Residents of Wake Robin know that the Woodshop has a work order system. They will do repairs to furniture and assorted odd jobs. How odd? We asked Jim W. to tell us about some of the projects brought to them. Yes, they get the usual wobbly chair legs or a refinishing request but then it goes well beyond wood. “We’ve fixed a toaster, a pedometer, a bicycle, clocks, porcelain, and assembled plastic shelving. We cut down the handle of a toilet brush to make it the right size…actually that was wood,” Jim told us.
In addition to personal pursuits such as bowl turning, shelves, cabinets, and even a boat, the woodshop gang has also taken on commissions. Their work is in use at Sneakers restaurant, the UVM Book Nook, and Shelburne’s Pierson Library. Several of their pieces are on display around Wake Robin, too: the table outside the Meeting Room, the Humanities Committee cabinet next to the stairs, and the iconic icosahedron hanging over the main desk in the lobby…a 20-sided figure created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Wake Robin.
The Woodshop has a binder of their projects, a fun photo history of people and the work they have done. There are several photos documenting the journey of a particular tree that fell during Hurricane Irene in 2011. It was a large maple that Bob W. sawed into logs, and a flatbed carried it to Shelburne Farms where it was dried and milled into lumber. Those planks came to be stored at 35 Crabapple, and they are now in the shop as stock for new projects. The circle of life of one Wake Robin tree.
The Wood Shop at Wake Robin is here to do a repair, help you learn a new skill, or just make some new friends.
