Stephen Buckle, Woodcrafter

For over 46 years, Stephen Buckle has been involved in woodworking. For about 30 years, he made custom furniture, and when his children were very young, he started making custom children’s toys and furniture. Over the last few years, he’s been designing and constructing craftsman style mantle clocks out of oak, black cherry, and black walnut. He also makes picture frames and chopping boards.

As one who loves cooking, Stephen wanted a heavy chopping board. Since the commercial ones were too expensive, he milled up some scrap hardwood in his shop and made a maple board. It was so lovely that he made a few more, incorporating maple, black cherry, black walnut and Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry). The boards turned out beautifully, and before he knew it, he started using wood that he had designated for furniture. He found the process of making the boards fun and therapeutic. In fact, he finds them to be the most fun items to make.

Many people have remarked that Stephen’s boards are very beautiful, but unfortunately he’s found that their beauty prevents some people from purchasing them because they feel they are too beautiful to cut on! But this issue is sending him into another side of the business: creating plain boards that people will feel comfortable with cutting on.

Stephen researches craftsman style and classic designs for clocks, cutting boards, and furniture, but sourcing high-quality, cost-effective wood is an obstacle he faces. He presently obtains 98% of his wood from sustainable local sources. The other issue he deals with is working in his unheated shop. It is difficult to do so on cold days. Despite these problems, however, he does work regularly as weather permits listening to music and podcasts. And, he is always inspired to create new designs.

When asked about his favourite piece of work that he’s done, Stephen said
“I made an heritage wagon for my granddaughter in the States. It incorporates Black Cherry, Butternut, hard Maple and Douglas Fir. It is my own design and I wanted the materials and input to reflect 3 generations of fathers. My father-in-law donated the handle and the fir lumber from his old house in Bethany, I designed and built the wagon and my son-in-law, Brianna’s Dad, will be painting her name on the wagon.” Stephen’s wife, Christine, made the cushions for the wagon.

When Stephen’s daughter and son-in-law took his granddaughter to a parade in her wagon, a crowd that formed around the wagon and his daughter was told that Brianna and her wagon should have been in the parade! In addition, his clocks, cutting boards and kids’ toys have been pinned and re-pinned on Pinterest!

“All my boards are made from woods harvested in southern Ontario from sustainable sources i.e trees cut to widen roads or to build a home as well as trees that have fallen in storms. I only use 2% of wood from foreign sources i.e. Jatoba from Brazil. I use glue that is approved by the FDA for food purposes and I use natural products to seal the boards.”

You can meet Stephen at 30 Craft Market on May 2nd at the Peterborough Public Library!