Be Good at Your Craft and Savvy About Making a Living at It
SPECIES FEATURED IN THIS ARTICLE: Hawaiian Koa, Chechen, Red Mallee, Amboyna, Redwood
FIND INFORMATION ON THIS AND ADDITIONAL SPECIES AT WWW.IWPAWOOD.ORG
Ray jones began his professional career as an aerospace development engineer with the marquardt company in van nuys, california. After a few years of big-city, fast-lane living, jones quit his job as a rocket scientist to become a full-time wood craftsman.
“It was hard to make that leap,” he said. “but the appeal of being my own boss, choosing where i wanted to live, being in control of my own destiny made it right for me. There is a real work-to-reward relationship in this kind of work when you can see something you’ve created at the end of the day.” jones also credits the influence of a former boss, a mentor who gave him confidence in working with his hands.
Jones began making various small items: clocks, rolling pins, desk accessories, and boxes. “boxes were particularly interesting to me because there is both the wood and the mechanical aspects. Also, there is a good market for them,” he explained.
Meet the artist
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Jones makes his boxes entirely of wood, including the hinges, fasteners, latches, and drawer slides. He designs all of his own boxes and makes the plywood for turned boxes by hand from selected veneers. He uses no stains or dyes but finishes each piece with multiple coats of a mixture of linseed oil, polyurethane, and mineral spirits to protect the wood and bring out its natural color, texture, and resonance. “there is no need to manipulate wood colors because there are so many colors and figures in nature,” he said.
Jones estimates he has made some 16,000 boxes and worked with more than 100 species of wood in his 40 years as a professional wood craftsman. Hawaiian koa (acacia koa) is his all-time favorite species because of its exquisite color and unique figuring. Koa is rare and pricy however, so he often works with other woods with curly, quilted, or pommele figure. He also uses burls, such as chechen (metopium brownei) from mexico, red mallee (eucalyptus oleosa) from australia, amboyna (pterocarpus indicus) from southeast asia, and redwood (sequoia sempervirens) from california.
OMEGA BOX BY RAY JONES
From time to time he uses found wood. “We would be on vacation, and I’d spot something by the side of the road, or on a river trip and I’d find interesting pieces of driftwood. I was fortunate to locate a source for found wood including Indian Rosewood (Dallbergia sissoo), Lysiloma (Lysiloma), and Cuban Mahogany (Swietenia mahogani) in Florida after Hurricane Wilma,” Jones said.
Ray Jones Website
https://www.rayjoneswoodboxes.com/
Jones sells his work at art shows and galleries around the country and makes annual trips to the St. Louis Art Fair, the MAIN St. Fort Worth Arts Festival, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival near Miami, and others. He has won numerous awards for his boxes. Since moving to Asheville, North Carolina in 1990, he has become part of a vibrant community of artists, the Southern Highland Craft Guild, that includes potters, weavers, jewelers, glass blowers, and artisans of various other media.
“I’m glad I got into it when I did,” Jones said. “It’s a changing world. These days you need to be good at your craft and also digitally savvy so you can make a living at it.”
You Can Follow Ray Jones Woodcrafts on social media.
https://www.instagram.com/rayjoneswoodcrafts/ https://www.facebook.com/RayJonesWoodboxes/
Frequently asked questions
What was Ray Jones's career before becoming a woodworker?+
Ray Jones worked as an aerospace development engineer with the Marquardt Company in Van Nuys, California. He left that career to become a full-time wood craftsman, drawn by the appeal of being his own boss and seeing tangible results of his work.
What is Ray Jones's favorite wood species for making boxes?+
Hawaiian Koa (Acacia koa) is his all-time favorite because of its exquisite color and unique figuring. Because Koa is rare and pricy, he often works with other figured woods and burls as well.
What burl woods does Ray Jones use in his boxes?+
He uses burls including Chechen (Metopium brownei) from Mexico, Red Mallee (Eucalyptus oleosa) from Australia, Amboyna (Pterocarpus indicus) from Southeast Asia, and Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) from California.
What finish does Ray Jones use on his wooden boxes?+
Jones uses no stains or dyes. Instead, he applies multiple coats of a mixture of linseed oil, polyurethane, and mineral spirits to protect the wood and bring out its natural color, texture, and resonance.
How does Ray Jones construct the hardware on his boxes?+
He makes his boxes entirely of wood, including the hinges, fasteners, latches, and drawer slides. He designs all of his boxes himself and makes the plywood for turned boxes by hand from selected veneers.
Where does Ray Jones sell his handcrafted wooden boxes?+
He sells his work at art shows and galleries around the country, including annual appearances at the St. Louis Art Fair, the MAIN St. Fort Worth Arts Festival, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival near Miami.