♪♪♪ >> There is more than one way to leave a legacy.

For some, it means plaques, monuments, and halls of fame, but for others, legacy comes from a place more simple.

>> Snip off the ends.

♪♪♪ We're building a tepee shape.

>> The Ford F-150, a proud supporter of "A Craftsman's Legacy."

♪♪♪ >> Today, I'm in Kentucky visiting Mark Whitley.

Mark's a studio furniture maker who has a unique approach to forming wood.

Now, I don't know a whole lot about bending wood, so I'm pretty excited to learn from him.

>> Hey, how's it going?

>> Good.

I'm Eric Gorges.

>> It's nice to meet you.

Come on in.

All right.

♪♪♪ A craftsman battles for perfection, never willing to give in or walk away.

I'm Eric Gorges.

I build custom motorcycles using skills passed on by countless generations before me.

I used to work 9:00 to 5:00, chasing money and titles, and it nearly broke me.

So, I started over.

I decided to work with my hands to feed my soul.

Please join me on a quest to uncover the skills that built our society.

We'll discover what drives the men and women who I call my heroes.

We'll learn their craft and maybe even find some inspiration along the way.

There's a part of you in everything you create, your legacy.

"A Craftsman's Legacy."

♪♪♪ >> Well, I grew up in a little shop close to here, and woodworking was just something that I always did.

I didn't know it was a career or a hobby or anything else.

It was just when I got up on Saturday morning when I was 8 or 9 years old, I went to the shop, and I made stuff.

>> So you learned from a really young age how to appreciate tools and how to use them properly?

>> Right, because I wasn't allowed to use power tools until I was about 12.

So I had to learn how to use all the hand tools -- that weren't sharp -- we didn't maintain them properly.

>> Okay.

>> So, I was sort of hacking away at it from an early age.

>> Did you always stay in Kentucky?

Did you move out of Kentucky at any point in time?

Did you...?

>> After I got out of high school, I ended up in Southern California at Chapman University.

So here I was.

I had not been out of Kentucky but a few times.

And I packed a backpack, grabbed my guitar, and moved to Orange, California.

>> And what were you going to study?

>> My degree is in peace studies.

>> Peace studies?

I've never heard of that.

>> It's sort of a political science degree with a wide-range study of world religions.

>> Oh, that's pretty fascinating.

>> It still has a big impact on my world view and just, in a lot of ways, the way I approach my work because that time in college exposed me to a lot of parts of the world, and I was sort of taking in the aesthetic of the places where I was visiting.

And I found it popping into maybe a chair or a cabinet, you know, 20 years later.

>> Where did you go once you graduated college?

>> I went to Montana, and I had a job in a little church there.

After I left Montana, I came back to Kentucky, sort of my tail between my legs, wondering what to do.

I thought, "Well, I can make stuff."

I went to work in a little factory that built store displays.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> But I was punching that clock, you know, at 6:45 every morning, and that was not the life I wanted.

And so, with no money, I just moved back to Smiths Grove, Kentucky.

Dad had a little hardware store, and he had a little back room.

It was so small that I would have to carry a board outside and turn it around and carry it back in a lot of times.

But I built a lot of furniture in that shop.

>> Did you?

>> Yeah.

I worked in there for four years.

Once I discovered the studio furniture side, the side of the furniture world that you can put three months into a piece of furniture, the side of the world that said it's okay to have a great reverence for the material, then I'd found a home.

>> Was there a particular book that brought that enlightenment to you?

>> There was.

A James Krenov book called "The Impractical Cabinetmaker."

>> That's a wonderful book.

>> I'm one of many, you know, that found those writings and changed the course of my life.

>> Yeah.

He changed a lot of lives.

>> Just made sense to me -- that great satisfaction from taking something that's rough and raw, and being able to take it through the 50 steps to get it to something that's beautiful.

I just...I want to live a peaceful life, and I want to add things of beauty to the world.

And that's really my only two goals.

