Exquisitely crafted and designed wooden dresses are what Paul has been focusing on lately.  This clothing is made from incredibly thin cloth-backed veneer that is cut out into small shapes.  Then the small pieces are sewn together in a way that allows movement, kind of like scales.

Paul has won several national awards for this innovative use of wood, including the Grand Prize at the 2017 Craftys in New York and first place in Wearable Expressions at the Palo Verdes Art Center in Caifornia. It’s very cool!  I’ve always wanted to wear wood more than just in jewelry, but of course it’s totally impractical until you combine it with another flexible material.

Paul’s shop was primarily stocked with veneering equipment, including a Kirchfeld press that can apply 120 tons of total pressure.  There was a beautiful Martin panel saw with a digital gauge that was dialed in to be exact up to a very small fraction of an inch.  The tool in the shop that I found to be funny was a sewing dummy.  That was definitely the first time I’ve seen one of those in a woodshop!

Paul teaches marquetry classes internationally, and he is a master furnituremaker.  He showed us some of his earlier work that he still had in the shop, including a gorgeous flip-top dining table, a spinning cabinet and a pair of side tables.  He said he has almost always made multiples of the same design so that the cost could be kept down.  Once you’ve made one, you can easily make eight!

As well as teaching and making, Paul has a business selling kits for creating marquetry.  I recommend studying with Paul, if you ever get the chance.  He is very sweet, very busy, and incredibly knowledgeable.  In all of the work I looked at while visiting his studio, I did not see one mistake!  I don’t do marquetry, but if I did, I’d want to learn from master marqueter Paul Schurch!

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An LCD color display controls the machine. Some of its safety features include multiple safety interlocks, power fault protection that prevents the beam from activating after a power failure and a magnetic door switch that disables the laser, should the door be lifted. It also has a 2-1/2-in. exhaust port for use with standard, shop-style vacuums that are outfitted with HEPA filters to remove smoke and fumes. For heavy use applications, Next Wave Automation offers an optional inline exhaust with a charcoal filtering system.

Made in the USA, Next Wave Automation’s Moray Ready2Laser (model 20133) is available now and sells for $1,599.99.

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Tim Inman: Red dyes are classically light fugitive. It is nearly impossible to get a red that will last. Also, as wood ages, it has a tendency to turn brown. So, one thing coupled with the other yields the results you are seeing. Short of some Draconian efforts to get that red you like — efforts that will ultimately fail, given enough time — I suggest you just learn to enjoy the color you have. This brings to mind a memory: I once refinished a desk for a University of Wisconsin professor. It was a nice job, and I really appreciated the work. As a special “thank you,” I added a nice leather desk set for him when I delivered the piece. There were no windows in his office. The light was just ordinary fluorescent tube lighting. After only a few months, I got a call. When the staff cleaned his desk (this would lead us into another long story about how absent-minded professors need help!) they lifted the desk pad to dust the desk top. Guess what? Under the pad it was still the same red mahogany you show in your first picture. The rest of the desk was browner. They feared the desk pad was bleeding into the wood and causing it to turn red. Not so.

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