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By Hayley Leatherwood R


ichly fi gured walnut frames a golden face. Although the towering fi gure is undeniably noble, the heartbeat chimes a gentle, comforting sound to the young man at a turning point in his career. The year was 1976 and the grandfather clock’s craftsman, Ben Imel, was


a CPA working at one of the top fi rms in Oklahoma. Reminiscent of his days as a teenager working on a construction crew, Imel built the clock over the span of a year in his spare time. Now complete, with each chime there was a calling he could not ignore: a calling to create. “My head said stay with accounting, it will be safe and secure,” Imel, a Central


Rural Electric Cooperative member, says. “My heart said take the road less traveled, follow your dream, and enjoy the journey. “That was about 40 years ago. I am glad I chose the latter.”


The Mark of a Craftsman Today Imel, master craftsman and owner of Imel Woodworks, Inc. based in Wellston,


Okla., moves with familiar ease through his woodworking shop, clearly feeling com- pletely at home. Even though machines echo their whirring tunes, his focus is easily fi xed on the blank slate before him—a gorgeous piece of curly maple—for he can see into the future what the piece will become. As a mathematician and an artist, his approach to each project is to fi rst create a design for the best function in the space. He then pursues each step of the fabrication process with precise care, ensuring the quality of the piece will last beyond a lifetime and maintain its elegance.


“I’ve done it for so long, I have actually had pieces passed on to the next genera- tion,” Imel says. “People will call me and say, ‘I have this piece from my parents, and it means so much to me that we now have it.’ “That longevity is exactly what I am trying to create.” Now because of computer-controlled equipment, furniture can have a lot of detail.


However, just because something can be done with a computer doesn’t mean it’s al- ways the right thing to do. Imel’s shop has a CNC machine if needed to cut some accurate parts, but he is also trained in the same type of hand tools craftsmen used in the 1700s and 1800s. “I can go wherever on the spectrum I need on a piece of furniture,” Imel says. “But I will always do enough hand work so there is no doubt it was built by a craftsman.”


Large Scale, Fine Detail


Some of Imel’s favorite pieces to create are large conference tables. Whereas a fi rm would provide the sizes they have available, Imel has the freedom to make each piece the most functional to the exact size needed and add detail to match signifi cant de- signs in the room. He constructed the base for the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives’


(OAEC) boardroom table, providing him great satisfaction knowing his piece will see activity for many years to come. “I imagine all the things that will be discussed there and decided,” Imel says. “To do something that enables people to accomplish their goals is very rewarding to me.” Northfork Electric Cooperative (NFEC), based out of Sayre, Okla., became aware of Imel through his work in the OAEC boardroom. NFEC Manager Scott Copeland and Board President Jimmy Taylor were in agreement they wanted a board table the employees and the board could look back at as an heirloom. “Everything the co-op has been and will be in the future will be guided by the men and women around that table,” Copeland says.


In talking with Imel and understanding how personally he takes each project, it intrigued them to have him design a special piece that would work for their needs. Imel designed a solid surface horseshoe-shaped table to give all seated members equal access and visibility.


NOVEMBER 2015 29


Hand-carved Wood Duck decoy. Courtesy photo


Maple wall unit. Courtesy photo


Imel signs and dates each piece he creates.


Large conference tables combine art and functionality.


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