It's never been about making money.

The money comes, you know.

People will support you.

I always have a theory that if the world wants you to be doing it, the world will support it.

And you just have to do your best and put your best work out there.

>> That's a great way to look at things.

>> It's...

It takes a whole lot of stress away.

>> I bet it does.

>> It's about making something that will last for generations and it being right.

>> Do you think much of your legacy in that regard?

>> [ Sighs ] Yeah, I do.

I think about every piece that leaves here.

And I want it to be...

I want it to be as good as I can make it that day.

So the legacy is, this portfolio continues to grow.

It's been 16 years now that I've done this full-time.

I do about, you know, 10 or 12, 15 pieces a year.

And so each piece has a great deal of weight.

>> So, how do you see yourself?

Do you see yourself as a craftsman or as an artist?

>> Well, for my whole life, my work space has been a shop to me, although to the people I deal with, it's a studio.

>> Right.

>> You know?

I always feel like I walk that line of a deep connection to the craft world to make things with your hands, to get dirty, and to create things, but then also seeing that I've not always connected well with other furniture makers.

A lot of times, I feel I have far more in common with sculptors that are drawing a form out of a blob.

To me, I can see the piece of furniture spinning around in my head in a line drawing just like if you 3D modeled it on a computer.

That's what I see.

>> It's pretty neat the way you describe yourself in that you relate more to an artist, a sculptural artist, because you use a lot of curves and organic shapes as opposed to square boxes.

>> Oddly enough, I use about three curves... >> Yeah?

>> ...over and over and over again.

>> Like a 96-inch radius or... 42 or...?

>> I use a 42-inch radius.

>> Yeah?

>> And that radius will show up on almost everything I build.

>> Yeah.

Well, it's working for you.

>> It's working for me.

Yeah.

>> So, what do you think we're going to make today?

>> We're going to make a table, a twist table.

>> Oh, very cool.

>> Yeah.

>> That'll be fun.

>> Yeah.

>> In his book "The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking," James Krenov wrote, "Let us know our wood as we do our hands and work with it in common respect and harmony."

This reverence for the materials and the process were the cornerstones of what became known as the American Studio furniture movement, which emerged in the 1940s.

The American public had tired of the mass-produced pieces that marked the 1920s and '30s, and was hungry for hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind pieces made by craftsmen in their own personal studios.

Wharton Esherick was considered the dean of this movement during his lifetime.

An exhibition featuring his pieces was seen by tens of thousands of people at the 1940s World's Fair.

His ability to fuse artistry with craftsmanship helped to change the way consumers thought about furniture making.

Another notable figure of this movement was George Nakashima, whose furniture was inspired by the natural beauty and shape of the wood.

In his workshop, the soul of the tree was celebrated.

Mark Whitley's intricately sculptured, one-of-a-kind pieces demonstrate that the philosophy of furniture making celebrated by the masters of the Studio movement is still alive and well.

So, this is what we're here for.

>> This is going to become a base for a table I call a twisted table.

>> Okay.

And how long did it take you to get to this point?

>> So, I do it over the course of a couple of weeks.

There's a lot of waiting for glue to dry in this sort of a design.

>> How do you go about making it, though?

How do you get the wood to twist like this?

>> Well, these are bent laminations, so I'm taking a big board, and I'm slicing it up into thin boards.

These are from 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick.

That gives the wood a great deal of flexibility.

Using the right glue and the right clamps, I can make these furniture parts out of these thin strips.

>> [ Chuckles ] Nice.

Nice.

No steam at all?

>> No steam at all.

Steam gives you a lot of spring back, and with these, I know exactly what the wood's going to do.

>> So, can you show me how to make this piece here?

It's got a crazy compound twist to it.

>> Yeah, that's one of the most fun pieces because the wood will take the bend, and we'll be able to re-create the technique it took to make that one.

>> All right.

Well, let's get busy!

>> Okay.

