Customer Spotlight

“My father did some hand carving in his retirement.  I would have liked to have done it like he did.”

"A Pioneer Carver"

Mr. Kenneth D. Johnson, also known as "Doc Wheeler" on our user’s forum, hails from the Waynesville, Ohio area of the country with his wife Susan. He started woodworking at the tender age of fifteen. His inspirations started with his dad. “My father did some hand carving in his retirement.  I would have liked to have done it like he did.” Kenneth worked for sixteen years in construction and ironwork, but after an accident left him unable to continue in that line of work, he decided to go back to school. Kenneth became a “professional student” for twelve years and graduated with a PhD in Psychology.  He then quickly realized that this was not the avenue for him.  "Doc" soon found his calling in the computer science industry where he spent the next twenty-five years in systems programming. After over fifty years of working, he happily semi-retire in May of 2008. Kenneth continues to keep busy with programming jobs and his CarveWright.

Mr. Johnson first purchased his CarveWright machine in February of 2007. With just over one hundred hours of carving under his belt on the CarveWright, he has created many beautifully finished pieces. His beautiful jewelry boxes, as well as, the intricate sleigh carving from our project subscription are among these, but also, and most importantly, Kenneth has pioneered a method of layering using multiple wood types to create a new style of work. His “Praying Hands” carving, as well as, the two-toned carving of the horse and her foal is a prime example of this achievement. Although not the first to try this technique, his diligence in setting the projects up to carve away the glue lines perfected it. His contributions to the December 2008 Tips and Tricks take you into great detail on how this process can be achieved. To date, Kenneth says his most enjoyed project completed is the personalized mirror made from Purple Heart for his granddaughter. "I really enjoyed working with the purple heart". He states, he looks forward to creating many more works of art with his trusty CarveWright.

Kenneth is an extremely talented man, who has accomplished much with  woodcarving. He is occasionally assisted by his wife with his carving projects due to having the use of only one of his arms. Even with the obstacle of this disability, Mr. Johnson is active with his woodworking and his family. He has three daughters, a step-daughter and is grandfather to five grandchildren, two of which are currently in college.

We are thankful for Kenneth’s two contributions to our Tips and Tricks Newsletters (he also wrote the fabulous April 2008 T&T on Carving Jigs) and we hope to see more in the future! It is an honor to have Mr. Kenneth “Doc Wheeler” Johnson featured in this month's of Customer Spotlight.