Chris Ramsey is deep in a grove of hardwoods, squinting up through the flame-colored leaves at a large dark knot, called a burl, choking the upper reaches of a dying cherry tree.
“Other people look at a burl and see disease. I see money,” says Ramsey, a master woodturner. “The burl itself is worth maybe a hundred fifty, but I’ll turn it into five or six thousand.”
A large burl is prized among woodworkers because it has beautiful, swirling patterns in the grain of the wood.
Chris is an artist with a lathe who transforms pieces of cherry, maple and other hardwoods into hats, mirror frames and other items that sell across the country.
Chris began turning wood almost as a lark in the late 1990s, after his identical twin, David, bought a lathe. At first, Chris made simple candlesticks and vases, never imagining that his hobby would someday turn into a full-time career that would garner him an invitation to the Oval Office.
There were some bumps along the way. After a gallery owner told him he had no talent, he gave up woodturning.
“I unbolted my lathe from the floor, packed up all my stuff,” says Chris.
However, a chance encounter with a master wood turner in Ohio reignited his interest.
Before long, Ramsey stumbled into making his signature lightweight hats, turned from a single piece of wood, when he noticed that a planter he was making for his wife looked a good deal like a Pilgrim hat.
The demand for Chris’ hardwood vases, bowls, and hats grew enough to allow him to leave a job in telecommunications he didn’t like, but he didn’t fully understand how popular his work had become until U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers, R-Somerset, asked Chris to make a cowboy hat for President George W. Bush.
Bush was so delighted with the hat that he invited Chris to a ceremony in the Oval Office. Bush brought the first hat, and Chris measured the president’s head for a another one.
“It’s really surreal. Here was the most powerful man in the world, holding something that I made with my own two hands,” Chris says.
The former president now owns five hats Chris made.
A swirl of attention and upswing in business followed his trip to the White House.
While Chris takes delight in his encounters with high-profile customers such as country music stars and comedians, he says the most rewarding product of his success is being able to play an active role in the day-to-day lives of wife, Kathy, and two sons, Logan, 14, and Jonathan, 10. Chris is his own boss, and enjoys working in the basement shop at his house, knee-deep in a drift of wood shavings, listening to the whir of his lathe.
While Logan, a promising athlete, hones his batting skills, 10-year-old Jonathan learns the woodworking trade, assisting Chris every chance he gets. “He doesn’t want to play sports or hang out with friends — he just wants to be in the shop with me!” Chris says.
Chris feels a deep sense of gratitude.
“Being able to do something I love with all my heart, being able to support my family . . . only 3.5 percent of the people in the world get to do something they absolutely love, and I’m in that 3.5 percent,” he says. “I’m very, very lucky.”