♪♪♪ >> I've got a urea formaldehyde glue here, and it is catalyzed with this powder, so we need 2 spoonfuls of this into the glue.

>> That looks like cocoa powder.

>> It looks like a milkshake when you mix it up.

>> Say, "You don't want to drink this."

>> You don't want to drink it.

[ Chuckles ] >> Now, we've got seven pieces of laminate here?

>> Got seven pieces of laminate.

We've got a foam roller.

The foam is perfect for applying the glue 'cause it gives just the right thickness.

So, a nice, flat spoonful.

I could almost do a cooking show.

>> You think so?

>> I believe so.

>> Put two of those in.

>> Oh, two of them?

>> Yep, one more.

>> I can do a cooking show.

>> There you go.

The beauty of this stuff is it's not terribly picky of how you mix it.

You just have to get some catalyst in.

>> Okay.

>> Then we're going to take the stick, stir it up.

So we've got the glue mixed up now.

>> Okay.

>> We're going to... What I want you to do is pour a bead of glue like this down the board.

We take the roller.

And we're just saturating each strip.

♪♪♪ >> Now, is it important to, like, really, really cake on the glue?

>> No, you just want a good smooth coat.

You don't want too much glue.

>> Okay.

>> You can go ahead and take over from there.

So, after you do one, take a strip and flip them over.

This keeps them in order.

I've found that you want to keep the strips in order of how they came out of the board because then they all have the same characteristics as you bend them.

>> All right.

>> If you mix them up, you can have one strip that goes way off to the side.

>> That makes a lot of sense.

Is that all right?

>> Yep, that's good.

>> All the way down?

Or just about there?

>> About there.

Once you get glue in the roller, it gets a lot easier.

>> Okay.

♪♪♪ >> Some pieces I do might have a dozen or 15 strips in them.

That's when you really have to work fast.

You have about a 20-minute open time with this glue.

>> That's not too bad.

>> It can be pretty short when you're working alone.

>> Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I bet.

♪♪♪ >> Okay, so that's all the glue.

>> All right.

>> Now, I usually take some masking tape... >> Okay.

>> ...and get them all stacked nice and neat.

>> Just on one end?

>> Yeah, just one end for this job.

Now, what we've done is I've laid out where my base point is, so I know that with the table top, that it's going to hit the table top here, and what swoops up to the floor is going to be about in this position.

>> Okay.

>> So we're going to clamp one end of these strips... in here, so we're going to crank that down tight.

Now, this is the fun part.

We grab the strips.

It takes a bit of nerve, too.

>> Oh ho ho!

Look at that!

>> Yeah.

Go ahead and stick that clamp on right up there.

>> Do you want a block on it?

>> That would be great.

Go ahead and crank that down pretty snug.

Okay, not too tight.

We've got to loosen it later.

>> Okay.

>> I'll show you why.

So, the wood's going to kind of rest where it wants to be.

Sometimes I have to get another clamp.

>> Sort of keep that in position?

>> And I can drive this end.

>> Oh, okay.

Okay, I see what you're doing.

>> See how you can pull it around there?

>> Yeah.

>> Now we'll just let that sit there.

Then you're going to take a clamp, two blocks.

>> Uh-huh.

>> You're going to start right here.

And this is the part where you have to work quickly, but don't get in a hurry.

>> Okay.

Every couple inches?

>> Yeah, every couple of inches.

>> It's got to be sort of hard, doing this by yourself.

>> Well, through the years, I've learned how to do just about everything in the shop by myself.

>> Yeah?

>> And clamps are my best friend.

They can serve a lot of purposes, you know, holding the other end.

>> Sure.

>> Or just being able to stabilize things.

>> And then how long is it going to take for this glue to set up?

>> It takes eight hours before it's really dry and rigid and ready to use.

>> All right, and then when this is ready to be unclamped, where are we going to go from there?

>> Well, we're going to have a blank, and then we're going to start smoothing it out, trimming it up to a basic kind of a size, and then fitting it into the rest of the legs we've already made.

