Tom Oehler
Homestead, Iowa
After retiring, Tom and his wife, Angie, moved to Homestead from Minnesota where he had worked in Public Health Laboratories for 38 years. An Iowa native, Tom grew up on a farm about 70 miles north of Amana and always had an interest in woodworking. When asked by the Amana Arts Guild in 2014 to study coopering (the classic craft of making buckets), Tom accepted the challenge and learned to make wooden buckets as they had in the Amana Colonies in the past. He completed his first bucket of Iowa Red Cedar in December of 2014, and at current count has completed over 30 buckets made in two sizes. Tom makes his carefully crafted buckets from red cedar, oak, pine and black walnut.
Tom is open to having guests tour his Homestead basement workshop and visiting with them about coopering and woodworking. Currently, in addition to making buckets, Tom also creates some classic Amana favorites from wood such as Christmas Pyramids, tulips (they bloom year round, decorative rabbits and dove candle holders, a variety of kitchen utensils and the every appreciated oven rack pulls. If you are a gardener you will want to see his Garten Schnurs, and he also makes holiday wares, children’s toys, cutting boards, and other treasures.
If you would like to tour Tom’s workshop, he can be contacted via phone to make an appointment at 319-225-8065, or contact him by email at tandaoehler@gmail.com
