“I do love the smell of wood. All wood does something: it reacts differently, cuts differently, smells differently.”
Photo by Cyma Shapiro
To Matthews resident, Ryan Watkins, owner of “RAW (his initials) to Reclaimed Woodworking,” each piece of lumber, each piece of wood has a story to tell. “You can [often] feel the history of the wood,” he says as he looks around his new 2000 square foot warehouse (4002 Matthews Indian Trail Road) with wonderment and pride. On this day, he’s looking at pieces of ash, maple, walnut, oak, and antique pine.
As he’s working with these pieces, he says, he imagines the pilots standing around smoking cigars – a recycling of history and of raw materials, now used in another place and time.
Photo by Cyma Shapiro
He’s most proud of the 1840s pine planks resting in his shop, which came from Minnesota after being torn down from a barn originally used for WWII glider pilot training. As he’s working with these pieces, he says, he imagines the pilots standing around smoking cigars – a recycling of history and of raw materials, now used in another place and time.
“I do love the smell of wood. All wood does something: it reacts differently, cuts differently, smells differently,” he said. For Ryan, utilizing all his senses when creating something out of wood gives him both fulfillment and purpose. It is now also his undeniable passion.
In 2017, Ryan hung up his Matthew’s Fire Department captain’s uniform and fireman’s gear for the last time. With 17 years on the force, he was tired, injured and in need of a Plan B. He had a wife and two children; their well-being was foremost on his mind.
Although Ryan had always tinkered with his hands and with materials like wood, about one year earlier, a designer-friend asked him for his help with some small custom projects. This would be a weekend and night’s project.
Photo by Cyma Shapiro
Later that same year, he was offered the opportunity to make 24 table tops with oak veneer plywood, for a South Carolina group opening a restaurant. He was game, but only had his 250 s.f. of work space in his garage. A scramble to find an appropriate location landed him in his new warehouse and his new life-path was soon carved out. Joined by his wife, the office manager, this became a team effort.
Photo by Cyma Shapiro
To Ryan, using both new and reclaimed wood, recycling has become a metaphor for starting over.
“Taking a pile of lumber and turning it into something, that’s where the satisfaction is,” he said. “A lot of it is to put it on the workbench and see what you can do with it.”
He is working hard and diligently to chase his dream. “I’m nowhere near the peak where I want to be,” Ryan said, adding that he watches other long-time woodworkers who are successful and is following their lead. “We’re going to grow; we’re going to reach for the stars. Watch out IKEA!” he said with a laugh.
We’re watching.
