Todd Plummer is often surprised at the attention his woodworking
receives. When he entered two of his hand-crafted tables into the
2007 Design in Wood competition held by the San Diego Fine
Woodworking Association, he didn’t expect high recognition.
Todd Plummer is often surprised at the attention his woodworking receives. When he entered two of his hand-crafted tables into the 2007 Design in Wood competition held by the San Diego Fine Woodworking Association, he didn’t expect high recognition. To his shock, he won the Master Craftsman award. He was further shocked when he discovered the judges were so impressed with his work they created the category just for him.
“They said they didn’t want to hold me in competition with the rest of the people in the show because they felt it would be unfair to everyone else,” Plummer said.
Custom handmade furniture isn’t the only thing Plummer excels at. He also makes quality professional drums. He’s sold his fine handiwork to drummers from such popular acts as Dashboard Confessional, Pink, The Bad Plus and the Tonight Show band with Jay Leno.
Todd Created Wood, Plummer’s company, first opened seven years ago. He makes everything by hand, whether it’s a drum kit or an end table is a unique one-of-a-kind item.
Plummer, who moved with his family to Morgan Hill when he was 1, began his career while attending Live Oak High School. It was all on the off-chance that he and his friends loved skateboarding and didn’t have anywhere to ply their craft.
“Morgan Hill wasn’t the greatest for skating,” he said. “So, we’d start building little ramps. I just got into building stuff, using a hammer and putting things together.”
In college, Plummer figured the best place to funnel his passion for craftsmanship was by getting a degree in graphic design, but it didn’t gel with him.
“I hated it with a passion,” Plummer said. “Instructors told me I was too literal with being an artist.”
A friend convinced Plummer to try a furniture design class. Within weeks, Plummer was hooked. He instantly informed his parents that he was changing his major.
“After doing a few projects, I knew I wanted to be in woodworking,” Plummer said.
One instructor saw such great potential that she suggested he continue his education abroad. After much consideration, he agreed. His instructor listed countries with excellent programs. One of them was Sweden.
“My family heritage is Scandinavian and I wanted to see that place,” Plummer said. “Also, the more I read about it, the more I learned that Sweden is heralded as the Mecca of the woodworking trade.”
After making a few phone calls, one school, Capellagården, invited him to attend. “I ended up going there sight unseen,” Plummer said. “When I got there I didn’t know a word of Swedish and every course was in Swedish. I ended up picking it up pretty quick though.”
While in Sweden, Plummer, the only American in the school, learned woodworking from a new perspective. He was immersed in a culture with a rich tradition and respect for the craft unlike he’d ever seen.
“They’ve been mastering their techniques for centuries more than we have,” Plummer said. “They have programs based all around hand techniques. That’s not done so much here.”
He completed the program with a Journeyman Certificate and was awarded a medal endorsed by the King of Sweden for outstanding excellence of craftsmanship.
By combining the meticulous Old World techniques from Sweden with the heavy emphasis on modern technology he learned at San Diego State University, Plummer impressed people upon returning to the States with his unique hybrid style.
“Those couple pieces of furniture were awarded prizes because they’re contemporary designs using old techniques and traditional construction methods,” Plummer said, referring to the honors at the Design in Wood competition.
Plummer’s dream was to go into business for himself, so he designed his own studio to work out of, and Todd Created Wood was born. Initially he was only making furniture. But that all changed in 2005, when Plummer started a new hobby, playing drums.
Naturally, his woodworking mind wondered if he could make better drums than the store bought ones he was playing on. He started out by making a snare drum. His instructor complimented him on creating such a spectacular sounding drum and offered to buy it. But Plummer declined the offer.
“He wouldn’t let it go, so he ended up buying my very first drum,” Plummer said. “When people started seeing him playing on it, I started getting orders.”
“Todd built me the single best musical instrument I own, or have ever owned,” said Careless Hearts drummer, Eric Powers, “It was everything I ever wanted in a snare drum. At gigs, other drummers take notice and ask me a bunch of questions about it.”
Plummer intends to return to Sweden within the next year to obtain his Masters Certificate in woodworking, the highest level one can reach in the Swedish woodworking guild.
In recent years, Plummer’s business has had some difficulty, partially due to the economy, but also due also to his unusual approach to business.
“I’ve been struggling with business lately because I’m so diversified,” Plummer said. “Drummers want me to treat Todd Created Wood as a drum company. Furniture clients want me to treat it like a furniture company. But I want to treat it like a custom craftsman company. It’s hard to market that.”
Whatever the circumstances, or whatever the project, Plummer is happiest when he’s working with wood.
“I want to keep doing this, as an artist creating something,” Plummer said. “I invest a lot of myself into each project I work on.”
