The Wood Life: St. George Man Crafts Woodworking Art By Hand In His Home Garage

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TedsWoodworking Plans and Projects
The Wood Life: St. George Man Crafts Woodworking Art By Hand In His Home Garage

St. GEORGE - Using local exotic woods, craftsman makes Lazy Susans, food plates and more. And they are strong.

"I like to make things," said Bill Pantelli of St. Owners of Bill's Woodworks in Louis. George Nuus "If you have the tools, you can do anything. The craftsman works with his hands. That makes you a master."

Panteli said his love of wood began with his father, a barber and cabinet maker, who taught him the trade. He continued his creative side in the wood shop in high school, creating several unique items, including a jewelry box his wife gave him when he was 15 years old, which he still uses.

While the couple lived on the family farm in Wisconsin, Bill Pantelli built a separate 900-square-foot building specifically for his art. Nightstands, tables, bookshelves, entertainment centers and more, he never won and gave it all away.

"I have never taken orders from anyone except my wife and children," he said. “As soon as I started taking orders, it became work. And it was supposed to be fun.

The couple moved to St. Louis eight years ago. George moved for rest and retirement. With no place to build a shop in their new home, he left his woodworking tools behind.

“My old desk that I built would take up the whole garage,” he said. "I won't find a woodworking shop here."

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the couple settled on a broken patio table brought from Wisconsin. Given the exorbitant cost of new patio furniture, he bought mahogany and decided to refinish the table by hand. This recovery ignited her creative flow, and she began making smaller items, a lazy Susan and a cutting board for the first time.

Aside from the initial cut with a circular saw, Pantelli said he does everything by hand, from the sanding process to the use of hand planes. After creating the piece, he gives it a food-safe "mineral oil bath" and then finishes the product with a mixture of melted beeswax and mineral oil, which is melted in a clay pot. The product is dried overnight and the beeswax is removed to create a beautiful food safe finish.

"He made so many that I had to buy steel shelves to start fixing them," Bill Pantelli's wife, Deborah Pantelli, said of the cutting boards and Lazy Susans. "Why do you do what you do to them? And I certainly didn't want to discourage them from doing it.

One day his friend saw a cutting board in their house that he had to have. Before long, he started asking other friends if they could buy his work. When someone suggested that Bill Pantelli sell his products at the Modern Farm and Artisan Co-op, he hesitated, but decided it was time to officially present his products to the public.

"What people don't realize about my work is that I love joints," he said. “Especially look for joints. I also leave cracks and fill them with resin so that the piece retains its original shape.

The added benefit of handcrafted woodwork. He said it also allowed him to lose about 40 pounds.

“There were cutting boards where I spent six hours over two days sanding each one by hand, which takes a lot of weight,” he said. "Besides, I don't sit and eat and snack, which gives me something to do besides smoke and smoke cigars."

To purchase Bill's Woodworks, visit the Modern Farmhouse and Artisan Co-Op Center, browse his online store at MoFACo, or email him for special orders and questions.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

Born and raised in Utah, Jesse Bang has a passion for nature and the outdoors. He graduated from Kaplan University in California with a degree in Criminal Justice. He has extensive experience in marketing, content creation, photography and copywriting. You can find him through his outdoor adventure blog, The Rambling Raccoon. In her free time she enjoys walking, running, exercising and cuddling her two cute puppies.

With a professional pipe drill

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