The Apprentice's Trail

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For the Hoffman's, woodworking &

the shop came as an afterthought.

Once in Virginia, some equipment

came up for sale &

Razor Ridge Workshop was born.

Dave had picked up the beginnings

of the trade from an elderly

gentleman who had a shop

in Little Italy.  Even here, amongst

aged Manhattan brownstones, the

old Appalachian music crept up on

him . . .
New York City Little Italy - Manhatten, NY







While in the small, Little Italy

basement shop, Dave developed

designs & fixtures for

two common dulcimer types -

the hourglass & the teardrop.

The dulcimer's roots run deep

in Appalachian lore.  It often

provided the only accompaniment

to ancient ballads, whose roots

reached back across

the Atlantic

- to homelands & motherlands -
Hoffman Teardrop Dulcimer Hoffman Teardrop Dulcimer



Sherry started offering piano

lessons, and since she was also

a skilled tuner, she began

tuning her student's pianos

in their home; which evenually

led to a considerable

number of regular customers.
Lessons Giving Lessons



So, once or twice a month, Sherry

would go onto Grayson County's

backroads to make her tuning

rounds. This led to her doing

minor repairs in the field, and

ultimately to the shop doing

major renovations on

mostly the older uprights.
Tuner's Route Tuner's Route - Beyond Where the Pavement Ends



I took a keen

interest in the pianos

and wound up doing alot

of the rebuilding of the

actions and their

consquent regulation with

the keyboard.
Piano parts A Piano's Action & Keys



Every now & then, though,

I would have the opportunity

to take apart & fix real

pieces of furniture.

Older, primitive pieces with rich

patinas & strewn with such thoughtful

joinery, that I expect it was

pieces such as these that kept me

prying into the ways

of the Woodwright.
Desk Slant Top Desk - Maple



Desk Slant Top Desk close-up older furniture Slant Top Desk, Mule Ear chair, Walnut Corner Cupboard

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