Candice Wagener
Jim Williams in front of a dramatic cross-section of walnut.
“I’m into benches and tables,” says Jim Williams, of his handcrafted pieces. “Everybody needs a place to sit and a place to eat.”
Williams, owner of Williams Woodworks, makes furniture from lumber that would otherwise go to the dump or get shredded. He discovered his joy of woodworking in a shop class at West High School.
After high school, Williams moved to California, eventually landing a construction gig in San Francisco. Later he moved to Chico and found himself helping to hose off houses in the Oakland Hills fire, then rebuilding the same houses. That’s when he discovered salvaging. He’s also worked on reconstruction at the Sierra Nevada brewery; there he started stockpiling leftover wood and using it for his own projects.
Even now that he’s back in Madison, many of his favorite woods come from California, including old-growth Douglas fir and Claro black walnut.
Modern pine table.
Williams has connected with a few Madison-area building contractors to get leftover materials like wood and steel. One of his favorite nearby finds was a whole tobacco barn, built in 1862, which workers unearthed below an old candy factory they were tearing down in Cambridge. Williams was able to procure beams made out of Southern yellow pine, trees that no longer grow in our area since they were overharvested back in the 1920s.
“I dig the history,” says Williams. He was especially excited about obtaining more Southern yellow pine, mixed with elm, from the floors of the old Royster-Clark building on Dempsey Road.
After the salvaging, Williams usually mills the wood clean and then either sells it as is or uses it to create his original pieces. While he prefers to use his own materials and designs, he’s also open to working with what his customers bring him. Prices vary from $300 to $3,600 for larger pieces.
“Each piece is unique, but most people can tell when it’s made by me,” says Williams, describing his style as “simple and sturdy.” Open on May 1 as part of Gallery Night.
Williams Woodworks
72 N. Bryan St., 608-514-2289, jwbenches@gmail.com, open by appointment
