Schieuer Woodworks

Schieuer Woodworks Studio

In November of 1997, we relocated our business from a metal building on the edge of Pierson to a wonderful old building in the heart of downtown Pierson. A building with real character. It had been empty for a few years and needed a little tender loving care, but it has rewarded us with a very comfortable and fitting place for our studio.

On the upper part of the exterior, it proudly announces that it was built in 1905 by the Oddfellows (which is more fitting than I care to explain!). The ceiling is beautiful pressed tin and if you sweep a little sawdust aside, you'll find wonderful hard maple floors.

The Lathe

"Woodturning has always been one of my favorite things in woodworking. Over the past 25 years, I've done a lot of it, from chair spindles to bowls. But the most fun is working on my big lathe, which can take up to 12.5 feet with a 16-inch swing. It's a century old Cordesman lathe made at the Cordesman Mch. Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. It has babbitt bearings powered by a two-horse, three-phase motor mounted overhead. The four-inch wide drive belt to the jackshaft has a four step wooden pulley that uses a two-inch wide belt to drive the headstock. The bed itself is made of wood.

It's a lot of fun to use with those big ol' wide belts and the clunk, clunk, clunk, of the splices hitting the wooden pulleys. The antiquity of it is very satisfying, and even though it's a century old, it's still a very efficient and solid piece of machinery."