Craftsman creates custom log furniture

WASILLA — Chad Stuber spends his summers hiking with a chainsaw clipped to his belt looking for fire or beetle-killed trees to transform into one-of-a-kind home furnishings.

Stuber owns Alaska Log Furnishings and handcrafts custom furniture ranging from common pieces like beds, chairs, sofas and tables to more unique requests, such as the cat tree he’s working on now.

“Everything I use is just dead or beetle kill,” Stuber said, standing among a collection of logs stored for future projects. “It’s ugly now, but we make it look pretty.”

Most of Stuber’s projects for customers start this way: “Can you make me a …?” And often, he said customers include a sketch of what they want, as with the couple that ordered the cat tree.

“People get addicted to bringing me ideas,” Stuber said.

After a dozen years of building log homes in Alaska, Stuber said it was a leap of faith that led him to turn his furniture-making hobby into a business venture in 2003. Now, about 90 percent of his work is building furniture for residential customers, although he has created furniture for several Alaska lodges, too, he said.

Off to one side, Stuber has a collection of odd-shaped bits he’s collected. Sometimes he sees a piece of timber and imagines it as the perfect shape for this or that creation.

“I’ll see a cool piece and think, ‘That would make a good headboard,’” Stuber said.

He said he hikes on state, Mat-Su Borough and private land — by permission only — looking for dead timber to harvest. Stuber said by removing the dead trees, he reduces fire danger and helps revitalize the forest by creating paths for moose and new tree growth for them to munch.

And while there are other people in Alaska who make log furniture, Stuber said his is the only showroom in Southcentral Alaska. The showroom at 7331 E. Palmer-Wasilla Highway is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays and closed on Sundays.

Stuber said the showroom gives people an example of what he can make, including custom beds, tables, bunk beds, railings, wood carvings of wildlife, picture frames, custom furniture, sofas, dining room sets, coat trees, desks, peeled nightstands, armoires, bar stools, toy chests and cat trees.

He is a one-man operation, although he has to hire contact labor occasionally to meet his deadlines. Stuber said he has orders several months out already, but has room for more.

Stuber said his customers often add more and more of his pieces over the years.

“Sometimes I show up to make a delivery and realize, ‘Gosh, I’ve furnished their whole house,’” he said.

For more information, contact Alaska Log Furnishings at 357-8030 or visit online at aklogfurnishings.com.

Contact reporter Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.