Dave Jaeger’s S&J Woodworks
- A Futon Fine Woodworking Showcase

Dave Jaeger does it the old fashioned way, twenty at a time. Jaeger started his career in futon furniture working for William Brouwer, one of the earliest  pioneers of the convertible futon frame. After the business folded and Brouwer had moved to Japan, Jaeger opened his own shop and continued making futon frames in the fine woodworking tradition he had always employed before and during his tenure with Brouwer as production manager.

I drove out to Canton, Massachusetts to visit him and found his shop to be a classic mix of fine woodworking tools and commercial power equipment all laid out for doing the short runs of stools and futon frames his firm produces.

Because Jaeger is a one man show he prefers the companionship of his three dogs, which all appeared at the door barking with excitement as I made my entrance. To control them he uses “dogs” as their cumulative call name. “Miss Brooklyn is our latest addition,” says Jaeger, as a summer shorn Old English sheepdog bounds over to give me a lick on the face. Jaeger’s other dogs include McDuff, a very energetic Shetland sheepdog, and Miss Roxie, the matriarch, an Australian shepherd.

Jaeger works almost exclusively with cherry wood and is currently in the process of building about thirty cherry stools. His products speak of several different styles with design influences that move from Asian, and European, to American and some that come from his own personal creative perspective.

“I make both custom and short run furniture here (at S&J Woodworks),” says Jaeger. “The stool seats are almost ready for the band saw.”

The saw is a vintage Towlsey, thirty six inch model made in 1946 that is set up to cut the curved seats from five quarter, glued up and clamped, cherry blanks stacked up in another corner of the shop.

Jaeger explains the subtleties of the stool design, pointing out the angles that must be achieved in each piece to accomplish a perfect fit and the proper flare at the bottom so the whole unit is stable when it reaches its final destination in someone’s home.

“I cut enough parts in each run to satisfy both my current orders and still have enough finished pieces on hand for another run as the orders come in for more,” Jaeger said.

Jaeger’s biggest challenge, as the only body available, are the physical demands placed upon him by woodworking, at this level. “The futon frames are a real challenge because of the number of parts, and the assembled sections tend to be heavy,” he said. The futon frames are all made of solid cherry, and are fine examples of the woodworker’s art. “The futon arm frames are all solid five quarter (that’s an inch and a quarter for the laymen out there) cherry with raised panels I fabricate here,” says Jaeger. With runs typically in the ten to twenty unit size you can truly say that Jaeger’s product is almost in the same category as custom, and it is definitely hand-made, in the truest sense of the word. Everything Jaeger makes is put together with great attention to detail and each of his designs tends to be very sturdy without looking overbuilt.

My wife, Sharon, and I own several of Jaeger’s pieces including a full convertible futon sofa frame and a recliner chair, along with a beautiful coffee table and lamp table both made from the same piece of rippled cherrywood. We also took a trip to Dave’s home

in Rehoboth, MA, where his wife Sharon entertained while we took some photos of several pieces Dave has made and which are now part of his personal collection.

Jaeger is a craftsman who puts a great deal of care into his work and the quality shows.

FL