They look like they’re made for giants, but Bil Idzenda’s huge chairs are craftily designed for normal-sized people.
His hobby when not teaching third graders in Bloomfield, N.M., is building chairs and tables from huge wooden spools recycled from electric company installation crews.
“You can see when you sit in them, they are designed to be comfortable,” he explains from his booth at the county fair. “Instead of 18 inches from the seat to the floor, it is 16 inches so your feet stay on the ground.”
His business, Just Spoolin’ Around, names him as a “recylist,” and after talking with him and his wife, Jody, his propensity for tinkering and inventing stuff from discarded materials becomes apparent.
“Somebody told me that if it were a good idea, someone else would already be doing it,” he jokes. “I just wanted to make interesting chairs for my classrooms.”
The wooden spools normally hold and dispense cable for electricity and communication lines, and when empty are stored in yards. Idzenda got the idea five years ago to try and build something out of them.
“I built one for the local electric company, and now they save the best ones for me,” he said.
A huge round spool is positioned for the back, and the large planks finish out the handsome, reclining-style porch chairs. Decorative inlays of small river stones adds a stylish design touch. Nicely varnished, the obviously durable tables and chairs are weatherproof and on some designs the chair arms are wide enough to hold a glass or mug
“They are perfect for a deck or porch, and they do no blow away,” Jody says. “They hold up well under the hot sun as well, and don’t come apart.”
The rustic-looking chairs like they belong at a lodge for a national park or ski area.
“Making things with dimensional lumber is not as interesting,” Bil says. “Every chair I make from the spools is unique.”
He is not esoteric about is inventions; rather it is a matter “of whether they fit together or not. The materials don’t speak to me.”
He’s built 100 or so of the spool chairs, which start out at $250.
“Locally we have sold them in Telluride and Vallecito, and we delivered a big order to Texas,” he said.
The wooden spools are becoming harder to find, as electric companies move towards less appealing plastic dispensers. But Bil already has a mind’s eye design for the plastic spools.
“I think I could make a car out of them for my third graders. I’ve worked out the pivoting for the steering, but I still need to figure out the brakes. That would be good!”
For more information, visit his booth at the fair or give him a call at (505) 215-2343.
