about
Hi, my name is Tim & I love building stuff! So far it’s just me at this crazy company called Furnetcha. I’ll explain the name later; but there’s really not much to it. It comes from my desire to balance ambition with not taking myself too seriously. Having spent years passionately designing & building software, I’m now trying to blend that experience into traditional methods of woodworking. Being an entrepreneur is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but also the most fun.
Bio
I grew up in North Quincy, went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for Computer Science, spent seven years in Seattle, and have lived in the South End of Boston since 2004. (For those unfamiliar with Boston, the South End is not Southie; South Boston is Southie. Southie is technically east of Boston. But East Boston is north of Southie.) I’m a proud Bostonian, but also feel lucky to have been able to spend a lot of time in Seattle, San Francisco, and New York City. Living in the South End and having a studio in Dorchester is the perfect combination for me.
For the first 14 years of my work life I built software, as a product manager, designer, or engineer. The software industry provided me with countless memorable experiences and opportunities to learn and grow. Being able to work with so many smart, talented, and fun people was really incredible and I am eternally thankful to these people. Starting my career at Microsoft Akamai, and some startups.
Now when people ask me what I do, I usually say, “I’m a former software geek who is trying to build furniture.” But “former” is really only half true. Instead of setting aside my passion for technology, I’m using it as inspiration and foundation to build modern, contemporary furniture. Despite computers being mathematical and logical, software design is primarily a creative activity. So I’ve really been wandering around as a geek and artist my whole life, just using a different medium.
This new chapter in my life started in June 2010 when I started Furnetcha. Naturally the first thing I did was design a logo, and put up a Twitter feed! Later that month I found a shop at the Humphreys Street Studios, sub-leasing from Peter Thibeault. A fortuitous find since Peter was supposed to be my teacher at a MassArt class that happened to be canceled. Peter is an amazing furniture maker, designer, craftsmen, and teacher at MassArt among other schools. I spent the first few months outfitting my shop with the proper setup and tools. This is a seemingly never-ending activity, but a fun one.
With my portfolio not fully filled out yet, my vision for Furnetcha is to use my design knowledge and technology passion to build amazing, tangible, and meaningful goods that people love. To that end, I have built my own computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) machine. CNC allows for creating surfaces unattainable by traditional woodworking methods. I hope to further learn and respect the art of woodworking while blending it with the new world of CAD and CNC. To start, I will design and build my own furniture, but I am also very much excited to collaborate with others in various fields and diverse expertise.
My primary medium is wood, often layering or joining different types of wood. I love the look and feel of wood, but I also love the technique and skills required to work with it. Plus wood is extremely versatile, everlasting, and renewable. Eventually I hope to collaborate with metal and glass workers.
Inspiration for committing to this work full time came from several sources, most notably my late father and my older brother, Erik. My father was an avid craftsman, woodworker, and artist, tackling projects from the ultra small (handmade model ships) to the very large (complete house remodel on his own). I learned a lot from both, and continue to take on new challenges with my brother. We built his “house garage” by hand, just the two of us—one of the most rewarding experiences of my life!
My passion for this work is reignited every time I deliver something that makes someone smile, say “wow,” or simply helps them do something they never could before. I hope this happens a lot with my work at Furnetcha. I don’t take myself very seriously and love to laugh.
[Last year the Dorchester Arts Collaborative posted a version of this bio on their blog.]
My Shop
Located within the Humphreys Street Studios is my modest, but fairly high-tech shop. Converted from an old dry cleaning factory, HSS is now a cool home for a few dozen artists, woodworkers, metalworkers, painters, sculptors, blacksmiths, and more. It’s awesome being surrounded by such amazing talent. The shop is not far from home which allows me to do most of my design work at home.
Contact Info
I’d love to hear from you! Comments on this site are great, as are tweets and emails. I tweet frequently from @Furnetcha and try to share as much as possible about my projects, business, inspirations, fellow woodworkers, and technology innovations. My personal twitter feed @timj0 is where I’m a lot less predictable and uncensored. You can find links to my obsession with gadgets as well as my LinkedIn profile at about.me/timj0.
Feel free to contact me directly in whatever way is most convenient for you! I will do my best to get back to you within a day or so. I also love visitors, especially from fellow woodworkers. So if you happen to be in the Boston area, please plan on coming by!
