My turnings include both functional and artistic designs

RAYMOND PUFFER​

Artistic Woodturner

Artistic Beginnings

About me

I grew up in a small farming town in Vermont. My first exposure to woodworking was when I was ten years old. Our family was building a new house, and I jumped at every chance to spend time at the building site, and to pitch in whenever I could help. I cut down trees with an ax, I carried tools and materials for the carpenters, and I even got to help nail the sheathing on the exterior wall where my bedroom would be. I loved the smell and the feel of the lumber, and I got a great feeling of accomplishment in watching the house take form. In junior high school I thoroughly enjoyed wood shop, and while I was in high school I dropped out of Latin in order to serve as a teaching assistant to the junior high shop teacher. I was hooked.

We had an old storage building behind our house. I finished the inside with knotty pine paneling, and converted one end of the building into a garage for my International Scout. During the summers while I was in high school I would sleep in that old shed while I worked on a dairy farm and in my dad’s trucking company.

Following college (West Point) I spent a career in the Army, followed by a second career as a researcher and teacher at a leading engineering and research university. Over the past 60+ years I have developed my furniture building and woodturning techniques, and produced a wide range of functional and artistic pieces on commission. These pieces have included custom designed grandfather clocks and furniture, antique reproductions, and both functional and artistic turnings.

Now that I have once again retired I am able to devote more time to my love of woodworking. Besides woodworking, I also enjoy many other hobbies, including: bicycling; golf; classical music, country music, and of course 50s and 60s oldies; tending to my small apple orchard; and restoring classic cars. My current restoration project is a 1935 Caterpillar Model 22 Bulldozer. A change from my normal projects, but one that I am finding very enjoyable.

My Turnings

In all my work I try to find and present the natural beauty of the wood in a visually pleasing way. Below are just a few examples of my work, including hollow forms, segmented turnings, and natural edge burl forms. Please take a look at more examples of my work on my Photo Gallery page.