Del Val senior wows woodworking teacher with his rocking chair

"I've been waiting my whole career to see a project like this," says Delaware Valley High School woodworking teacher Josh Paul.

He is in the school library with a visitor showing off The Chair - an elegant rocker made by Del Val senior Justin Fiaschetti in golden curly maple and red-brown African sapele.  Paul points out its merits with as much feeling as you are ever likely to see between a man and a chair.

"Look at the way it's balanced on the floor... Justin's a stickler. He was at Wehrung's selecting the wood for two hours... The joinery is just tremendous. Lots of sharp tools were needed to make those joints so tight... It took him a week just to sand this thing... If I sit in this chair, I'm not getting up... It's unreal that a kid in high school did this," he rhapsodizes.

The thin, curving maple spindles that support the sitter's back are supple so "they bend to how you are," Justin explains. Thanks to them and the depressions carved into the chair's arms and seat, The Chair "fully envelops you."

The Chair was recently taken home by Justin for a little more work on its finish. But when it had been on display, students and staff coming and going from the library paused to marvel at its graceful curves, glossy finish and dramatic lines.

The design was inspired by California woodworker Sam Maloof (1916-2009) "blended with my own taste and style," says Justin. His riff on the basic Maloof has the rockers extending farther behind the chair, giving him a chance to give the ends a slight downward curve. Justin has also exaggerated the chair back's pointy corners in a way that makes you think of wizards. "But there is so much carving on these Maloof rocking chairs, that no two are alike anyway," says Justin.

Paul also likes to tell about the time Justin made his own lathe in order to make a Christmas ornament for a contest. Justin recalls, "I didn't have any of the necessary tools, so I improvised..." He made chisels by sharpening two old flathead screwdrivers. "I secured a cordless drill to a workbench, put a piece of wood into the chuck of the drill and used the newly sharpened screwdrivers to carve the wood as it spun."

Justin has been amazing the populace at Delaware Valley High School for a while, but his work has just achieved wider recognition. Two of his nearly eggshell-thin wooden bowls have been accepted by Association of Woodworking & Furnishing Suppliers for display at the annual AWFS Fair.

This year the four-day trade show will be held in the Las Vegas Convention Center. The July 19-22 event is expected to attract 15,000 woodworking industry professionals - including Josh Paul -- and feature exhibits by 600-plus companies and 50-plus educational sessions with expert speakers and hands-on learning.

Justin will also be attending the fair with his folks. His bowls are not merely on display, they are competing in woodturning division of the fair's student woodworking competition, which is called "Fresh Wood."

Justin made his first cutting board freshman year and fell in love with woodworking. Now, he is using his skills to make some money. "I build custom bowls, vases, cutting boards and furniture for clients," he says. "I also go to local arts festivals, which helps to spread my name." Some of his pieces are available for sale at Freedom Art Gallery in Frenchtown.

Despite his dedication to "making something out of nothing" in the wood shop, Justin has other interests. He plays club and varsity soccer and varsity golf, and participates in Environmental, Key and Debate clubs. He was also named Best Delegate this school year at Model United Nations conferences at Yale and Cornell.

Woodworking is not a dead end for him. He says it "is teaching me a lot of the design aspects that will be integrated into mechanical engineering." That's what he will be studying at Boston University in the fall.

After a year of college, he hopes to begin advanced workworking studies in his spare time at Boston's North Bennet Street School. But there's sawdust in his immediate future, too. He's about to build a surfboard.

This item was submitted by Rick Epstein.

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