The Art of Chiseled-Sculpted Furniture

Mike Schluender taught himself the fine art of producing chiseled-sculpted, 19th-century style hardwood furniture and then found the career of his dreams when he opened Chiseled Edge, a quality custom furniture shop, in Browerville, Minnesota, in 1991.

Mike began building furniture as a child. He made little chairs out of crates his grandfather left around the farm, and later, he built birdhouses, doghouses, and other items. Although Mike worked in farming, construction, and truck driving, he always dreamed of building custom furniture.

Carving A Niche

After months of research, Mike realized he could fill a niche market by offering custom furniture not being produced by anyone else. Mike received economic assistance from the Todd County Economic Development Agency and GAP financing. Audrey Jacobson, a talented wood-worker and antiques appraiser, who owns A Restoration in Clarissa, also helped by offering advice and taking some of Mike’s pieces to shows. Through word of mouth, Chiseled Edge soon outgrew the Schluender’s garage and moved into a former Land O’ Lakes procurement building in Browerville.

True to his shop’s slogan, Mike is recarving the future in fine furniture. He hand-builds furniture to customer specifications, and most of the pieces Mike produces have 19th century styling. Many feature old motifs, such as:

* leg bottoms with animal feet,
* arm rests with growling lions and
* inlaid bench backs with highly-stylized carved dragons.

Custom Features

Chiseled Edge offers several designs and a multitude of finishes, sells quality kiln-dried hardwood, and offers stripping and finishing services. With his chisel machine, Mike can also reproduce missing parts to antique furniture. Soon, Mike plans to offer multi-piece bedroom sets with custom features.

In addition, Chiseled Edge offers a variety of reproductions of fine white oak furniture that features intricate hand-carved patterns. To some wood-workers, exact reproduction proves too tedious and time-consuming, but it is what Mike loves best.

Chiseled Edge markets mostly out of its shop, taking custom orders. However, Mike is beginning to market in Lightfare, a furniture showroom in Woodbury. Most of Mike’s customers come from the Twin Cities. “These people are willing to pay what it costs to build furniture made from solid wood with joints that won’t collapse-ever,” says Mike.

Value-Added Processing

Mike is actively helping in the creation of a new local co-op, Headwaters Forestry Co-op, which he hopes will increase the value of members’ trees through value-added processing. The area around Browerville has a good supply of quality trees, but the resource is often under-utilized or sold to companies out of the area, costing the region jobs and income.

Although Mike prefers to work with bur oak because he likes its “looks, hardness, and durability,” bur oak is so hard, it dulls his cutting and shaping tools. Most of the wood Mike uses come from local sources in central and northern Minnesota. Mike also buys wood from Roger Berkness of Eagle Bend-one of “the finest sawers in the Midwest,” notes LoAnne.

Chiseled Edge is certified for chain of custody by Smartwood, whose wood products are recognized as coming from well-managed forests that adhere to environmental and socioeconomic standards, in accordance with the Principles and Criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council. Chiseled Edge carries both Smartwood certified and non-certified products.