Nestled in the heart of the old city is an institution whose name in American crafts stands as high as any educational institution in Greater Boston does in academia. Since 1881, North Bennet Street School has been teaching craft and trades to students in search of vocation. This was a revolutionary idea for the time, as industrialization and changes in demand had moved craft from something that was inherited by children and apprentices along with the tools and reputation of the former master craftsperson. The same market forces that created a new demand for certain skilled crafts also risked the extinction of others. It is now the shared mission of institutions like NBSS and Plumier to preserve the skills of these crafts for future generations as the whims of the market ebb and flow. The purpose of these institutions is not only to teach the skills of a craft but also to lend a reputation to their students as they start their career. | | Class trip to the Thos. Moser factory in Auburn, Maine | | Side chair by Zach in progress in the NBSS furniture studio | | Plumier intern Zach Reynolds is now in his second year of the two-year furniture and cabinetry program at NBSS. While some of his peers may have came to NBSS in search of vocation, Zach’s calling came much earlier; and he has already had an impressive career. | | | | Zach first walked into a woodshop in the 7th grade. While this junior-high program was not a particularly hands-on experience, the simple exposure to woodcraft was enough to spark young Zach’s interest. In his junior and senior years of high school, Zach had the opportunity to take real shop classes, where he was able to practice his skills with hand and machine tools, as well as design software while making his first pieces of furniture, including a Mid-Century Modern sofa table for his mother. At the end of his Junior year, his shepherding shop teacher, Mr. Hurst, invited a local architectural restoration company named Restorhaus to speak to the class on career opportunities for young people in the trades, especially with the rate of skilled craftspeople hitting retirement age. Zach went to work for them that summer. | | The Restorhaus crew in front of the restaurant of the El Paso Plaza Hotel | | That first summer with Restorhaus was spent on the tedious and labor-intensive jobs of stripping paint and glazing from old window sashes, eventually advancing to dismantling, reassembly, and reglazing. Zach continued to work for Restorhaus after graduation, driving across the state Texas to work on some incredible buildings. At the historic El Paso Plaza Hotel building, a 1930 art-deco skyscraper, Zach was the project supervisor on the job of restoring the second-story windows, and replacing the copper canopies and awnings that serve as shining gateways into the incredible, Mayan-influenced facade. | | | | | At the Texas Tech Dairy Barn, which had once been used by students to keep cows to help subsidize their tuition, Zach worked on restoring the original barn doors and some of the windows, helping to bring the building back into use as an event space after sitting abandoned for decades. | | One of the biggest jobs he was most responsible for was supervising the restoration of all of the steel casement windows at Balmorhea State Park, where Zach personally glazed around 350 panes with an unusual silicone caulk process made necessary by the type of glass that had been spec’d for the job. Through this restoration work, Zach has gained a deep appreciation for lost craft, especially the building techniques that enabled these structures to see this century, yet have been largely ignored by contemporary building practices, often to the detriment of historic buildings. It is through a balance of new and old techniques and technologies that the master craftspeople of this generation will flourish. | | | Saltfork Woodworks studded door installed by Zach | | In early 2022, Zach went to work for Saltfork Woodworks, a custom millwork company, where he worked as their lead installer, traveling across the state to install bespoke entry doors in homes and commercial spaces, as well as other custom millwork. It was while doing this work sometime in 2023 when Zach learned about North Bennet Street School. After some vacillation, Zach realized he would always regret having not pursued this opportunity. He enrolled in the furniture making and cabinetry program and moved to Boston in August of 2024. During Zach's very first semester, David Lindow was invited by NBSS instructor Jamey Pope to present on complex turning—Zach was immediately intrigued by the presentation. Within a few months he would apply and be accepted to the Plumier Foundation Internship Program. | | Zach volunteering his skills to install a new-old-stock lockset into the front door of the McIlwain Warehouse, requiring a carefully sistered wood block in the door and significant modification to the lock. | | Taking full advantage of the Plumier Internship program, Zach was able to spend his whole summer in Saltsburg learning complex turning. He has taken to the craft at an impressive pace. Having never run a complex turning lathe before, Zach took on making a basket-weave blackwood box as his first project. He nailed the pattern on the Holtzapffel reciprocator and framed it with a well-proportioned top and bottom shaped on the Hardinge tool-room lathe. As evident in his career so far, Zach is a quick learner. He immediately picked up on the fit and finish standards required for complex turning, and was determined to reach them in his early projects. | | Zach's finished blackwood box next to his plan | | | | With his second piece we can already see Zach taking the lessons and motifs of historical ornamental turning and playing with them in a creative way. The simple body of the box, which Zach has playfully dubbed the “Lego head,” serves as a stand for the classical finial, which is both a lid to the box and a bobbing desk fidget toy. | The burl section under the lid is domed to make it wobble on a desk when balanced upright. | | Zach then turned to the classic hollow ball form, designing hanging ornaments with finials presented in this way as delicate blackwood stalactites instead of the usual climbing orientation. The technical skill required to pull off this series of ornaments would be impressive from any complex turner, coming from someone who only started turning a few short months ago is inspiring. The ornaments display both a beautiful range of wood species presented in well proportioned forms, and an impressive range of new skills executed to the highest standard. Zach spent the several weeks developing different blackwood finial designs, playing on the iconic Gorst duPlessis triple finial with both longer and spiraled variations that push technical and material limitations. The skill required to produce finials of this design and the others in the series to this degree of delicacy and fineness may be lost on the uninitiated, but will surely be well respected by turners of any experience. The series is a fitting fruit grown from the pairing of someone with the skill and youthful energy of Zach with the concentrated, intensive education of the Plumier Internship Program. | | Each ornament is made up of 9 components. The top and bottom are threaded to the delicate, hallow ball, and the side whole bezels are precision fit and glued. | | A few of Zach's ornaments are available for sale—contact David if you are interested. Like the milk from the Texas Tech Dairy Barn, the sale of objects helps to subsidize his education. | | Zach getting a lesson from member Geoff Saver (pic by Cody Sobel) | | |
Zach has returned to class at NBSS and will be missed in Saltsburg. Not only has it been exciting to watch someone of such talent and eagerness to learn and explore the craft of complex turning, but he is also a personality that is a joy to have in the shop. He is easy-going with a good sense of humor and self-motivated with quick uptake. Zach will be missed, but we expect to see him back at Point Street before too long.
| | Students like Zach highlight a need for something often missing in craft education—where does a craftsperson go once they have acquired their skills? Certain crafts have plenty of job opportunities, but many do not and some craftspeople need to pursue their own path. The skills and reputation of a good school can go a long way to getting you a job, but to get your own clients you need to build your own reputation. This requires time, space, and a strong portfolio. The Plumier Foundation sees a need for long-term residency programs that provide the space and tools to produce great work. The development of reputation would be symbiotic, bringing in clients for the artists and support for the Foundation. | | Zach's finished cherry side chair. See more from Zach on his Instagram. | | Zach demonstrating complex turning on the MADE Lather (pic by Cody Sobel) | | The Plumier Internship program would not be possible without the generous support of our members. Now that we have a permanent, debt-free home, it is time to start expanding on this type of programing. The return on these investments is coming to life in the transformative education of talented young craftspeople and their exceptional work that push their crafts forward. | | It costs us $6000 to host an intern for the typical three months. We hope to expand the number of interns and offer longer programs in the coming years. If you are interested in sponsoring an intern for a three month program in 2026, please contact David Lindow. If you would like to contribute directly to this effort in a smaller amount, consider donating to our Scholarship Fund, which is also used to sponsor young craftspeople like Zach to attend classes and events. | | |
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