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Bernie Korbly arrived in Southern Humboldt in the early 1970s. He rented his first place up Salmon Creek for $65 a month, with a lot of remodeling done very soon to make it livable.

He got into woodworking when he purchased equipment belonging to Art Johnson, who was Jim Johnson's father. Art had begun to lose his sight and made the tough decision to retire after being a master woodworker for years.

With Art's guidance and help from Clint Wiley, Bernie learned the art of turning bowls on a lathe. This is still one of Bernie's favorite things to do.

He also purchased a column lathe made in the 1850s and is still using that today.

He gets most of his wood from private landowners and likes the burls and curly wood the most. His curing building will bring the moisture content down to 5%, which keeps the wood from cracking when it is worked with. The average slab takes from one to one and a half years per inch to cure completely. He figures people need to mill their wood three to four years ahead of time to make it work right.

Bernie says a lot of his retail business comes from Europe. He recently had a couple from Switzerland spend a couple of days here and placed a large order with him. Other business, besides the locals, comes from back east and up in the Portland, Oregon area. He says, “I have plenty of customers.”

Along with Bernie, there is Charlie Mott, Jason Solomon, and the Logan boys who help when they can.

Bernie said, “I'm not done yet, and I plan on woodworking the rest of my life.”

Next time you are in Miranda, stop by and check out Korbly Wood Products at 6868 Avenue of the Giants, or give him a call at 943-3615. You can also check out their website at www.korblywoodproducts.com.

photo caption:

REDWOOD TIMES PHOTO BY SUSAN GARDNER

Woodworking legend, and South Fork High School's biggest fan, Bernie Korbly was the guest speaker at last week's Garberville Rotary Club meeting.