>> Well, let's sit and watch glue dry.

>> [ Chuckles ] Yeah.

>> [ Laughs ] ♪♪♪ So, there are some jagged edges here where the laminate's shifted a little bit in the glue-up.

>> Yeah.

It kind of makes a stairstep.

So first thing we got to do is get it smooth.

You can just use a nice little handheld belt sander.

>> Okay.

>> So we'll go ahead and get this smooth, and then we'll be able to move on to the next step.

[ Sander whirring ] ♪♪♪ >> I'm guessing that's not tea.

>> It's not tea, but it's close.

>> Looks like it.

>> I'm going to show you how to ebonize a piece of wood.

>> Okay.

What does that mean, ebonize?

>> Turn it black.

Not just kind of black.

Like jet-black, like permanently.

Ebonizing has been used in the decorative world and in treating wood for centuries.

It's basically a steel wool pad, a quart of household vinegar, and you put the pad in the jar of vinegar, don't tighten the top, and let it sit about three days.

And it completely dissolves into basically an iron oxide solution.

>> Get out of here!

>> Yeah.

It's cool.

>> Huh!

>> So it just gobbles up that steel wool pad, and so that's our most efficient iron delivery.

>> Okay.

>> It's like a nail in a barn.

Makes a black streak.

>> Right, right, right.

>> So the other thing that we need to make it work efficiently is tannic acid.

>> Okay.

>> Now, that occurs in most every kind of wood, some more than others.

Today, we're working with cherry, so we need to add a little tannic acid to the surface of the wood.

>> Right, right, right.

>> That makes the reaction happen a lot quicker and a lot more vigorously, so it'll really turn it nice and jet-black.

>> Oh, fun!

>> So it's real simple.

You want to make sure your wood's smooth.

And the one thing you don't... You don't want any burnished surface.

So you want a nice freshly scraped or sanded surface.

>> Okay.

>> So you take this rag.

>> Yep.

>> Put it in here.

Squeeze it out.

And just put a nice coating of the tannic acid solution on there.

>> On the whole thing?

>> On the whole thing.

♪♪♪ And you don't have to be neat.

You're just getting the surface wet.

>> What would it look like if we just let this dry out?

>> It would look like cherry.

>> Yeah?

>> It wouldn't do anything to the surface.

>> Wouldn't do anything to... >> No.

>> ...the color of it?

>> And you have to have the catalyst of iron to make it change color.

>> Sure.

>> So as soon as you're finished putting that on, I'm going to get my iron-soaked rag ready.

You don't want to let it dry out too much.

>> Okay.

>> Now I'm just gonna start, and it'll start changing color real quick.

>> Oh, look at that.

>> As soon as the rag hits the surface, the reaction starts.

>> Wow!

♪♪♪ >> A lot of times, this process has to be done a couple of times.

Obviously, the water will raise the grain... >> Uh-huh.

>> ...and leave you with a rough surface.

So a lot of times, after I do it once, I'll scuff-sand the surface just to get that raised grain down and then go over it again.

And then the second time, you've got...you're left with a really nice, nice smooth surface.

Now, what we've got to do now is just let that set for a few minutes, and it will continue basically to oxidize and turn black.

>> Wow.

That is crazy.

>> And it doesn't stink.

>> No.

>> It doesn't hurt you.

It's just...

It's a good way to turn stuff black, and the other thing is, when you use stains, sometimes you have to worry about the light fastness.

You know, is it going to bleach out in a few years?

>> Sure.

>> With this stuff, you have a lot more assurance that that's just not going to happen.

>> It's pretty cool how fast it's working.

>> Mm-hmm.

It'll take about 15 minutes until the surface dries.

>> Yeah?

>> And then it'll turn almost a blue-black color.

♪♪♪ >> Now, this is the bottom of the table from earlier.

>> That's right, and about all that's left to do is permanently attach it to the tabletop.

>> So, this is the real tabletop that you're going to use.

