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Masters of the Craft

Pro Portfolio: Hank Holzer and Judith Ames: Labor of Love

Jon Binzen, senior editor

35 users recommend

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Anyone who has tried to make a living as a woodworker knows it helps to have a spouse with a real job. For Judith Ames and Hank Holzer, who are husband and wife and also shopmates, that has never been an option. Since they met 25 years ago, both have been full-time furnituremakers.

It has helped that they live in Seattle and have long been members of the Northwest Fine Woodworking Gallery, a co-op founded in 1981 that has helped make Seattle one of the premier places in the country for custom made furniture. 

Holzer and Ames have worked in group shops throughout their careers. Several years ago, after their long-time shop was damaged in a fire, they designed and built a new shop, which they now share with half a dozen or so other woodworkers. 

The new shop is featured in this audio slide show along with outstanding examples of furniture by both Holzer and Ames. Holzer describes his zig-zagging, cantilevered Akira chair and related pieces, which feature an unusual application of the spline miter joint. And Ames discusses some of her furniture decorated with marquetry and inlay.

To contact them or see more of their work, go to their website: www.holzerames.com

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Comments (6)

sk2tobin writes: He says in the article that the joints used in his akira chair are spline miters. If you search FWW website there are plenty of articles to show you how to do them. The splines are pretty straight forward, The tricky part is the slight curve in the chair.
Posted: 8:01 am on February 17th

bobmaus writes: I could use a thousand words to describe how I feel with this. But why bother when one word does the job : "Inspiring".
Posted: 10:45 am on December 22nd

fatboy03 writes: where can I get intormation on the joints used in the chairs.
Posted: 7:22 am on November 6th

EmileEssent writes: Beautiful! What exactly is the joint used on the Akira chair ?
Posted: 8:16 am on May 19th

Hot_Yoga writes: This furniture is AWESOME! How do I find out where to get some? I lOVE the Akira zigzag chair.
Posted: 4:10 pm on August 4th

Blues 4 Life writes: Wonderful article! Quite inspring for a serious hobbyist that I am. Thanks.
Posted: 7:08 pm on August 2nd

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