Our Story
Sawdust is in my blood.
A one-man shop in East Tennessee making hardwood mechanisms worth holding.
Why I created The Wooden Gear
My dad is an arborist. Growing up, I learned to read a forest before I learned to read a blueprint. Which trees were thriving. Which ones were crowding out their neighbors. Which ones were ready. That knowledge does not leave you.
I am a software engineer by trade. I spend a lot of hours staring at screens. I have ADHD, and at some point I realized I needed something to keep me focused and engaged while I think. Something with real weight and real texture. A mechanism that actually does something. When I logged off, I needed something to replace the mindless phone scroll. Everything I found was plastic.
So I built my own. On my own land in East Tennessee, from my own trees.
From the tree to your hands
Knowing which tree to take is as important as knowing what to make from it. Harvesting the right tree at the right time actually improves the health of the ones left standing. I learned that from my dad, and it shapes every piece of wood I work with.
I harvest, kiln dry, and mill the lumber myself. Because I control the whole process from the first cut, nothing goes to waste. The sawdust becomes compost that feeds the next generation of trees.
I work primarily with quarter-sawn white oak from my property. For species I cannot grow here, like walnut, I source from domestic mills I trust. Every board gets inspected before it becomes a product.
The finish is three ingredients: beeswax, linseed oil, and citrus oil. Nothing synthetic. It feeds the wood and brings out the grain in a way that makes every piece look different from the last.
Learn about the five woods →Why mechanisms
Wood is beautiful, but mechanisms make it interesting. There is something deeply satisfying about a thing that moves the way it is supposed to. A slider that snaps. Gears that mesh. A latch that catches with a clunk. That satisfaction is the whole point.
Being a software engineer means I think in systems. Every mechanism is designed before it is cut. Tolerances matter. The interaction is intentional. You are not just holding a pretty object. You are holding something that was engineered to feel exactly the way it feels.
No two pieces of wood are identical. The grain, the figure, the weight, all of it varies by species and by board. When you choose your wood, you are choosing something that cannot be replicated. That is not a limitation. That is the point.
From my land
Harvested, dried, and milled from timber on my East Tennessee property. I select trees to improve the health of the forest, not just to fill an order.
One maker
Every piece is cut, shaped, and finished by one person. No assembly line. No outsourcing. If it ships, I made it.
Three ingredient finish
Beeswax, linseed oil, and citrus oil. That is it. No synthetics, no solvents. Safe for hands and better for the wood.
Uniquely yours
You choose the wood species. Each one has its own grain, weight, and character. No two pieces are identical, and that is by design.