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KMR WERKES

KMR WERKES is a custom fabrication workshop specializing in unique metal and wood creations.

About Us

KMR WERKES designs and fabricates custom furniture and unique metal and wood pieces for living and work spaces. Located in central Massachusetts, we work closely with clients throughout the region and country to craft one-of- a-kind design concepts.

We use a wide variety of materials -- from metals such as steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and copper -- to wood, including hard and soft woods, reclaimed, and live-edge -- in addition to glass and natural stone.

KMR WERKES specializes in beauty and functionality, bringing creative visions to life.

Photo Gallery

Custom furniture

One-of-a-kind: Coffee Tables, Benches, Office Chairs, Desks, Bookcase, Chairs, Conference Tables, and more!

Metal fabrications

Unique Table Legs, Railings, Gates, Plow Frames, and almost anything with metal!

Carpentry

Custom Wood Projects:

Horse Stalls, Sliding Barn Doors, Playscapes, Chicken Coops, Staircases, and more!

Unique Home Décor

Mirrors, Frames, Corkboards, Mobiles, Signs, Nameplates, and whatever else you can envision!

Testimonials

Daniel Ian Smith, M.Arch., NCIDQ

As a professional interior designer, I have very high standards—and Karl met or exceeded them all. I needed a very specific (and unusual) custom shelving system for an entire kitchen remodel, and Karl did an amazing job. The shelves were a huge focal point of the design so getting them just right was pivotal to ensuring the project was a success. Not only was the craftsmanship and final product perfect, the process was as smooth and seamless as, well, an exquisitely honed piece of wood furniture. Karl is reliable, communicative, realistic, and good-humored, and even though we coordinated from afar without meeting in person even once, all turned out great. Thank you, Karl, for a wonderful collaboration!

Dena S. -Office Furniture

Karl took on our unique office requests with enthusiasm and confidence that he would deliver more than we even expected. And did he ever!
We wanted to use reclaimed wood to build industrial type desks and tables for our office. As a group, we came across pictures online of what we had in mind. When Karl and I first met, I could immediately tell he was excited about the opportunity to design and build these desks for us. He took the time to ask the right questions, meet with our office and determine what our needs were.

It was like Christmas when he delivered our first desks! We couldn’t be happier and the workmanship is remarkable! He is clearly detail oriented and takes enormous pride in his work. He built a 12 foot conference room table that is the envy of our whole office complex! People stop by just to look at it.

We just found out we are being relocated within our office and we will of course be looking to Karl to help us continue our design.

I whole-heartily recommend Karl. He is a true craftsman.

Mark S. -Stainless Hidden Gates

I have a high porch that we store things under, while convenient it is unsightly. I wanted to create a skirt around it but still be able to use the storage. Karl came to my house and helped me work out a design, He had several good ideas, and we ended up settling on a two sets of large doors for the back and small side door. Everything is made out of stainless steel (my request as i wanted it to last), Everything was beautifully welded and ground smooth. the craftsmanship was well above what i expected as it was going to be hidden. When he came to drop off the door he even stayed for an hour to help me hang them.

Jami T. -Walnut waterfall desk

Exceptional craftsmanship and an impressive attention to detail. From the initial estimation process to final production, delivery arrangements and beyond, every step was thorough, thoughtful and executed to the highest of standards. Who could of thought that an "across the country" phone, email and text collaboration between a designer's eye/vision (myself) to the craftsman's hands/production (Karl) could be so smooth? :-) From physically selecting my live edge slab at a local MA mill via online pics, to shared sketches of my vision, to the physical production and beyond - working with Karl was a fun and rewarding experience. Karl is a very communicative craftsman with a good eye and sincere willingness to please! AND, I cannot express enough about how impressed I was with his final shipping and crating process (to ensure a safe transit). I must admit I had my doubts as to whether a package so heavy and large could make it from MA to NV without issue. Well needless to say it did. The attention to detail and common sense approach Karl applied to physically make the crate my piece shipped it was flawless. He color coded screws, secured everything on an elevated floor and implemented secure strapping to provide a virtual foolproof safe transport. If you are considering a custom wood working project, and looking for a "last a lifetime" level of production and quality you can count on - Karl is definitely the guy to call! The end result speaks for itself. Though no picture can do the justice of physically seeing and feeling the satin smooth hand rubbed finish you can expect. Beautiful work, fair pricing and passionate/proven processes...

For sale items that are built and ready for delivery.

Please use the contact form on the menu for any inquiries about these items.


Bar Stool - 15" base, 12" top, adjusts from 22" to 30" in height


Wallnut coffee table


Maple and polished aluminum bench


Rustic maple burl coffee table


Maple console table


Black birch end table


End Table Pair - brushed stainless steel legs. top made from reclaimed local MA timbers. $1650


Custom Family Established Wall hanging - Walnut Stained Maple Carved. $90


Maple and Walnut layered Jewelry. Earings $50 - Bracelets $70

Signs.


Artist Statement

Andrei Kersha

When the temperature is up, ordinary metals take life. They become something else we don't see everyday. They become soft like clay or flow like oil. They glow with brilliant radiation that the eye can not see, but you can feel. A furnace is noisy like a jet engine and fiery hot, but when the burner goes silent, there is a moment of peace, and a Zen-like focus comes over me, as I move the white hot crucible. It is dangerous work but one of great beauty. As you look closer at the frozen metal you can feel the ghost of its violent, molten state. My love affair with metal began at a young age. My mother (a Metalurgical engineer and a machinist 1st class) brought me to work to see "the 9th", at the time, the biggest blast furnace in the world, part of the Krivorozh-Steel. It was an awe inspiring experience, a vast network of monstrous steel structures rising to the clouds, belching smoke, steam, hissing pipes, rivers of molten iron and trains ferrying red hot ingots as far as an eye can see. Growing up in a poor, single parent household I cast my own toy soldiers and worked with metal early on, as most kids in the Ukraine were expected to grow up and work at "the factory." I started learning metal milling machines and lathe at 9. Violence of fire and forcing metal into different shapes suited my personality. Since then, I've built numerous metal casting furnaces, in many varied styles and media, casting parts from synthetic resins and plastics to metals like aluminum, bronze, cast iron and multiple alloys in between. Working in synergy with other artists like Karl, and materials such as wood, renewed my appreciation for realizing "kokoro" (the heart of) metal, for "when we let things convey unto us, that is true artistic expression."

Karl Recknagel

Wood and metals have inspired me since an early age. I grew up exposed to carpenters, mechanics, machinists, and a myriad of other tradesmen. My grandfather owned his own antique belt driven stationary saw mill and milled his own lumber and I was in awe. From my earliest recollections I knew that I too wanted to work with my hands and expose the inner warmth and beauty found within the tree. I have been working with wood and metals for 30 years and yet every day I continually seek to find that inner beauty. From felling and milling, to turning and carving, to scraping and shaping, the process is filled with beauty and innovation. I have been using my metal fabrication and finishing skills to contrast the organic shapes, warmth, and colors from the tree with the cold, hard industrial ruggedness of modern industry. Combining mine and Andrei's knowledge, expertise, and passion have allowed us to create cast aluminum and wood sculptures that are not only beautiful, but are also very functional. Each piece is a truly unique masterpiece!

Working in collaboration with fellow artist Andrei Kersha we continue to push the boundaries of abstract but functional furniture and sculpture design. What follows are our artist statements from our current gallery exhibit with the Davis Art Gallery in Worcester MA.