Manns Woodworking is a family business, located in the Endless Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. George and his son Ben are the primary artisans, but all three Manns children have collaborated on some items. Ben and George each work on their own pieces from design to finished product, consulting with each other and helping each other out, resulting in similar but distinct styles. For example, compare Ben's music stand with George's.

"We start with a raw tree and a chainsaw and end with 400-grit sandpaper," says George. The design process usually starts with a specific sumac tree whose shape inspires them. "Sumac has a naturally attractive shape and grows interesting forks--Ys, threes, fours or more. Plus, it's not too big to carry home. An old pine has wonderful forks but you'd need a crane."

Sumac base, bark removed

George and Ben are always on the lookout for sumac trees with promising forks. "The best time of year to spot good shapes is in the winter," says Ben, "when the leaves aren't in the way. We're looking for something we think we can make stand up." When they see a tree that could become a table, stool, or lamp, they locate the landowner and ask permission to buy it. "Usually farmers are delighted to get rid of sumac, because it dies young and falls into their fields." They have trade secrets about the best way to cut the sumac so that the bark strips easily, leaving a smooth surface.

The shape of the tree dictates the final form. After cutting the sumac tree to what will become a base, George or Ben will pick complementary wood to make a shelf, table top, or whatever else the piece needs. They select wood that is beautiful to look at, often featuring a figure such as curl, flame, or tiger. The components are assembled with joinery that works for the piece, whether wood pegged or mortise-and-tenon. To wire a lamp, the Manns use flexible drill bits to run the cord all the way through the center of the sumac. Details such as finials and switches are an opportunity for extra creativity. The final step is a hand-rubbed oil finish, of at least 10 and usually more coats, to reach maximum smoothness and polish.

George has been involved with wood since childhood. "When I was about 8 or 9," says George, "I would go over to my grandfather's after school to help him. When he nodded his head, I would turn on the table saw, and when he nodded again, I would turn it off. I felt so important!" The Manns family still has that same table saw. A love of wood runs through both sides of the family.

George is a certified hardwood lumber grader and sawyer, who graduated third in his class at the world-recognized National Hardwood Lumber Association Inspection School in Memphis, TN. "It was difficult at first--there's lots of memorizing and math."

George began cutting his own trees to make furniture. The story goes that he built a coffee table and decided to do his own house as the next step!

"Beast" dining table White pine fork base

"I like to stick to the natural form and go wherever the piece takes me, working with and not against the wood," says George. "The flow of the form makes me feel alive. When I began creating furniture, I felt that the 'board thing' was already covered, that every variation had been tried and there wasn't new ground for me to explore. Natural forms are different. It's not rustic style--it's the natural form refined."

Some of the artists and craftsmen George admires are George Nakashima, Sam Maloof, and Wharton Esherick. The Wharton Esherick Museum holds annual themed woodworking contests. The first one George entered was for 3-legged stools, and that's where the suitability of sumac first struck him. "A friend had shown me what beautiful and colorful grain sumac has." The stool did not win, and the reason given was that the cherry top did not fit with the sumac base. "There's predjudice against sumac as being a junky wood," says George. "The funny thing is that cherry seat was from a first-cut board that most sawyers would have sent right to the chipper, so the two parts really did match very well--both have overlooked beauty." The 2002 competition entitled "Hold that Note" was for music stands and it was the first competition that both George and Ben entered. Ben was accepted on his first time out!

Ben has been woodworking since he can remember. He would build forts out of his dad's wood. He's mostly self-taught. "I need to make my own mistakes!" Turning attracted him and he's made many beautiful bowls. (One of his lamps uses turned wood.) Ben's first lamp won a blue ribbon and Best of Show at the Harford Fair. He was sixteen. In his final year of high school he decided that woodworking was what he wanted to do full-time. His dad points out that being accepted at Wharton Esherick at eighteen is an incredible start. "There are woodworkers turned down in these contests that have more years of woodworking experience than Ben's even been alive!"

The Manns family live in a house designed and built by George, which showcases the beauty of Pennsylvania wood. Natural forms are integrated into many details of the house.

Staircase Hemlock, sumac, curly walnut, quarter-sawn white oak	Sliding door handle Hemlock	Handrail of foyer steps Hemlock