From shop helper to shop owner
Foundwood began in the 1970s with Dave Homcy, who combed beaches and neighborhoods for discarded wood and turned it into useful things. His daughter Jen grew up as his shop helper, learning that good material is everywhere if you know how to look.
After Dave passed in 2003, woodworking became something more for Jen: a way through. She moved to Hawai'i, built a career in marine science and education, gathered tools, and found kindred spirits in local builders running a sawmill. In 2013 she relaunched Foundwood under her father's name and ethic.
Today the shop mills its own lumber on a Lumber Mate 2000 sawmill, air-dries slabs from three months to three years, and finishes every piece by hand: planed, shaped, inlaid with turquoise, chrysocolla & lapis, and sealed with food-safe mineral oil and beeswax.
