexpected work of art. I find it inspiring that God creates beauty in even the smallest of details. In places that most people will never see or notice. I think this is the heart of a craftsman: putting painstaking effort in details that people may never know about. And at Spindlecraft, I can think of no higher calling than to reveal this beauty for people to appreciate and reflect on.
At the end of the day, if the products I create are not products that people love to use, then I have not done my job. In our lives, we all have those products that we actually look forward to using. The products that feel substantial and valuable in our hands. The products that we find ourselves staring at just to admire them. This is my goal with every product that passes through my shop. To create something that the owner will love to use, and continue to reach for as their tool of choice.
One of my true passions is creating custom pieces that will have special meaning to their recipients. If you want something custom made, I am more than happy to work with you in coming up with something you or a special someone will love. To get started, fill out the form, or send me an e-mail at info@spindlecraft.com.