Grown timbers for a 16 foot punt I framed up in Newfoundland. Spruce trees were dug out at the roots and milled with the grown curve to keep the strength of the wood grain. Each set of timbers were shaped out with a chainsaw, axe, drawknife and finally a spokeshave.
CUSTOM FURNITURE
The Acadian Forest is the jewel of Nova Scotia. It is a mixture of the hardwood forests of the northern United States and the great northern boreal forest. Jimtown Made selectively harvests trees in Antigonish County, has them milled locally and then seasons the lumber. Once it has dried for a minimum of two years it is ready for the blade. Together with my clients I custom design furniture to fit their lives and build it using traditional joinery techniques at my shop in Jimtown.
Red Oak cut in Antigonish Harbour. Through joinery with purple heart wedges. Sleigh crib has adjustable mattress height.
THE BIG IDEA
We have grown disconnected from the objects we use in our lives.
Everything comes from some nameless factory far away.
This is not a natural state.
People want to make things.
Our making things allowed us to spread around the globe.
The Mi'kmaq who came before us on this coast made everything they used. They travelled great distances to find chirt for arrow heads. They created awls from the bones of birds and made homes and canoes and baskets from the gifts of the forest.
Only a generation back, the chair you were sitting in could likely have come from Bass River. The nails holding the walls up around you came from a local blacksmith.
You either built your own skiff or watched a neighbour carve its stem and fit its planks.
This matters because people had a connection with the objects they used. They held a story, a memory or thoughts of a known craftsmen.
Through them we were connected to our physical world.
And this is good for the spirit.
With Jimtown Made I'm not only seeking to build a life for my family in rural Nova Scotia. I'm seeking to join the many craftspeople of this province in rebuilding our connection with the physical and natural world that surrounds us.
I seek a tangible life that takes in hand the lessons of the craftspeople who shaped wood and metal and clay while making lives for themselves in this good place.
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MY PROMISE
My name is Aaron Beswick and I live in Antigonish County with my two young sons.
The more I learn about the Acadian Forest that surrounds us the more I am amazed by it.
I take from it to build.
But when I cut, it's one or two trees out of a stand.
When I buy lumber, I do so from a sawyer who cuts from his own land in Lakevale. A man who has a greater knowledge than I, developed over three decades working his land, and consequently an even greater respect for the resource.
You can take solace in the knowledge that your piece of furniture comes from a sustainable harvest.
You can also know that significant care has gone into the design and construction of your piece.
It will be built to last and it will be one of a kind.