Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Witt.
Hi Nathan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I turn trees into treasures.
I’ve always been good with my hands and creative. When I was eight years old, I used to sneak into my father’s woodshop to carve and turn bowls and duck decoys and little figurines.
In high school shop class is where it started. I learned how to use basic tools and got into wood carving from my shop teacher. I did that for many years and since my hands are not what they use to be is when I got back into wood turnings.
As I have gotten older, I have changed directions and started doing more artistic wood tuning, using local wood that we find from arborists and local sawmills. Most often I create kitchen items – pepper grinders, cutting boards, bowls, wine bottle stoppers.
My products are sold locally at a few shops in the Upstate. You can find us at Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery, Full Circle Vintage Modern Market, Chesnut Coffee House + Market Southern Sisters Boutique in Greer, New York Butcher Shoppe on Pelham Rd, and Satterfield Farms in Taylors. We are routinely at the Travelers Rest Farmers Market and Greer Farmers Market.
I’m creating all this in a shed side my house that’s about 140 square feet.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has been a mostly smooth road, but as we grow, it’s tougher to source woods and to keep the wood local.
We’ve been able to get quite a bit of help from Sycamore Saw Mill with local woods and good local connections.
During Covid, getting products to sell was a struggle because of markets closing. This was a hard time to get our product in the hands of people.
One thing we did at that time was to look more at local stores and boutiques to carry our product. We also started pushing it more on social media.
Sometimes the size of my shop limits the size of my projects. I can’t do giant projects in a smaller space. This forces me to look to get better quality woods and more figures in the grains. I work towards making more artistic pieces to keep clients interested.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I primarily create charcuterie boards, cutting boards, bowls, salt and pepper mills and grinders, wine stoppers, bottle openers, wooden tablespoons, pizza cutters, pie plates, pens, and more.
I use every part – scraps and everything. I throw very very little away. I even give away my saw shavings to local farms for their livestock. One thing that is important to me is all-natural finishes – some are vegan-friendly and plant-based. It’s all food-grade and customers can reapply the oils to take care of their products after years of use.
I love hearing from repeat customers and seeing photos of our products in their homes. There’s a four-foot snowman living in California now that was born in my shop.
One of my goals is to support local companies in the products I use too and to buy products made in the US as much as possible. Our community of artists and fellow woodworkers here are a unique family. We’re all very close and everyone supports one another. You see everyone step up to help out. It’s very special.
One thing I’m really proud of is the progress – from a hobby to a business. To see the demand for quality products and to see folks love them. I love Christmas and making Christmas ornaments. One of my favorites is turning really highly figured burled wood into something beautiful that people can actually use!
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I am more of a laid-back person who isn’t a risk-taker by nature.
My career here has begun gradually and that’s more my nature. I’m not opposed to taking risks, but I haven’t been put into positions for that yet.
Life has risks by its very nature, but I’ve seen more of a slow and steady build in my woodworking as things keep falling into place with different venues and opportunities for growth.
Pricing:
- Chacutteri/Cutting Boards 25 and up
- Bowls 20 and up
- Salt and Pepper Grinders/Mills 50 and up
- Christmas Trees Snowmen 20 and up
- Pens/Pencils 25 and up
Contact Info:
- Email: Fiddlestickswoodwerx@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiddlestickswoodwerx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fiddlesticks.woodwerx
Image Credits
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