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l a n o i g Re VOLUME 13 NUMBER 45
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Wood carving and laser artist extraordinaire MOUSH SARA JOHN WEEKENDER REPORTER Dave McCourt’s workshop is located in the east industrial part of Stettler, isolated from the rest of the establishments with a fenced-in courtyard. It is easy to pass by and not think much about it, till you see an inconspicuous wooden board in a corner, which says ‘Woodcraft by Dave’. But once you are in the workshop its easy to tell that McCourt is a wood carving artist, with his workshop being his second home. Speaking about his growing up years and how he came about the craft, McCourt is non-chalant. “I grew up on a farm and started woodworking as a teenager, and I built a boat when I was 15 and did some marquetry, which is inlaid wood pictures,” said McCourt. “Woodworking came to a halt until I developed a career as a power engineer and moved to Stettler in 1968.” Once McCourt had decided to give woodwork a go, there was no looking back. “I obtained some tools and worked from basement shops, then a garage, and then to my present shop here in the east industrial area,” continued McCourt. “I developed a line of giftware, which combined wood-turning
and marquetry and sold these products in Banff and other locations until the demand for these products dropped in the 1990s.” An entrepreneur at heart, McCourt knew he had to improvise and so he ventured into laser. “I developed an interest in laser and in the early 90s purchased my fist laser engraver which improved my product quality and speed of manufacturing, besides also creating many new opportunities,” said McCourt. In the late 1990s, McCourt left his job at the Nevis Gas Plant and became a full-time woodworker creating a need for more markets. “I got into the golf industry making laser engraved bag tags and other products from wood and other materials,” recalled McCourt. “Our market was primarily the United States, but we shipped bag tags all over the world.” McCourt remembers the time when Celine Dion’s golf course in Quebec, Golf Le Mirage, ordered a huge number of bag tags from him. “One of the most memorable orders was for 10,000 bag tags for Celine Dion’s golf course in Quebec, that was quite something,” said McCourt. Besides making creative woodcraft, McCourt
Moush Sara John/Weekender reporter
Dave McCourt, master woodcrafter stands with his woodclock, a proejct 25 years in the making, in his workshop. comes up with ideas, which actually sell. “I came up with the idea of making cylindrical golf ball boxes made from wood veneer and started selling them to golf courses in Scotland, and this led to making
similar boxes for the whiskey business,” added McCourt. “The golf ball cylindrical box business has now changed to cookie box manufacturing, and we make thousands of engraved cookie boxes for a specialty bak-
ery in Calgary.” But with changing economy, where the Canadian dollar went down against other currencies, McCourt focused his energy on making stainless steel identification tags, besides laminated plastic
labels for the oil industry, which is still a major part of his business. Given the fact that McCourt had no formal training in woodworking, what he has achieved is remarkable. continued on page 2