Student hones woodworking skills

With limited space and a whole lot of passion, there is no end to the craftsmanship of Southmoreland junior, Alex Busato. Working in the heat of his basement is no easy task, especially with the lack of foot room of only ten square feet.

For Busato, these are merely a few obstacles in the way of an important, practically essential part of his life. His woodcrafting career had only started as recently as three years ago, but his work already shows how proficient and talented he may really be.

“After I had shop class in sixth grade I got a scroll saw that following Christmas, and it kind of took off from there,” said Busato. “I tried calling some local shops for scraps of wood, and that’s all it really took.”

Busato’s parents have had it easy when it comes to what to get him for Christmas since then; he is always getting more crafting supplies and tools.

“He’s used that scroll saw we bought him to the point where it was worn out, and we’ve bought him another one now,” said Alex’s father, Mr. Michael Busato, who teaches chemistry.

Mr. Busato said Alex started his obsession with one topic at a time when he was young. “First it was a dinosaur phase, and he was obsessed with dinosaurs to the point where he could sight recognize 100. It was ridiculous.”

Alex Busato said he moved on to bugs, fish, origami, and now woodcrafting.

Most of Busato’s work is a type of practice called “intarsia” which is a form of crafting, where in this case two different shades of wood are cut to form the same image, the differing grains, colors, and cuts are used to detail the piece in a way that it shows depth or texture.

“I began making puzzles,” he said. “It came somewhat naturally. I’ve been working a lot on things we (family) could use around the house: shelves, a toilet paper holder, and some bowls.”

Busato participates in an arts night event annually where he crafts something “live” and passes off raffle tickets to sell the piece. Busato wants to have his work noticed, if not for charity, to get his name out to the public.

“It’s not that I view it as an occupation, I see it as more than a hobby,” said Alex. “I’m a freelance photographer but with wood,” said Busato.

Mr. Busato says Alex “gets all of his creativity from my wife. They are very narrow in focus when they get something they want to do, but it’s very selective.”

“I can probably see him doing this for the rest of his life. I told him he has to go to college, and if he doesn’t use it, to have something to fall back on, just so he can be successful one way or another,” said Mr. Busato. “Once again, I’m totally supportive of that. He does love to do everything the hard way, but it’s his time. I think he realizes what he majors in won’t make him a lot of money. That’s where woodworking comes in. I tell him to study what he wants to study, and then do whatever he likes after.”

Busato’s work is as original as he can possibly make it.

“When you put a lot of time into something like that, you don’t want it to look like you just bought it from the store,” Alex said. “I go for the effect of something you couldn’t ever buy. I try to make it so unique it doesn’t seem as though it can be replicated. I like the creativity I can put into it.”

Busato is amazed by the effects of his craftsmanship; it has helped him to connect with people he didn’t believe he’d carry on with. “It’s a nice way to connect with people and make friends, even if they’re primarily older craftsmen, it’s still nice.”

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