St. Regis man carves passion for woodworking

According to Proverbs 16:27, idle hands are the devil’s workshop. In Keith Morris’s quaint wood working shed outside his home in St. Regis, his hands aren’t idle, and the things he creates are simply meant for sharing with others.

Walking around the saw dust sprinkled floors of his hand-built shed, one would never guess that this woodturning novice was a few weeks shy of turning 80. It’s never too late to learn something new Morris acknowledged, that and he shared, “It’s good to have something like this to do each day, it gets me out of the chair and keeps me moving.”

After owning a wood lathe for nearly a decade, Morris decided it was time to put it to use and try out a new hobby. Or as he would claim, “It's more than a hobby, it’s become quite an addiction.” Morris has always had a passion for woodworking, over the years he fashioned all the trim work and molding for his home. But when it came to turning rounds of wood into eye catching bowls, cups, vases, and dishes this was a whole new ball park for him.

“It’s been lots of trial and error. I’ve made lots of firewood,” joked Morris.

But as he’s learned over the past three years of spinning trees, and gouging them down into various shapes, sizes, and uses, it's often a guessing game. “When I stick a new piece of wood on here and start working it, I never know what I’m going to end up with, often times its much smaller than I would like, or it comes out uneven.”

He admitted looking over a collection of bowls displayed on his workshop shelves, “I guess I am my own worst critic; I see faults in every one, something about it that I don’t like.” One medium sized bowl turned from a piece of aspen looked perfect from a distance.

But Morris said stooping down and looking at it from eye level, “See how its sides are warped, even that one would be considered a cull.”

The intricacies of woodturning are endless and fascinating. Morris’s first lathe was one from Harbor Freight, it worked for a while but then he sought out one with better quality. Soon he purchased a used one from Clark Stevens down in the West End. “This one I can run a lot longer, and it's more capable of the projects I like to do.” In his shop he even has a vintage Dunlap/Craftsman lathe from the 1940’s that still runs, he got that from a neighbor down the road, Jim Jensen.

Regardless of which machine he chooses, if it weren’t for his grandson Will, he would have never gotten so engrained in this newfound pursuit. Morris detailed, “I think it was around Thanksgiving in 2018, he had come to visit and used my lathe to turn some bowls. He’s only in his twenties and I thought to myself, if he can do it, I guess I can too.”

Along with the machinery in his workshop Morris has rows of gouging tools used to press into the wood as it spins on the lathe. Each gouge has a different tip, some are slanted, or grooved, some have a curved edge. As he works on a new piece, he places the heavy tools on a rest that is attached to the base of the machines. This helps to make the most precise indentations and cutouts.

A woodturner has to pay special attention to how saturated the piece is. Using his moisture reader Morris scanned the bowl he was currently working on. The reader displayed 18 percent. Morris said, “I think the ideal level is closer to 11 percent, if it gets too dry it can crack.”

On a daily basis you’ll find Morris out in his wood shop turning a new piece of wood from trees he attains from his friends and family. He noted, “I don’t buy any of the wood I work with.” Locals who know of his lathing talents have offered up limbs from bushes, or rounds of wood after clearing their properties.

A piece of aspen from Dave Jensen now sits proudly as a small bowl. Roots from Bob Clyde in St. Regis were turned into cups. Even some Box Elder wood from his late wife Mary’s childhood yard in Washington got spun on his lathe.

Morris recalled picking up a dark brown bowl, “This Black Walnut was from a cattle ranch that I worked on in 1964. The kid who works there now asked me if I wanted some limbs that had been blown down. In return I made him a salt and pepper shaker set with the wood.”

That’s typically the life cycle of Morris’s formations. Whatever unique trees he gets given to him, he’ll usually craft a piece of woodwork and offer it right back to the source. He estimated, “I think I’ve probably given away about 150 pieces so far.” He added, “I don’t really care about making big bucks off of it, I don’t need to sell it. It’s nice to make a little profit here and there to replace the carbide types on my tools, but other than that, this is just for fun.”

Morris laughed, “This lathe work isn’t what’s keeping me out of a cardboard box.”

His daughter did help him sell a few pieces at the St. Regis Christmas Bazaar this past holiday season, but trying to set up an online presence really isn’t for him. Just having an interest that works his body and mind is profit enough for Morris. And so far, he hasn’t gotten into too much trouble as he carves out time each day to master this new passion.

But there was this one-time Morris chuckled, “While working with my first lathe, the rest for the gouge snapped off as he was turning a piece of wood.” He grinned, “That thing ricocheted out of the shop and stuck into the ground about twenty feet away! I suppose that was pretty dangerous.”

“But other than that, I still have all my fingers,” he said holding up his hands.

Before Morris heads inside he’ll collect bags and bags of wood shavings and spirals, bits and pieces, and shop-vac up the saw dust. He remarked, “If I forgot to button the pockets on my work jacket, they’ll end up full of sawdust.”

He tries to shake himself off the best he can before going in the house. Morris figured, “I probably track more of that wood and dust in there than I should.” And if his wife Mary were still here, she’d probably would agree; but more than that she’d be delighted that he’s found something he enjoys so much.