We interviewed Cooper Denton, from Oklahoma City. Cooper's day job is in IT for a restaurant group. He began woodworking in 2020, and recently launched a website, Coop's Woodworks, where he sells some of his carvings. The business is still in its infancy -Cooper describes it as a hobby. You can check out his website at worksbycoop.com.
Tell us a little bit about how you got started?
I got into woodworking in 2020. Wood cost was at its zenith and little old me said, screw it, now's the perfect time for a new expensive hobby-right in the middle of Covid.
I had a double cabinet on the back wall of my garage, I started by removing the upper left quarter of it to make room for an 8sq workbench. I learned a lot, how to fail, how to almost make a dovetail, but I was hooked.
I removed the cabinets completely the next year (utilizing for scrap pieces of course) then proceeded to build a proper shop.
Over the course of a few years I had made my garage into a little shop, with a rollable table saw out feed table, a drill press and band saw, every little gadget I felt I needed.
Then I found a hand place at an old garage sale. Bought some river stones and got to work. I found that the hand work resonated with me. I picked up a spoon carving knife kit from Beaver Craft and a spoon making book, and this might sound weird, but I finally felt at home. Making my first spoon was an awakening, for the first time in my life I felt like I could do this for the rest of my life.
Well, after I got a bunch of draw knifes, spokeshaves, and gouges (as well as Kevlar gloves and more bandaids than I could count) I came across your site. Finally, a set of the tools I need at an affordable price. I have 3 sets now and they are fantastic.
I have begin carving light relief landscapes, among a handful of figurines. There is always something new to learn and I have enjoyed every second of it. I carve different types of spoons and have a website to sell them on. It’s a hobby that has brought me to a great place of satisfaction, even when I make that cut a little to hard and the piece shatters…its still all so much fun.
Tell us a little more about your carving experience.
I have been carving for a few years now, a few attempts at some figurines but more so spoons and spatulas. I was initially unaware of hand tools and populated my shop with a bunch of power tools that now collect dust. Found an antique planer and draw knife one day and restored them as best I could, it took a few months to hone any sort of sharp edge, but over time I figured it out and started carving walnut spoons initially. I find it very relaxing to get into a good piece and so I made a whole bunch of different spoons, then some spatulas. All from Black walnut, cherry, Oak, and maple. I like to hand them out during the Holidays plus they should all last a lifetime. I have tried my hand at some light relief carving and have found that to be another challenge to take on.
Is there a project you've completed you're especially proud of?
Yes, I took a scrap piece from the Rockler bin and free handed the text, then carved a sign and plan to slap it on my front gate.(another project) It’s the sign on Bilbo’s front gate “No admittance except on Party Business” I discovered that I also enjoy making signs and this one turned out great, your tools of course getting me across the finish line.
Are there any carvers who inspire you?
On Instagram, and only on social media could this happen, but a random Turkish carver Galipagirkaya. Its just a quality of work and a joy that soars above any language barrier. I wish to be able to create things of that caliber someday. Then there are all of the other similar carving accounts that I have also been inspired by but I can’t name them all.
What are some things you've learned about yourself as a carver or about carving in general?
I have discovered that there are levels of ‘finished’ to any project. There is a threshold that once you cross you begin to limit the artistic viability of a given piece. For instance, the painting with too much happening which ruins the composition or, in my case, making the head of a figure way too small by being hasty to take more and more material off. So, it’s a cute little pumpkin head figurine but that might just be a face ‘only a mother could love’.
That, and any project can break, at any time. It doesn’t care how much time you have spent trying to carve the leg on that bear, the legs gonna break with the right amount of torsion from the blade. But, I will get there eventually, its the process I enjoy.
What advice would you give someone just getting into carving?
Get kevlar gloves and thumb guard, or horse tape, something is needed. It’s all fun and games to get a few cuts (after all Beaver Craft literally puts a bandage into its starter kits) but having a piece break on you while you’re being a tad too cavalier lands that knife edge right into the thumb or finger closest to stop it. Honestly, it hurts, it’s not fun, I am 0-3 in this fight so do yourself a favor and grab some gloves. Also, fail, then try again, fail, get a little better, fail again, and all that jazz.
Is there anything you want to promote, carving related or otherwise?
I would like to promote something I like to call “regressive progressivism.” The idea of intentional disengagement from social media and endless screen engagement in order to reset the fears and anxieties that separate us. Obviously, the world had problems when only land lines existed or cell phones and well before then, but our collective source of information has gone from objective to subjective through the course of digitization.
In my unsolicited opinion there needs to be a mix of effective elements of the analog past paired with necessary technologies of today so that we don’t have this endless degradation of the simple meanings and definitions of language. The libraries were the place where one could find access to true information, the apparatus of libraries hinged on a network of writers, editors, e.g. it was read hundreds of times and made the most compelling and complete else it risked relevance.
Now, anyone in 5 minutes could create a website and populate it with information that bypasses any edits and is passed off as truth.
[I'd also promote] using hand tools, working and crafting by using tools that will work regardless of power, using your hands, creating self sustainability to an extent and learning an ageless craft. From the Victorian masterpieces of the 19th century in Eureka to the Sears catalog homes which still stand, we have deteriorated into 2 by 4 stick mc-mansions with paper walls stuffed full of products known to your state to cause all sorts of damage to our bodies.
Thank you Cooper! I couldn't agree more on the important of disconnecting and slowing down. We appreciate you taking the time to share with us. Happy carving, and keep up the good work!
Would you like to share your carving story with us? We'd love to hear it! Email us at info@schaaftools.com and introduce yourself.
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