TORRINGTON — Depending on the type of frame a customer is looking for, one purchased at the Riverton Frame Co. could be crafted from remnants of a historic bridge or some other piece of history.
Partners David A. McKay and Leo MacDonald, who held a grand opening in their Main Street space Jan. 30, work with modern and much older wood.
Pointing to shelves of boards, McKay said the pieces, which were purchased from an antiques dealer, ranged in age between 150 and 300 years old.
To assure the grain and color of the wood is not altered when it is made into a frame, McKay and MacDonald won't paint it.
"It just shows how great condition of the wood is, to feature it," McKay said.
On a table on the other side of the room, MacDonald, showed boards he salvaged from a covered bridge that burned down in Sheffield, Mass., in the 1990s.
"The color and patina in the wood and the grain, you just don't get that in modern wood," he said. "You can still see the char."
They also make frames with modern wood, which they paint.
In addition to making frames, MacDonald makes Native American flutes. He had some on display in the shop and played one during the grand opening.
Using logs he finds in the woods that beavers have already done some work on, MacDonald makes the instruments by hand. He doesn't even use a lathe to get the perfectly circular shape or to hollow the flute out. Instead he relies on a hand tool that he uses to dig out the wood, scooping in circular patterns as he works.
He said if he worked on a flute every day, he would get through one in about a month. But instead he does it as a hobby and he gets to them when he can, so it takes longer to finish.
MacDonald said his father was his inspiration for getting into woodworking and he started making flutes when a friend bought one in the western part of the country.
"I just felt in love with the sound," he said. "It's just so hauntingly beautiful. And I'm the type of person because of my dad and how I grew up, if I want something, I figure out how to make it myself."
He went online, to the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C., got some measurements and carved his first flute. Now, he makes them as a hobby and for friends. He has also learned how to tune them for different sounds by burning the holes.
MacDonald said he loves to make what he calls a flute walking stick. His own design, it serves as a walking stick, but the top comes off and is actually a flute.