Woodworking in the Big House

[rawls]

Yesterday I was attending a hearing at the state prison in the state where I work. The hearing was so delayed that the people running it told me that I could go grab a cup of coffee and come back. I don't drink coffee so instead I decided to go to the inmate woodworking store just down the road. I have worked as a lawyer for seven years now and I have always heard good things about their woodworking shop, but I was stunned when I went and took a look. It was amazing. The furniture was really well made, significantly better than anything you'd find at a "mall furniture store." Mortise and tenon joints, drawers with dovetails, even some pretty sophisticated curved elements. A lot of it showed a great attention to detail. I have heard from various sources that the woodworking shop is the inmates' second favorite choice for work (after the kitchen where giving out an extra flapjack during breakfast can work wonders for your standing), and I can see why. They must have quite a toolshop (which is paid for by the sale of the furniture, as far as I know, making the whole operation self-sufficient). I was also really impressed by the selection of woods used. I thought it was going to be a lot of pine and red oak, but there was walnut, cherry, maple, and some other really nice hardwoods. That last cool thing I learned was that ALL of the courtroom furniture in my State, except for a few pieces, was made by inmates at the woodshop as a way to save money for the State. The money saving aspect is really great, the fact that the shop is self-sufficient is nice, but I am heartened to think that guys can get a real skill while serving their time. Plus the furniture is REALLY competitively priced. That is a good use of government resources.

Here is their website: Corrections Creations. Scope out the curved legs on some of the table pieces.

Just thought people might find this tidbit interesting.

[RenaissanceWW]

I visited a similar style of store up in ME on my way back from visiting Lie Nielsen. There was a lot of nice stuff and I wished that I could have seen the shop. My company actually sells quite a bit to the prison systems as well. We even sell a lot of exotics. The bills go to the prisons but I was never sure how it was funded. I hope in most case that it is the same as you situation where the shop is self funded instead of our tax dollars supplying prisoners with Genuine Mahogany, Walnut, Maple, Cherry, and Sapele.