Handcrafted wood and metal

Welcome to Sagamore Chair

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Hi, my name is Larry Benjamin. I am a woodworker and teacher based in Pennsylvania who specializes in creating unique, organically inspired furniture and wood canoes. As a teacher at the Adirondack Folk School I have guided many people through woodworking projects, enabling them to bring home their own furniture and wooden canoes at the end of each class.

I came to woodworking after years of working as a product developer and teacher in the tech world. I was drawn to working with my hands, as well as my mind, and began looking at furniture both as art and as puzzles. Why is that table that shape, and size? Why is that shelf made of that material? How was that chair assembled? As I endeavored to answer these questions, I found myself wondering how I would do it differently and more aesthetically.

Studying woodworking giants like George Nakishima and Sam Maloof, I saw the ways that I could express myself in wood and metal and create beautiful and functional things that would survive me. 

I have discovered that my greatest inspiration comes from  starting my process with the trees themselves in their original natural state. Each tree has its own story to tell, from the shape of the knots on its exterior, to the width of each growth ring in its interior.  As they are opened in a sawmill, the trees reveal their magnificence in never-before-seen patterns and colors. To this day, as I move trees from raw material to object, I believe that if I start with a beautiful piece of wood and succeed in not messing it up, I’ve done my job as a woodworker.

On this website, and if we get to meet in person, I offer a view into my world of wood. I hope you enjoy it.

Sit in a place of history