By Whit Wallace

Many collegiate students have some hidden talents or hobbies that are not discovered or talked about too often while at school. For example, Charlotte Smith (’22) has some extraordinary skills at baking and decorating cakes, which was highlighted in “Cakes to Share, Cakes to Char“ in The Match in June.

Collegiate junior and Match contributor Slate Lambert (‘23) has another one of those hidden hobbies. Lambert is an avid woodworker and a skilled artist when it comes to crafting tables, cutting boards, desks, nightstands, and even duck calls. Lambert first began experimenting with the Shaker woodworking style in 2016 after discovering a series of youtube videos by a multitude of channels, including Jay Bates and The Wood Whisperer.

A duck call made by Lambert during fall 2019.

Shaker-style woodworking originated from English settlers in the New World in the 18th century and eventually became known throughout the New England settlements and states for its high level of craftsmanship and skill with joinery. Instead of using screws or nails, Lambert uses many different forms of joinery and focuses on joining parts of wood using different shapes; think of Lincoln Logs, but far more advanced. This allows the completed product to have a far more natural look, especially because Shaker usually focuses on using non-treated and chemical-free wood throughout the project. Traditionally Shakers would use maple, ash, white pine, or birch trees and allow the natural shapes and colors of the wood to shine. Lambert uses many of the same materials but also makes things out of “foreign woods, such as mahogany.” He also loves to use local trees and leftover wood from antique houses that would otherwise go to the junkyard. 

A cutting board made by Lambert.

In 2017, Lambert opened his shop, Barrington Woodworks. His first few sales included cutting boards, which were relatively inexpensive and easy to make. After that, he sold his first handmade table and a console table for a TV. Lambert’s shop is located on his family farm, nearly an hour and a half from Richmond, outside of Warsaw in the Northern Neck of Virginia. It is a closed-off, well-lit room, and it is filled with discarded boards, sawdust, tools, and many saws, all of which serve a different purpose as Lambert practices the complex, yet elegant, the art of woodworking. 

“The hardest part of every project is selecting which wood to use,” Lambert said. “People hate going to the lumberyard with me because I can spend hours just rummaging through the piles looking for the perfect piece.” Lambert doesn’t paint or stain his wood, which means each piece must look perfect before he takes it into his shop. “I’ll grab a piece and look at it from multiple angles, and in different lighting. It’s sort of like looking for the perfect Christmas tree… Sometimes a piece can look terrible, but once I bring it back to the shop, it’s the perfect piece.” It can be quite a harrowing and time-consuming experience. Lambert also goes to Caravatis, a shop that takes banisters, railings, and even floorboards from abandoned houses about to be wrecked. Lambert often finds parts of banisters or railings to use as legs for his nightstands and desks. Once Lambert finds the perfect types and shapes of wood, he takes them back to his shop to begin their transformation from trees into fine art.

Lambert’s favorite project, his homemade desk.

Lambert said that once the wood arrives in the shop, “the first two tools it will see are joiners and planers.” They are used to redimension the lumber into the proper sizes and clean it up, by making sure there are no hidden knots. After being properly sized and vetted, the wood goes to the table saw. Lambert called the table saw “the heart of the workshop; nearly 60-70% of all projects need a table saw.” 

Lambert’s shop in the Northern Neck. Everything he makes goes through an extensive process here.

After facing the table, saw the properly-sized lumber will go to the lathe. A lathe is very similar to a pottery wheel for ceramics, just with wood instead of clay. The lathe has two spindles and a motor. The wood will be fit between the spindle and the tailstock quill of the lathe, and Lambert will use gouges and other lathe tools to shape the wood. After the wood has been cleaned up, properly dimensioned, and any designs have been cut, the parts must all be assembled. Due to the lack of screws and nails, “the assembly of the parts uses extremely large amounts of wood glue” Lambert said. The parts all fit together like a puzzle and are glued together, and another masterpiece has been created. 

Lambert’s favorite project was making his own desk. It’s made up of Lambert’s two favorite types of wood: a walnut base with an outstanding curly maple top. Lambert said his favorite thing about his homemade desk is “the breathing curves on the desk came from the tree naturally, I didn’t have to carve them in there.” It took him a few months to build, and he worked in segments, as opposed to getting it all done at one time. 

While Lambert’s woodworking is a hobby, his homemade projects are actually for sale on his Etsy page. Currently, he has two cutting boards and a stunning chessboard for sale. Lambert plans to continue to craft new projects and further develop his woodworking skills.

All photo credits: Slate Lambert.