Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 62F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 62F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Jerry Lampe, owner of J. L. Wood Crafts, displays several of his pieces: a desk organizer (left), armoire (back), and walnut and stained oak picture frames (holding).

Jerry Lampe, owner of J. L. Wood Crafts, displays several of his pieces: a desk organizer (left), armoire (back), and walnut and stained oak picture frames (holding).

Jerry Lampe, owner of J. L. Wood Crafts, has been building wooden furniture in Cascade for 30 years. A Cascade native, he discovered his passion for manual labor while he was working for a mobile home company in Phoenix, Ariz., after college.

“I took up woodworking as a hobby while I was down there,” said Lampe. “I had a friend who ran a cabinet shop and I got interested in the work rather than sitting in an office all day long.”

After five years in Phoenix, Lampe returned to Cascade in 1982 and established his woodworking business.

“When I first came back to Cascade, water beds and entertainment centers were big, so I built those. Entertainment centers fell away because TVs got so thin, that they could be hung on a wall. Water beds also fell away after a few years, so I’d just build stuff for people who came in with pictures of things they’d want to be built but didn’t like certain features of.

Lampe said he makes requested alterations to designs, adjusting features like size, storage space, or aesthetics and measuring the space in homes to make sure they’ll fit. This also helps judge the proper color based on the room.

“I’d just change things to make the customer happy.”

In the past, Lampe made large furniture like headboards, cabinets, and kitchen and bedroom sets. He also made computer stands and bookshelves for the library. Due to large pieces of wood becoming harder to handle over the years, he now specializes in smaller items like floor mirrors, shelves, quilt racks, plant stands and jewelry boxes.

Lampe said oak is his favorite wood to work with due to its cost, appearance and ability to be easily stained. The stain itself is often pecan, but available for customization like everything else.

“Mostly I work with oak. You step into cherry and walnut and you really start spending money… Oak has such a nice grain pattern and you can stain it just about any color you want. You can’t paint oak, but it will take stain.

“When I got started I’d stain everything pecan since I liked the color. Then everything started turning dark so I quit staining stuff. I’d build it and if they wanted a different color I could always add it.”

For more information on J. L. Wood Crafts, call Lampe at 852-3030.

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