RICARDO CÁRDENAS BAEZA
Ricardo learned about woodworking practically by accident. He was 14 years old when he was working in a blacksmith shop.
One day they told him that they needed an assistant in a varnish workshop and he was encouraged to go. There began his interaction with wood.
His brother-in-law Salvador Vargas had a lathe workshop and invited him to join. Ricardo accepted, even though he earned more as a varnisher.
One day his brother-in-law told him that he no longer wanted to work the lathe. He offered Ricardo the possibility of paying him rent for the workshop. After a while, Ricardo put together money and decided it was better to buy that workshop from his brother-in-law; Workshop in which he still works today.
At the beginning, I did a lot of "cheap" work... it was the classic lathe that was used for living rooms, kitchens, (furniture legs, turned bunk beds)... railings... Little by little, certain clients began to arrive who asked for a finer work. They were focusing on what customers asked them to do.
He considers Cedar and Mahogany as two of his favorite woods; cedar, being a soft wood, lends itself to better shaping and making finer things, and mahogany too, although is a bit harder.
Beech is another wood that he likes a lot, it is a wood that has almost no pores, needs very little varnish and is also very beautiful in nature.
“Yo siento que los mismos clientes me han exigido, y me han llevado a dónde ellos han querido porque piden trabajos que uno nunca ha hecho, pero es cuestión de pensarle un poquito y aventarse a hacerlo”.
— Ricardo Cárdenas
THE LATHE WORK
Ricardo really enjoys working turned wood, he has never sought to do anything else. He has other hobbies including blacksmithing, however none is as satisfying to him as the lathe.
In the workshop today his great-nephew helps him. He previously had a couple of young helpers as well, but he felt they didn't enjoy it.
“La madera es un material muy noble, muy moldeable… yo pienso que la capacidad del artesano no tiene límites… y la madera tampoco lo tiene… entonces, cuando se complementan, se pueden hacer muchas cosas”.
— Ricardo Cárdenas
EL SIGNIFICADO DE LAS HERRAMIENTAS
Ricardo valora mucho las herramientas de segunda mano. Y cree que tal vez por que han cerrado muchos talleres de torno, hoy en día hay mucha herramienta usada en buen estado en el mercado. De algunas de las herramientas que tiene, sí sabe de su procedencia. Saber un poco más de ello, le causa cierta emoción y respeto.
Ricardo feels that a lot of the second-hand tools he has have a special presence.
Every time he gets a used tool, he fixes it, puts its chisels, its ends, sharpens them and prepares them to work with them... but before putting them in the lathe, he says a little prayer for those who used them.
One of his favorite second-hand tools is a compass. Unfortunately recently the lathe 'threw it away' and one of its parts was lost and could not be found. He felt a certain sadness, he tried to fix it, he replaced that piece but he feels that it was no longer the same.
“Siento que la herramienta de segunda mano siempre viene impregnada de algo bueno, finalmente se usan para trabajar… entonces siento que siempre traen algo bueno”.
— Ricardo Cárdenas
EL TORNO EN EXTINCIÓN
En MERAKIA hemos buscado arduamente torneros de madera que trabajen con alta precisión y calidad y nos ha sido difícil encontrarlos. Afortunadamente dimos con Ricardo en Ecatepec, una persona muy comprometida con su oficio y con gran atención al detalle.
COLABORACIONES
Productos en los que colabora Ricardo
