Owner Background

Jim Ruddell

Ever since my childhood in North Carolina, I have been inspired to build with my hands.

Good fortune and a sense of adventure took me to Stanford University where I played a year of baseball and studied Civil Engineering, graduating in 1977. There, I spent many hours in the university’s machine shop, fabricating a variety of items that included a log splitter, bicycle gears, and brass and copper candlesticks.

After graduation, I found that the cost of machining equipment was out of reach. A used Sears table saw, however, was only $150. So began a self-taught education in woodworking while concurrently building a career as a construction manager.

Over the next four decades, I traveled the US to oversee major public infrastructure projects while also following my passion for designing and crafting beautiful, bespoke furniture in wood. In 2018, my wife and I moved to Bend, OR where we live with our two dogs, a wood shop and a spectacular flower garden.

Now retired, I seek to help others bring their concepts to life for the joy of it.

If you are yearning to collaborate on a distinctive, personalized, artistically-rendered piece at an affordable price, let’s meet and work together. Initial consultations are free.

NOTE: Chairs are by Dovetails Furniture, Bend, OR using my wood dye.

Learn more about My Approach

Dining room table - Padouk; steam-bent,
quarter-sawn white oak; copper boat rivets