MeetTheMaker #dreadknot

So, I was beginning to dread trying to think of which great maker to feature this week for "Meet The Maker", and then I thought to myself...wait...of course..."Dread Knot" (you'll see what I did there) I thought to myself, because I suddenly knew the perfect Southern Woodworker to feature. Darryl Jones of Dread Knot Woodshop in Deltona, Florida was one of my first friends in the community who I hung out with "beyond the DM". We met in Atlanta this past year at The Woodworking Show while working the Southern Woodworkers booth, and then hanging out at a meet-up dinner that night afterwards. I was extremely green to the online social media community at the time, clueless to who most of the awesome woodworkers and makers sitting around the table with me were. Darryl and I ended up having some great convos, and I got tons of great advice that I have carried with me ever since. But this isn't about mine and Darryl's friendship, it's about his incredible skills as a craftsman, woodworker, turner, and content creator, so let's get this thing rolling.

Down in Deltona, Florida there is a three car garage, around 600 square feet, where a whole lot of magic happens. Working in IT by day, Darryl Jones is out in the garage in his free time, building fine furniture, turning bowls and pens, and enjoying his passion. Darryl has been into woodworking for as long as he can remember. His intrigue was so strong in middle school, that his teacher actually sent word on up to his high school teacher. When he arrived on campus his freshman year, he was given a stack of Wood magazines and told to make something good. He never stuck to the standard projects in high school, he was always challenging himself to enhance his skills. Once in college, Darryl and his wife were living in the married housing, which had a small basic tool set at the clubhouse which you could checkout to use. Starting off, he was able to make a few pieces such as desks, a toddler bed, and a TV stand. Around 20 years ago, Darryl began building his own garage shop....and the rest....well...the rest is history.

Having followed Southern Woodworkers Founder Zach Manring for a while, joining Southern Woodworkers was a no-brainer for Darryl. Darryl draws inspiration from everyone. Being involved with this woodworking community we all embrace with so much love "is the most inspiring activity imaginable" he told me. "The creativity and ingenuity shown throughout the woodworking and making social network is mind boggling". While in the shop, it's either Pandora's Today's Hits channel or an assortment of great woodworking podcasts. When it comes to growing his skills, Darryl has a long list of things he wants to try, but creating a musical instrument like a guitar would be an enjoyable challenging project to take on one day. When discussing family, Darryl, a father of four, said he tries to split his free time between family and making because his family is very important to him.

Darryl shared a favorite project with me that I really wanted to share. It's absolutely incredible craftsmanship. The desk below is made almost completely from locally harvested Florida cherry. His wife wanted a new desk, and instead of buying one every few years, he decided to build one. Shallow drawers were part of the criteria, so they would not accumulate a lot of junk. She generally operates from a laptop, so that made shallow drawers a manageable feature. He used the boards with the most character for the top, which included some knots which were filled with black dyed epoxy, and some sapwood to add a little something extra. The slides are made in an I-beam type construction in order to transfer the weight away from the thin face frames. The drawer stops were also shop made and designed by Darryl himself. They are gravity actuated and cut thin to break before the rails on the front of the desk. The drawers themselves are made with machine cut half-blind dovetails in the front and houses dadoes in the back. The front apron and drawers were all cut from one piece to maintain grain matching. Take a look at this fantastic crastmanship on display here. It's really inspiring. I wanna go build a desk right now.