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-430 michael lewis <michaell@m...> 1970‑01‑01 Bio
On Mon, 27 May 1996 
John DeLapp wrote.....

Hi and Welcome to Michael Lewis!
Tell us more 
What sort of a 
When did 
What sort of 
How old was 
What is your 
What sort of 
Do you guys 
What is your 
John DeLapp

(The instructions say snip liberally....)

John & all....

Wow...that's a lot of questions to answer at once. Let me give the (not so)
short answers to most and will be glad to fill in the details as time and
space allow.

As said, I could write a book about Max, and probably will. He came to the
US shortly before WWII. He wanted to see the Pacific Ocean, so got on a
train in New York. When he got to Sacramento, he fell in love with the
trees, which you (John D) will understand, being from Davis. He never turned
dowm work of any kind, provided he could do it with integrity, so there was
an incredible variety. He was old as dirt when I knew him (probably my age)
and I would guess in his 70's when he passed.  He taught me both how to
build and how to repair furniture. The latter has given me the privilege of
working on many very fine pieces of antique furniture.

The shop was a post building with a tin roof, about 30x60 with windows on
three sides. It was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. We heated with
a wood stove which I maintained and frequently burned myself on. The fire
was never out in the wood stove, year round, as we kept glue warm there. We
had an old, I would guess 12 or 14 inch table saw, huge bandsaw, left handed
and probably acquired from a butcher, later a power joiner, no dust
collection and three benches which Max had made. We used the third bench for
layup and gluing, primarily panel frames and had many jigs for that. One of
my strongest memories is of the smell of that shop, a mixture of hide glue,
wood and Camels, and in the morning, coffee, strong, and bitter, as the
Germans like it.

Max never had a telephone and lived in a house adjacent to the shop. He
probably understood steel as well as he understood wood and had a small
forge adjacent to the shop under a leanto where we stored wood. He never
bought anything he could make, which was most things. Somehow he also
maintained a huge garden which fed him and his wife most of the year. Frugal
was an understatment. We did not have a  Starbuck's. He chain smoked
Camels....are you there,  John G...?

The new shop is the pits, if you want to know the truth. Entirely too small
for the tools I have, which has meant replacing some good tools. I will make
furniture of my own design, adaptations of traditional pieces including
Shaker and Amish which I admire.  I love clocks and can paint glass, so will
probably do a few of those. I have a good library, have been drafting many
years,  and will never have the time, in  my life, to get to the bottom of
the many drawings and plans I have developed.

I do not have a business plan for the first time ever. I don't recommend
that for everybody, but it works for me. (another lesson from Max ?). I will
supplement income from furniture by doing some restoration. I have both
AutoCad and a large plotter, which allows me to do full size drawings of
more complicated work and is a good resource for design income. Truth is,
there are not many real furniture designers around, (that I'm aware of) and
they certainly don't teach architects this discipline. So, local architects
and antique dealers will keep me busier than I really want to be. Like Max,
I rarely turn down work, provided it interests me..Developing plans for
others is always a challenge given the many experience levels out there.
Most folks will not take the time to jig up or do what is necessary to cut
properly. For me, this is not about a hurry, but to the contrary, a final
statement about myself which others may grok.

Most important, is the significant other and kids. Bobbie and I will
celebrate twenty-nine years of her putting up with me this year, with three
good kids, Trevor, 24, Rebekah, 17 and Kevin, 8. Yes, we finally figured out
what was causing it.

Sorry for the long post, guys & gals...

Michael Lewis
Seattle, WA


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