>> Mm-hmm.

This is a piece of ambrosia maple.

I was able to reclaim this lumber from a tree that blew down in a storm.

>> So, how long ago did you cut this top out?

>> I cut it two years ago.

>> Really?

It takes that long?

>> Mm-hmm.

I let it air-dry for about a year per inch of thickness.

>> Wow.

>> And for a small tabletop, air-dried wood is just fine.

>> I didn't think it would take that long.

And this is the leg that we did together.

>> Yeah, really similar to this one.

>> Yeah.

>> And most of my tables will have some sort of a full twist in them.

>> Why are the sheens so different, though?

Like, this is real matte looking.

>> Well, yeah.

I've clear-coated the legs that we'll be using.

Just helps with glue squeeze-out to clean stuff up.

>> I gotcha.

I gotcha.

So, what can I do to help you here?

>> Well, we'll get these out of the way.

We'll put some glue on, and we're going to temporarily screw these in position, let the glue set, and then we'll put some dowel pins in for permanent.

>> So you pull the screws out, replace them with dowel pins.

>> That's right.

>> I like that you don't use any, you know, screws in your work.

>> There's no metal fasteners.

>> That's nice.

I like that.

♪♪♪ >> Brush is handy for this.

>> Yeah.

>> We can just brush it around.

It doesn't take a lot of glue.

>> Now, are you being careful not to, like, get it so close to the edge that when you compress it, you get a bunch of squeeze-out?

>> Yeah.

I don't want a whole lot of glue to have to clean up.

But it always squeezes out.

>> But you just want a little.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah.

>> Now I also need to put a bit of glue... >> On that dowel?

>> ...on the dowel here.

>> Now, what about the bottom of this one?

Do you worry about that, or no?

>> No, I'm not worried about that for this type of assembly.

>> Okay.

>> Put that in there.

Now bring the other set of legs over.

>> All right.

>> Position them underneath there.

>> Like that, right?

>> Mm-hmm.

♪♪♪ >> Do you want to hand me that screwdriver?

>> Sure.

And you just want to snug 'em up.

>> Okay.

So, how do you go about designing these legs?

Like, where do you start?

>> It can be really hard to decide where to put everything, you know, where the movements are and how the... what's going to give the table grace and movement.

That, I find, can be the part that I just can bend stuff into position, temporarily clamp it, and stand back and take a look at it from the other side of the shop until I have it right.

>> It's pretty amazing how much time this takes.

You know?

>> It's a whole lot of head scratching in these jobs.

>> [ Laughs ] I bet.

I bet.

All right, so we gotta let the glue set up a little bit.

>> That's right.

We're going to come back in a few minutes, and we'll permanently attach it.

Then we're going to flip it over, put some finish on top, and see how pretty it really is.

>> All right.

I think now's a good time for a cup of coffee.

>> Yeah.

♪♪♪ >> Oh, look at that!

>> Yeah.

Turned out really well.

>> Man, that is just sweet looking.

>> It looks like iron, doesn't it?

>> It sure does.

I love those curves, man.

That thing looks great.

>> Yeah.

>> It's beautiful looking, man.

Thank you so much for having me out.

>> Thanks for being here.

>> I had a great time, dude.

♪♪♪ I'm a lucky man to have spent time with Mark Whitley.

The story of his personal journey reminded me there are always multiple solutions to any problem.

I've long appreciated the ability to manipulate wood with steam, but I enjoyed the discovery of another option.

I hope to use that technique myself one day.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ >> There is more than one way to leave a legacy.

For some, it means plaques, monuments, and halls of fame, but for others, legacy comes from a place more simple.

>> Snip off the ends.

♪♪♪ We're building a tepee shape.

>> The Ford F-150, a proud supporter of "A Craftsman's Legacy."

♪♪♪ >> To discover more about "A Craftsman's Legacy" and the craftsmen we feature, please visit our website.

And you can also follow us on social media through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

♪♪♪