Featured Small Business – Matt Murphy Woodworking, Reading

For a person who enjoys working with his hands and with wood, selling software may not fulfill the creative side. That’s where a fun side-gig comes in for Reading’s Matt Murphy. His woodworking journey began four years ago when he was living in Denver. Although he had recently early a degree at UMass Lowell and had a job in software tech, he was drawn to a premier woodworking program of study at Rock Community College. There he met people from around the country who shared his interest in the craft.

Matt has become particularly skilled at taking rare, exotic and beautiful wood and making beautiful, rare and exotic writing instruments. “Thuya Burl is one of my favorite woods. It smells amazing, is extremely rare, and is absolutely gorgeous. Snakewood is also beautiful every time. It is extremely dense, but because of that it is also extremely susceptible to cracking.” It can take about two weeks to complete a Snakewood pen. Here is a video of the challenge of working with Snakewood.

On average, a less challenging wood pen can be made in about three hours. Matt likes to take his time hand-sanding to a very high grit. Although sanding is tedious, the results are worth it. And he is proud of the finished items.

Each pen may have a back story, depending on where the wood is from, or if it is rare. Matt explains, “One of my personal favorite pens was made from my childhood tree I had in my backyard growing up. It was a majestic American Black Walnut tree. As a child, it provided ammunition for walnut battles. As an adult, it has provided me with material to continue exploring the wide world of wood.”

In addition, Matt can custom engrave the pens he carves. When his niece turned one, he used a lovely Ambrosia Maple to make a special pen with her name engraved. She can’t write her name yet, but he believes she will appreciate it when she’s a bit older.

Matt adds, “I like making pizza peels, cutting boards, and other small projects from wood. I hope to get into larger furniture-type projects soon.”

If you think one of these special pens would be the perfect gift for someone (or yourself), Matt can be reached through his website: mattmurphywoodworking.com. If you are interested in his process, he has some short videos on YouTube and TikTok where he is happy to share his love of woodworking.