VoyageLA Interview w/ David Lamb Woodworx

The interview was originally published on VoyageLA. Please click here to read the original story.

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Lamb.

Hi David , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The Story. I guess I’ve always been a woodworker at heart. I remember making my first project. It was 1964-65 sitting in our driveway in Altadena. Two short pieces of 2×4 overlapping and nailed together to make an “airplane”! I’m pretty sure I bent over every nail, and it was barely holding together, but it was an AIRPLANE!!

There were many “projects” around the house growing up and then in middle school and high school I had to opportunity to take wood shop. A total of 10 semesters. I learned how to work in industrial shops. Although the programs were designed around the woodworking industry, we also learned the proper use of hand tools. Scrapers, screwdrivers, hand drills, hammers, mallets and hand planes.I learned how to design. I definitely learned about SAFETY. Somewhere along the line, I learned to love the craft. We started with rough sawn wood and by the time we were done, you would have candlesticks, end tables, rocking chairs, a dining room hutch, a stereo cabinet or a bed. I then went to Pasadena City College and LA Trade Tach and learned building construction skills.

I became a house framer and eventually a finish carpenter, hanging doors, windows and crown and base mouldings.

Somewhere the adventure side of me came and pulled me into different areas, I walked down the paths of police and fire and EMS and spent a sizeable amount of time in these fields. They were fun and energetic and adventurous…but woodworking always called me back. There were always projects. Especially for the clients of my interior designer mom.

When Covid started there were two things that happened to me. I almost died of pneumonia, and I started a little woodworking business. I started making small boxes and frames and a Arts and Crafts style footstool. Then my newly married son needed a dining room table. Then my wife needed a dining room table. Soon I was building again and when I started, I wanted to do as much hand work as possible, honoring the traditional joinery such as dovetail joints and mortise-and-tenon joints. To me it seems like you can carve out a lot more character from the wood with hand planes and hand chisels.

So David Lamb Woodworx was started. I keep it pretty simple. I make a lot of charcuterie boards, serving trays, cutting boards and simple lined farmhouse furniture. 2025 was my best year to date and Im hoping to just grow bigger.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Its been fairly smooth.

I think the obstacles to this work were me.

When I graduated from high school it seemed like everybody had taken “shop” classes and knew how to build or fix something. It was hard to become a cabinet maker or finish builder because we were in the era (70’s-80’s) where big over stuffed furniture was in and then came what I call the OAK EXPLOSION where everybody had oak everything and it was built well or designed well….so we followed different paths for work.

Im fortunate enough to have returned to it

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work is custom hand-crafted custom-made products. I do use power tools, however when you use hand tools the rhythm, the contact, the closeness, the feel of the wood, it makes me feel “a part” of it. Sometimes I let the grain and the edges of the wood “speak for themselves” and it gives a really nice outcome.

Sometimes I feel like I am making items from trees to treasures with time tested techniques all crafted by hand.

Nothing makes you feel prouder then when I put out a display of charcuterie and cutting boards and people will run their hands over them (almost in awe) . It’s an art that I grew up with, but it has been lost over the years. People don’t build the way we were taught.
I am also proud of the fact that I was born of an engineer Father and an artist Mother, and I feel like I have somehow combined that very unique DNA to make the artisan that I am today.

I guess what sets me apart is I like to do the hand work still. I feel “grounded” when I’m at work. Relaxed, maybe in my element.
I’ve done a lot in my life. Some jobs stressful, some not as much. Woodworking makes me complete. To me “Sawdust is Freedom”

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
For me I guess it’s just the enjoyment. I’m always trying to find new shapes and styles for my work and I enjoy every bit of it. I have also surrounded myself with groups of different professionals who encourage and help me and push me.

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