Our Story

Hello! Our operation is called “FrostDDesigns” and each item has that branded on the bottom. My father was a cabinet maker and woodworker when I was young, so you can say I was born into a woodworking family. However, I didn’t seriously take up woodworking until the pandemic hit and had us all banished to our separate corners. What you are seeing here is what we were doing while sequestered.

Woodworking has become something that draws me out to work every day. The creations are whatever comes to mind while looking at the wood that we have on hand. I am fortunate to have found work that I am eager to do. It is true that if you are doing what you love, you never work a day in your life.

I have fun experimenting with new techniques, methods and colors in woodworking. Most of the wood that I use in the projects comes from locally downed trees in Virginia and Maryland that come down in a storm or need to be removed for safety reasons or wood that we get from the local sawmill. The few odds and ends and exotic wood will come from a store, but we don’t use much of that.

 My thanks to Ed at Heartwood Sawmill https://heartwoodsawmill.com who runs the mill and mobile sawmill operation. Ed came to our place a few years ago to saw up the red oak that I saved after it fell on a neighbor’s house (everybody was ok). Ed did an excellent job making quarter-sawn lumber out of the logs. Ed is a great guy and knows the best way to mill each log. His prices are reasonable and the first few slabs he cuts usually pays for the milling (if you were to buy them at a store). Also, we purchase wood from his mill from time to time and use in pieces that I make. He has an extensive inventory that is hard to beat. Most of his wood comes from downed trees at lake Barcroft here in Virginia. I have been really lucky to find wood that is special in grain pattern, color and more than my share of spalted wood has made its way into my shop. If you are in northern Virginia or Maryland and are looking for wood or have a tree that you would like to turn into lumber, give Heartwood Sawmill a call.

I also want to thank the “Maker Community” on YouTube and other places. Much of what I have learned has been through watching others fail and succeed online. It gives me just enough information to fail and succeed.

Ed and I are currently milling up a walnut log, so stay tuned for what that turns into, it should make a lot of special items. We also bought a mini-metal lathe and I am eager to start incorporating metal creations into the woodwork.