Ryan and Tanya come as a pair. Although the strengths they bring to M&T are different, their many years together has made them a cohesive and wonderfully interdependent couple. I first met Ryan a few years back when he was working at the legendary Liberty Tool Company. Ryan was the red bearded guy whose insights and advice won him fan mail from around the country. As woodworkers vacation through Maine to visit the woodworker’s Mecca in Liberty, they often feel overwhelmed by the endless shelves jammed to the brim with ready-to-restore antique hand tools. Ryan, in his characteristic soft-spoken lucidity, would help align each customer’s purchase to their intended use. (In fact, this is how I first met Ryan. I knew nothing about boring machines and he hooked me up with a great and affordable user.)
As I dropped in the shop over the next few years, Ryan would tell me how he and Tanya wanted to move to the Blue Hill peninsula where I live but, because he was tied up hand hewing timbers with Mike Beaudry, it wasn’t until last fall that they were able to make the leap. This past February, when I needed packing and shipping help for the big release of Issue One, the first people I thought of were Ryan and Tanya. During those few first days of packing, we had so much fun chatting and getting to know each other better. When I realized the momentum of Issue One wouldn’t be letting off for a while, I knew I wanted them on the team for good.
With Tanya’s contagious enthusiasm and unrelenting meticulousness (she’s a jewelry maker) and Ryan’s deep deep knowledge of historic wood working craft, I cannot overstate the value they bring to the M&T team. Welcome Ryan and Tanya. I’m happy to say they’re here to stay.
Ryan Brubaker, Packing & Shipping
Ryan is a passionate hand tool woodworker whose experience ranges in scale from musical instrument making to timber framing. He is particularly drawn to the self-reliant woodworking traditions of rural Europe and first period colonial America. Ryan has a fascination with axe work, and absolutely loves hewing timbers with broad axes. He lives on the beautiful coast of Maine where in his free time he enjoys hiking, kayaking, and reading history books.
Tanya Washburn, Packing & Shipping
Tanya plies her skilled hands in a diversity of natural materials such as metals, woods and fibers. She has both schooling and work experience in metal crafts from blacksmithing to silver jewelry. Tanya is also an herbalist and gardener who spends as much of her time as possible foraging and wild crafting in the forests of Maine’s Blue Hill Peninsula, which she calls home.