The Full Story
About Us
Watery Hill Woodworks started as a dream to turn a passion of working with wood into a way to work with wood to the pleasure of others. My curiosity in woodworking started with learning from my Grandpa to being an assistant for a furniture auctioneer and then watching and learning from a certain fine furnituremaker on PBS. I put this learning into practice first in the house basement and then moved to a goat dairy barn that I renovated for Watery Hill Woodworks.
The Beginning
The Beginning
My name is David Blake
Grampa Blake grew up on a cow dairy where he and his brothers learned quick that if something was broken, you had to fix it yourself. Fast forward to him and my gramma leaving in Western Mass. The 1938 hurricane toppled many trees in its wake. Grampa bought a lathe to make the candlesticks and urn in the picture to the left as many other family heirlooms.
For years I begged him to teach me how to turn. Finally he relented and he also gave me that lathe.
​"You're a woodworker, why not make yarn bowls?"
I used that lathe to make a lot of shavings and small items that I gave to friends and family, and then I used it to make the legs of a drop leaf table I gave my wife as a Christmas gift. When I went 'pro' as a furnituremaker, I moved up to a larger lathe. One day my sister the knitter suggested I make yarn bowls for her and her knitting friends. These were a hit and I turned my focus to bowls.
