BRUNSWICK

Two high-end local brands have partnered to design a desk catered for a very specific task. Auburn-based furniture maker Thos. Moser and Freeport’s L.L. Bean collaborated to produce a limited edition fly-tying desk.

Thos. Moser has six showrooms including one in Freeport, which is home to L.L. Bean’s retail campus, distribution site and corporate headquarters.

Fly fishing lures are traditionally made from wire, threads, feathers and a host of other material. “A highly prized fisherman’s craft as well as an art form, according to The Fly- Tying Bible, fly-tying requires precision and also a dedicated place to make it all happen,” according to a Thos. Moser press release.

The desk was developed by Thos. Moser’s master cabinetmaker

Warren Shaw of Hartford, Maine — who has been with the company 25 years — and L.L. Bean’s hunting and fishing expert Matt Bickford.

“I didn’t start out to be a cabinetmaker,” Shaw said. “I took a different route. I worked in the office field for a while. In my late 20s, I found out it wasn’t the thing for me. I got an associate’s degree in building construction at a local tech school, and they had a cabinetmakers class, and people either love the fine detail or not.”

Shaw was one of the ones who loved it, and went from kitchen cabinets to making furniture at Thos. Moser.

“Like many of our folks, there’s not always a need to be classically trained, although that doesn’t hurt. But it’s more of a love for the craft and a vocational calling. That’s the way we’re made: to work with our hands, and to get a satisfaction out of that.”

Recently, Shaw discussed with The Times Record the collaboration with L.L. Bean and the challenges in designing a desk with more than 20 drawers for such as specific task:

The Times Record: Tell us what the fly-tying desk is and how it’s used.

Warren Shaw: Fly tying can start out with simplicity but can go to such complexity that we wanted to develop a desk that would honor that and spark some interest.

It’s a functional desk, first, developed to be a piece of furniture meant to be in someone’s living room, like a slant-top desk. The lid can be folded down, someone can tie flies, store all their equipment, and when they’re done they can fold it up. It looks very similar to a traditional slant-top desk.

This was taken to an aesthetic level where the function was still there, but the form was elevated to give it beauty and challenge the craft as well.

TR: What was your role with the L.L. Bean collaboration?

WS: I worked with our engineering manager and we did several mock-ups for size and scale. That was just out of cardboard, out of plywood, just to get a scale — that’s our first point of attack. Then, we actually build it in wood. We spent 3- 4 weeks in September building the first-pass prototype.

TR: What’s the challenge in balancing form and function, design and aesthetic?

WS: Therein lies the challenge. If something is designed merely by form or aesthetic, it gets easier. But to mix the two, especially with something with so much specific function as a fly-tying desk, it was a fun challenge.

We went back and forth. Bean has experts that do flytying and they advised us, as far as function, and form, with some resets. There was back and forth in developing that for the fly-tying community. Obviously, we’re not experts but they are.

TR: Other than fly tying, how else can the desk be used?

WS: It was also developed so it could be slightly modified. It could be used as a traditional writing desk as it is. It can also lend itself to a slight modification in size and be anything from the original fly-tying desk to a secretary desk or anything in between — to write letters at computers. It’s got wire management so it could be used for a multitude of purposes. Sewing.

TR: What were some of the hurdles in designing and constructing the desk?

WS: One of the biggest challenges and execution was there’s an inset box when the lid is pulled down. There’s a box inside that is roughly 12 by 20 inches, and in that box there’s a bank of 14 drawers. The fronts are all made out of one board that is cut and the grain matches. Take 14 drawer fronts, take a board, cut it up, reassemble it with exacting gaps. If one of those fronts is sanded or cut too short, there’s no way to get another board to match that. That, logistically, is quite a feat.

It was a great challenge on the bench that was very enjoyable.

TR: What are some of the more challenging aspects of your job?

WS: Taking a live medium, such as wood — there’s characteristics that are consistent in a board of a species of wood, but each piece of wood is slightly different. To craft something and put it together — each piece has different challenges. One never knows when they’re building something what will present itself.

TR: How have you seen your industry change in the years you’ve been involved with it?

WS: I think the biggest change would be technology. Specifically, machining technologies that have influenced the craft, that are actually foundational. That has actually elevated the craft. We’re able to do things that you might not have been able to do. It definitely supports the craft. The craft doesn’t serve it. The technology serves the craft.

TR: What is it that draws you to this craft?

WS: I think it’s the exacting nature of it, the precision, the culmination of working with one’s hands and the mind, the combination of the two. To make something that’s enduring. We’re constantly challenging ourselves on the bench. The beam is challenging us.

Learning is never done. We grow in the craft.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com