David Knittle

David: I am a full-time professional woodworker. My wife, Cathy and I live in beautiful Northern Vermont. We have four adult children (three boys and a girl) living throughout the USA. We enjoy hiking, kayaking, camping and fishing, which are a few of the reasons that we settled in Northern Vermont. My hobby is creating and caring for bonsai and I also occasionally teach classes on the subject.

I became interested in woodworking while on a construction project in 1982. A cabinetmaker was hired to build cabinets and doors onsite and I volunteered to assist him. When the job was over, I decided to start building custom furniture.

My early work was influenced by Sam Maloof and I attended a few classes that he taught. I later met George Nakashima and became fascinated with Japanese woodworking. Around the same time, I developed a keen interest in bonsai and oriental art. As my hobby grew, bonsai artists began asking me to build display stands for their bonsai and related art, such as viewing stones and sculptures.

Over the years, building bespoke display stands developed into a large percentage of my work. During that past seven or eight years, it has been all that I have had time to build!

Beginning in 2003, I took a few years off and worked as the operations manager for the Flexcut Carving Tool Company. My good friend, David Bennett founded the company and asked me to help him when it grew too large for him to manage on his own. When David retired and sold the business, I went back to woodworking.

The first piece I built was a Cherry end table. My favorite piece is definitely my stand for displaying five small bonsai. The posts and frames are made from Indian Rosewood and the panels are Morado, which is sometimes known as Bolivian Rosewood.

I love working with wood because it is so variable and versatile. Density. movement, graining and color all play their part. My work is designed to enhance the object being displayed upon it. Choosing the right wood to accomplish that is wonderfully rewarding.

James Krenov and Sam Maloof influenced my early work and later on I became more influence by George Nakashima. I spent a lot of time studying oriental furniture in museums.

In 2010, I was most fortunate to spend three days studying under Kunio Kobayashi when he was in the US. He is one of the instructors at the Katayama School of Keido in Japan. This is a school that teaches traditional Japanese display and it has helped me dramatically in my work.

Information/Interview found at Rare Woods USA Woodworker Sessions Series.