Embracing Nature’s Curves | THE LUMBER WOMAN AND CO.
Photos by JOHN BURNS
Tina Klassen first began dreaming of being a professional woodworker after taking a class in high school.
“I was the only girl who signed up that year,” Tina said. “I’d always been a tomboy and grew up working on machines with my dad. I got some pushback from people who thought I didn’t belong in a shop class at first, but I loved working with my hands and didn’t care what they said.”
It turned out that Tina had a knack for woodworking. Soon her shop instructor was encouraging her to compete against other schools and she was winning first-place awards. She continued to take more advanced classes, and still has some of the pieces she made in those years. Then Tina graduated and life moved on. She married, started her family, and moved to Topeka. She dreamed of setting up a shop, but she was busy working full time and taking care of family.
“I was busy getting by,” Tina said, “then this tree limb literally fell into my life and changed everything.”
At the time, Tina’s husband lived in the Oakland neighborhood of Topeka, surrounded by giant sycamore trees. A tree in his yard lost a limb that fell on the house, then another that damaged the car. Clearly the tree was dangerous and needed to be cut. As the couple considered how to handle the tree, they were approached by concerned neighbors. They had not considered how emotionally attached people could be to their trees and were inspired with an idea.
“I decided that we would have the tree milled for lumber to build a treehouse for the kids,” Klassen said. “I had just gotten a little windfall, a gift from the estate of my grandmother, so it was good timing.”
It sounds simple, but it was a bit of a struggle to find someone willing to mill the tree. Residential trees often contain bits of metal such as nails or old fencing that make them dangerous and hard on equipment, so no one wanted the job. Tina finally connected with Tom the Sawyer Portable Sawmill Service from Eudora, who was willing to give it a try. When Tom arrived to check out the tree, he told Tina that she should reconsider her plan to make a tree house.
“He told me straight up that the lumber was worth three times what I was planning to pay him to mill it,” Klassen said.
Klassen did some research and found that live edge wood is very popular on the coasts, but there isn’t much of a presence yet in the Midwest. The aesthetic is about embracing the curves of the wood for a natural look.
“Live edge wood is cut so that the shape of the tree is preserved, rather than carved into a straight, uniform plank,” Klassen said. “It’s not processed and treated with chemicals; it’s cut and dried. I didn’t see anyone doing woodworking like that here at the time.”
Klassen jumped in and started making pieces, and it did not take long for her work to gain popularity. She began posting on Facebook and soon it was hard for her to keep pieces in stock. Two years ago, she was able to leave her job and go into business full time for herself. Lumber Woman and Co. now has a retail location at 1209 N. Kansas Avenue, Suite A, and a growing roster of repeat customers seeking custom pieces. Klassen also helps customers choose wood for their own projects and offers advice and support to get them started. She regularly encourages friends and loved ones to give woodworking a try.
“My daughter made herself a coffee table with the wood of a sassafras tree that grew in Oakland,” Klassen said, “and that’s a truly special keepsake. I love seeing the look of pride on people who try something new and surprise themselves with what they can do.”
In the future Klassen hopes to offer classes to empower others to get creative, especially women. She also plans to share more about her process and craft through blogging.
“Sometimes it all still feels like a dream,” Klassen said. “My kids have seen me work and struggle, and always encouraged me to keep going when I wanted to quit. I could never have made this happen without the support of my family.”
