Simple Beginning
Thank you for your interest in macwood studio. My name is Bryan Dunlap and I began by building various items for my wife's photography studio but I've had a passing interest in woodwork from the time I was a child watching my grandfather, Harvey MacNeil 'Mac' Chiles build custom lamps from old power meters after he retired from the electric power company in our hometown.
After turning a small room in my basement into a makshift workshop, I started to build different projects for myself, my family and friends. It was a great creative outlet for me, as my job as a database architect and programmer rarely provides the means to flex artistically.
After a few years, my tool collection as well as my project ambitions grew beyond the capacity of my basement workshop. With the help of my father both physically and fiscally, I migrated my workshop from my basement to a larger space on the ground floor of his barn, and I've been in this space for a few years.
What I Build
Primarily, I'm a furniture maker. From tables, both large and small, to desks, dressers, lamps, and display cases, I like to try new things. I also do lathe work such as pens, pendants, bowls and pipes.
My projects often combine wood with epoxy resin, but certainly not all of them. Epoxy resin a great for woodworkers because it bonds to wood very well and can be very visually stunning. It can be used as a focal point or as a simple accent in various projects, but the best part of working with epoxy is it allows me to take a slab of wood that otherwise would never be used and turn it into a fantasic work of art.
Some woodworkers see the use of epoxy as cheating, tacky, or a passing fad. I understand this thought process, but I disagree. By no means should it be as a replacement for good joinery or other techniques, but we do a disservice to the art of woodwork if we ignore it as an option.
Why macwood
If you took the time to read this far, you probably already guessed where I came up with the name. My grandfather's nickname was 'Mac'. We had a lot in common besides woodwork. Along with our sense of humor and temperment, I learned a lot from him, even if it was a lesson in what not to do. As a tribute, I named my shop after him.