DON’T ASK CAROLINE if her wood order is for her husband!
Caroline Spurgeon is an accomplished craftswoman from Colorado. She’s been a hand-weaver for decades, then stepped up her game by designing, building, and selling her own weaving looms. She recently sold the loom manufacturing business she built and devotes her considerable woodworking talents to making one-of-a-kind projects with her Woodmaster Drum Sander.
Caroline told us, “I designed my looms to make Navajo-style miniature rugs. I have always loved the designs found in Navajo rugs and started weaving them in the 1970’s. Now my looms are used for any tapestry style weavings.” The looms come in three sizes. The smallest is 12” x 15″. The medium is 17” x 22” and the large is 27” x 30. I’ve made them in a variety of woods. The ones pictured are walnut, African padauk, and bird’s eye maple.
“I’ve always loved the designs found in hand-woven, Navajo-style rugs. I began weaving them myself, full size, in the 1970’s. Over the years, I designed and built looms to weave miniature Navajo-design rugs.
3,000 looms
Woodworking runs in my family. My grandfather was a master woodworker. I inherited his tools including his 1954 Craftsman table saw. I always did woodworking as a hobby, then I went into full-time, production woodworking 16 years ago. I built and sold over 3,000 of my looms in that time! I sold my loom-making business recently and now I can devote my time to more creative woodworking projects. You can see my looms at the website I built for my business.
These days, I’m making one-of-a-kind jewelry boxes, benches, heirloom cradles, and more. Currently, I’m making the cabinets for one of my son’s homes. Production work is great but you have to continually produce. Now, in semi-retirement, I’m building things that are more fun and more creative.
“My large jewelry box with all the drawers is walnut and maple. It is 14” x 10” x 20” high. The smaller one is 14” x 10” x 6” and is made of walnut and oak with crushed turquoise inlay.”
SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Drum Sanders! – sale prices, online specials
SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Molder/Planers! – sale prices, online specials
Sand before ripping
Navajo weaver, Jennie Slick (right), teaches students Navajo-style weaving using Caroline’s handmade looms.
I got a Woodmaster Drum Sander because I do a lot of sanding. Hand sanding is really labor intensive; sanding with the Woodmaster cuts my sanding time at least in half. For my looms, I sanded boards on all four sides. I’d sand boards before I ripped them to the right width — it really reduced my work greatly and created a very consistent, even surface.
Also, sanding with the Woodmaster also saves wear and tear on the body. I wish I’d gotten one about 10 years earlier! Physically, it’s really easy to use. It couldn’t be simpler. There’s only an on/off switch and the handle to raise and lower the bed. It’s easy to use, it’s made in the USA, and the folks at Woodmaster have always been very helpful. I think this machine is the best on the market.
I had a Woodmaster Molder/Planer, too, but I just sold it since I’m not doing production work any more. It was a fast sale — I put it on Ebay and got $48 more than I paid for it!”
— Caroline Spurgeon, craftswoman & Woodmaster Owner, Colorado
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?
3 WAYS we can help you!
• Call us TOLL FREE 1-800-821-6651
• Email us
• Connect with us on Facebook
SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Drum Sanders! – sale prices, online specials
SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Molder/Planers! – sale prices, online specials