Ted Golbuff is a woodworker who has
also designed studio furniture for a public radio station. That kind
of furniture requires "bass traps" meant to absorb low
frequency sound waves in order to improve acoustics. "One of the
popular ways to do bass traps is with slats," Ted said. "I'm
influenced by a lot of slats in what I do -- I've always been
interested in parallels." For instance, he's done some shoji
screens, and some of what he calls "hockey
stick furniture."
Some of that material, such as maple
slats, might come from contractors' castoffs. Starting a couple of
years ago, "With the economic crisis, contractors were doing
what they could to make ends meet" -- which meant that Ted could
find some of their supplies on eBay and Craigslist. "I'm trying
to keep costs as low as I can, to sell to people who couldn't
normally afford" the types of pieces he builds, he said.
Also, Ted said, "I'm in a
neighborhood that loves recycled things." In his building, that
might mean redwood from an old fence turned into a side table, or
tiles turned into tabletops or planter stands. Another recycled fence
turned into a screen cover for an air conditioner compressor. "I
put stained glass panels in it so it's real interesting, rather than
real mechanical," Ted said. Or, since Ted originally got started
in woodworking due to repairing and making things -- tables, trays,
etc. -- for his boat, and has continued to work a lot with teak,
recycling might mean using the extra teak from his saw cuts to create
serving trays or plant stands.
He has also built a client a dining
room table using "zip-code based wood" from Wood from the Hood, a Minneapolis-based urban lumber reclamation program, and has a
pending project for the same client from a tree they had taken down
in their backyard. "For me, that's the classic example of
something that has a story," Ted said. "You can say, 'This
was in our backyard, and show pictures of the tree before it was cut
down.'"
"I try and expand every time I do
something: try a different joint or technique, think outside the box:
challenge myself," Ted said. He does admit, however, that some
projects are "about buying special tools" -- and that he
has 
specifically taken a class at a local college in order to have
access to their larger machines.
Working in a one-car garage (the car
now lives outside), Ted faces space challenges which, he says, make
cabinet type projects difficult. He sees the purchase of tools for
that shop as investments. For instance, Ted said, "I've done a
lot of sewing in the past, so I bought an expensive commercial grade
sewing machine. It's paid for itself many times over, since it will
sew whatever I run through it" -- such as leather, for covers
for the outdoor benches he makes.
His most recent specifically
woodworking tool acquisition was a track saw. "I think it's the
best thing since sliced butter," Ted said.
As he makes projects with that saw, "I
strive for multipurpose: if I can get some device to do more than one
thing, that's always my challenge," Ted said. Portable redwood
panels with stained glass insets are more than yard decor for
one
photographer client: they also serve as movable backdrops for outdoor
photo sessions.
Another challenge Ted has set for
himself is to use as much wood as possible -- ideally, using up the
entire piece of wood. He demonstrated this ideal in a "Surfboard
Table" project: the table, made from hackberry wood, is shaped like a surfboard. Ted used the
portions of the "tail" that were rounded off to create that
shape to create the table's legs, and a tray with additional scraps. "I essentially used every
piece of the wood," he said.
When it comes to woodworking, "for
me, it's about a full-time career, and a full-time discipline,"
Ted said. "It really makes me excited when I see happy
customers."