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Meet the Artist: Barb Siddiqui Continued ...

Barb spends about three hours a day in her workshop, primarily specializing in small projects. Her power tools include a Laguna 16" band saw, 12" planer, radial arm saw, Grizzly drill press, and Craftsman table saw.

She's set up her shop in three different configurations over the years, each time making it more efficient as her skill level developed. "Anyone starting in a small shop should set up work stations, and the more mobile the better," she says. "Everything except my band saw is on a mobile base. The problem is you need assembly space, and you need to move things in and out of the way for clamping and finishing. You have to be organized."

Barb said one of her greatest satisfactions is building projects for her five grandchildren, including three who were born this year. She recently finished a Shaker-style cradle that has dowel sides and ends. "I've been busy with cradles and all kinds of stuff," she says. "Everything I make I give away."

Originally from Yakima, Washington, Barb grew up working on her father's 25-acre apple orchard. One of her current projects is building keepsake boxes with sliding lids made from fruit-tree wood she has dried for the past year. She harvested the wood from apricot and apple orchards around her home.

She also proudly points out that she's a "dumpster diver. "I get a lot of pallets from the alleys downtown. If we get pallets from California, they could be black walnut or oak - just thrown away! I've also been told, but haven't found them yet, that a lot of tractor and motorcycle dealers bring in pallets and cases from Japan that are Japanese hardwood. I have become a real scavenger."

Clearly, Barb puts a high value on the wood she uses in her work. It's an appreciation she fostered early in her woodworking career. "People who start with hand tools tend to learn about the wood first, and not the machine," she said. "They learn what stresses it can take and what joinery fits each project. I think you're a better woodworker for that."

She illustrates how important it is to select the right wood with a story about her son, who wanted to make a hand ring out of ebony wood for his girlfriend. "I tried to warn him that ebony is quite a toxic wood to put next to the skin. He said, 'It's just wood.' He used up my whole block of ebony, breaking several rings because the wood is cross-grained."

Upon completion of the project, Barb says, he proudly presented the ring to his girlfriend. The result: "She wore it one day and took it off because it gave her a rash."

Barb hopes the advice and knowledge she shares with others will prove more helpful. Most important, she encourages women woodworkers to not be afraid to ask questions. She also stresses that you should be creative; put your own personal imprint on every project. "There are so many different ways to accomplish what you want to build," she says. "There is never any one way to build it."

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Photographs courtesy of Barb Siddiqui
Text by Keith Wandrei