Kerrville craftsman donates maps made of various woods

Kerr County officials Buster Baldwin (from left), Tom Moser, Pat Tinley, Jonathan Letz and Bruce Oehler accept Ben Graves' map. Kerr County officials Buster Baldwin (from left), Tom Moser, Pat Tinley, Jonathan Letz and Bruce Oehler accept Ben Graves' map. Photo: Zeke MacCormack / San Antonio Express-News Photo: Zeke MacCormack / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Kerrville craftsman donates maps made of various woods 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

KERRVILLE — To say Ben Graves enjoys working with wood is like suggesting that summers in South Texas tend to run warm.

The retired oil refinery fire chief spends endless hours over his scroll saw, crafting intricate puzzle-style maps made from different colored woods.

Graves, 80, has donated about a dozen U.S. maps up to 3 feet long to area schools. He's also made county-by-county maps of Texas that size for friends.

“It's a hobby that I dearly love,” said Graves, whose father was a carpenter. “It's very relaxing. I have no music. No nothin'. Just me and my saw. Very relaxing.”

Ingram Elementary School Principal Eddy McNamara appreciated finding one of Graves' maps displayed there when she was hired last fall.

“Anyone would be privileged to have a special piece of artwork like that,” she said. “The kids really like it.”

Graves pulled out all the stops for his latest project, a county-by-county map of the nation's 48 contiguous states made from more than a dozen types of wood, which he donated Monday to Kerr County.

“I can only imagine the number of hours that went into making that,” Commissioner Jonathan Letz said of the roughly 8-foot by 5-foot map that was exhibited before the court's dais. “It's quite amazing.”

Guided by detailed paper maps, Graves spent months in his workshop cutting out the 3,046 counties, sanding them to ensure a perfect fit, gluing them onto a backing board and then giving his masterpiece a shiny urethane finish.

“It's as exact as I know how to make anything,” Graves told commissioners.

While it's unclear where in the courthouse the map will wind up, County Judge Pat Tinley told him, “We'll find a place where it can be prominently displayed.”

Not big on publicity but cajoled by his fans into submitting to an interview, Graves traced his wood-cutting hobby to his inability to remain idle.

“I can't sit and watch TV. I've got to be doing something,” he said.

He even takes his beloved scroll saw on vacations, where he cuts maps for new friends.

Graves' hobby began about nine years ago after moving here from the Corpus Christi area, where he'd built his family a home that son Bendy Graves, 53, called “awesome.” “My dad has a special gift,” he says about the woodwork folk art.

“He'd rather be doing that than anything else,” Bendy Graves said. Graves' second wife, Dottie, doesn't mind him disappearing for long periods into his workshop. “She likes it,” he said. “It keeps me out of her hair.”

That's true, said Dottie, 77, who prefers to quilt or sew.

“What he does is fabulous,” she said.

Ben Graves hasn't decided what to tackle next with his scroll saw. “I don't think I can top it,” he said of his last project.

But his proudest achievement is keeping all his fingers intact after so much time spent near a whirring blade.

“No scars. No nothin',” he said, showing them off.

zeke@express-news.net