So, I spent some time trying to figure out this Javier Ferrer approach lately. It wasn’t like following some famous master you see all over the place. Honestly, I just stumbled across the name and a few blurry photos of some woodwork, super simple stuff, almost bare. Something about it just clicked, you know?
Finding actual info was the first hurdle. Seriously tough. No big website, no books, just whispers here and there online, mostly in Spanish forums which I had to struggle through with online translators. It felt like chasing a ghost. But that kind of made me want to dig deeper. Why was this person’s work so hidden but still felt… significant, somehow?
Getting Hands-On
Reading and looking wasn’t cutting it. I decided the only way to really get a feel for it was to try and make something in that style. I picked what looked like the simplest thing I could find – a small, low stool. Looked easy enough in the picture.
Then came the actual work. Based on the little I gathered, Ferrer seemed to be all about traditional methods. So, I committed to using only hand tools. No power sander, no electric saw. Just me, a piece of oak I managed to get, and some old tools I had lying around or borrowed.
- Measuring and marking felt different, slower. More permanent.
- Sawing the legs took forever. My arm was killing me.
- Getting the joints right… well, let’s just say there was a lot of trial and error. Mostly error.
- Sanding by hand, trying to get that smooth but not too perfect finish I saw in the photos.
It was slow. Painfully slow sometimes. There were moments I just wanted to chuck the whole thing across the garage. You see these clean lines in the photos and think it’s easy. It’s not. Every little mistake stands out when the design is that simple.
What Came Out Of It
In the end, I finished the stool. Is it a perfect replica? Nope. Not even close. It’s a bit wobbly, the joints aren’t seamless, and the finish is… well, it’s mine. But the whole point wasn’t really about making a perfect copy of Javier Ferrer’s work.
It was about the process. Slowing down. Feeling the wood, fighting with it, then finally getting it to cooperate, sort of. It made me appreciate the craft way more. You understand the material differently when you work it by hand. It’s a connection you don’t get with power tools buzzing away.
So yeah, my little Javier Ferrer experiment. Didn’t become a master woodworker overnight. But I got my hands dirty, built something real, and understood that sometimes the simplest things take the most effort. And maybe that hidden, quiet way of working has its own value. It definitely left me thinking.
