Big PAw Wood shop

WALLY SIEWERT, FOUNDER/MAKER

I have always had two loves: woodworking and justice.

As a third generation craftsperson born into a family with a deep German tradition of fine woodwork, the distinct smells and sounds of a working wood shop root my core memories of childhood and family. Raised both in Germany and the US, in the 1980s my family settled on a rural property outside of Three Oaks, Michigan. Now I return to this place where I first fell in love with woodworking as a child.

I spent the first decades of the 21st century working in politics. This took me to Rhode Island, California, and, finally, to St. Louis, MO, where I spent nearly 12 years as a Professor of Political Ethics and a Director of Civic Engagement. In these roles, I trained a generation of civic leadership in the St. Louis region with a special focus on racial justice. As as an activist, I helped create and win campaigns that (among other things) changed the way elections are held in the City of St. Louis, changed the shape and powers of the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen, and ensured equitable distribution of $250 million in ARPA funds.

Then the pandemic hit, and after its long years of global devastation and social isolation, I found that the joy my career had once brought me was gone.

I have been making furniture my whole life, first filling my own house with custom pieces, then those of friends, and then eventually gifting pieces to local nonprofits to auction at their annual galas. Taking a leap of hope, I decided to both leave my career in St. Louis and move back to my childhood home to pursue wood craft full time. Every day, I work with the tools my forebears used, and this brings me joy.

The root of Big Paw Wood Shop is authenticity. For me, working with wood is a meditation, and I strive to bring this presence of mind with me every day to the shop. Wood is alive, and it doesn’t always cooperate. Some days that means a project just isn’t coming together the way I want. But it is precisely these moments that are the magic of wood working. If I can manage to release control over my material—some days this is much easier than others—the wood reveals itself, and quirks become design directions. Just like working for justice, it’s a humbling endeavor.

Founder/Owner/Operator

FAQs

  • Absolutely! Because we have access to fresh cut large scale lumber we have everything we need to make some amazing pieces designed for outside and nature.

    We also specialize in large tables and benches for outdoor covered areas.

    We make a lot of indoor furniture, though the inventory we have of dry wood is limited at any one time.

  • Because wood is alive, I am not fond of encasing it in plastic epoxy, or in urethane, or other inorganic finishes.

    I use almost all oil-based finishes, Lindseed oil and Tung Oil for indoor and under roof pieces, timber oil for outdoor and rough-sawn pieces.

    I do use epoxy to stabilize wood and fill natural cavities in the wood. But I do not build anything where the primary ingredient is epoxy (such as “river tables").

  • I am not interested in being a contractor, so I do not build timber-frame houses for clients. However, timberframe structures small enough to be taken apart and put together on sight with a couple of people in a couple of hours are great!

    Such structures can be used as arbors, shades, poolside, as entry gates, or the client can build them into any kind of small structure, such as a sauna, or shed.

  • Easy! Reach out and let’s find out what you need together!