Visit to Charlie's shop (candy store)

[ErnieM]

Yesterday we had the February meeting of the New Bern lunch bunch at Charlie Stickney's shop in Raleigh. Sandy and I got there at 10:00 and I was like a kid in a candy store. What a fabulous, well thought out shop. Charlie has to import dust from other shops as he never has any lying around. From great machinery to incredible dust collection, this was as good as it gets. We went from the shop to the main house where we saw a collection of Charlie's segmented bowls - each one better than the next. As many of you know, Charlie is unbelievably talented and his bowls have to be seen to be believed. Sandy and I went home with one and I'm thrilled to have it in our home. Thank you, Charlie!

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From there, all ten of us went to Leon Harkin's house. For those of you who don't know Leon, he is a wood sculptor whose work rivals Charlie's in precision and beauty. In fact, they have done some projects together - Charlie making the segmented bowls and Leon adding amazing chip carvings around their perimeter. Just incredible. Leon gave some of us a quick demonstration of chip carving. He makes it look so easy - it's not!



From Leon's, we went to Macgregor's for lunch - conveniently located across the street from Klingspor. After a great lunch and a chance to spend some cash at Klingspor, our day at Charlie's came to an end. Thanks to Charlie and Leon for a great time with great people. We really enjoyed it!

Ernie

 

[Charlie]

Ernie, Thanks for the kind words. It was a great day and I think everyone had a good time.

I wish we could get more members involved to organize shop crawls, as we have in the past.
It is always great to see other shops.

 

[sawman101]

Thanks for the pictures Earnie; everything is the ultimate of perfection. Charlie and Leon are masters of their craft and makes me very proud to be a member of NCWW as they are. Rock on guys!

 

[drw]

I concur with Ernie's assessment of the day. Being a local, it was a genuine pleasure to meet fellow woodworkers from Down East. While I have had the pleasure of being in Charlie's shop/gallery on previous occasions, it is alway a privilege worth repeating! Visiting with Leon Harkins and seeing his shop/gallery was awesome, too. Leon is to carving what Charlie is to segmented turning, rare combinations of craftsmanship and artistry - their collaborative efforts are the equivalent of woodworking gold! It was a truly great day.

 

[Richo B]

Ernie's report is spot on. It was a beautiful day to drive up to Raleigh, with no snow or pesky hurricane. We certainly enjoyed Charlie and Leons' hospitality. They have so often come out to New Bern and Chocowinity to see us and it was a long time coming to take the trip out to see them.

Being one who likes photos that show well attended shop tours here are a few from Charlie's


Charlie demonstrates how his segmented pieces are cut and the order in which they are assembled to make the finished product as we all look on.
The arm of the gentleman behind Ernie is actually Leon who features prominently in the next few photos:

Leon in his element demonstrating his rotating tools used for carving. Charlie shows Don and Keith one of Leon's specialized tools.


For those of us who know Leon, what we see as a chunk of wood, Leon with a background in forestry, see's an eagle or in this case a horse head coming out from a base.

Leon seated on his favorite carving chair, demonstrates chip carving.

 

[Dee2]

And Ernie has the second cleanest shop. Or the cleanest east of I95(that I've seen).

 

[Charlie]

And Ernie has the second cleanest shop. Or the cleanest east of I95(that I've seen).

Absolutely !

 

[Richo B]

And Ernie has the second cleanest shop. Or the cleanest east of I95(that I've seen).

The two shops are quite similar. Ernie and Charlie's that is. Lots of similarities between the two.

 

[Bear Republic]

Great photos and writeups! I've always thought a visit to Charlie's as a visit to Disneyland or Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. With Charlie's creativity, i think it edges to the Chocolate Factory because he's such a great host.

 

[Richo B]

Here's an additional photo from Charlie's shop that better represents three of the participants that were half cut out in a previous image: