Nahant woodworker to give town a labor of love

NAHANT – Keeping tools sharp is a key to woodworking, woodworker Dave Lazzaro believes.?I usually keep mine sharp enough to shave with them,” he said as he demonstrated by shaving a hair on his arm. “I’ve had a few nasty cuts and once I severed a tendon in my thumb that required surgery.”Lazzaro is carving a town seal out of pine that will hang on the Wharfinger shed on the town wharf, but his real love is carving birds and whales.Lazzaro, 67, was born in Lynnfield, but he has lived in his seaside home in Nahant for 45 years.Lazzaro, who has been a woodcarver for more than 40 years and is a part-time bartender, said he studied wildlife since his youth.He described himself as an avid hiker, fisherman, backpacker, sailor and skier.His love of the outdoors is what led him to explore woodcarving.The town seal Lazzaro is making is a replica of the weathered worn seal that hung on the old shed at the wharf for decades.?I’ve been working on it for six weeks already,” Lazzaro said.The town seal depicts Poquanum, a Nahant sachem, accepting a suit of clothes from Thomas Dexter in exchange for the little peninsula.It has become a family project, Lazzaro said his wife, Chris, selected the letter style and his son, Matt, who is a trained illustrator, helped with anatomical details.?I started by taking tracing paper and making a rubbing of the old town seal,” he said. “I wanted to make this one the same size. The challenge was getting the letters to fit because the letters on the old seal were not uniform in size or spacing.”Lazzaro said he will apply a couple of coats of sealer after the carving is complete, followed by several coats of exterior paint because the seal will be exposed to the elements.?After everything else is finished,” he said. “I’ll do the trim with gold leaf.”Lazzaro displayed a sea turtle he had been working on when he was asked to make the town seal.?This is the first sea turtle I’ve carved,” he said. “I set it aside to do the seal.”Nestled on a shelf next to the sea turtle was a 24-inch humpback whale, which retails for $375.?I like whales,” Lazzaro said. “I go on whale watches. They are so huge and graceful.”He held a sperm whale he carved with individual teeth carved from bone.?I took a beef bone and boiled it down,” he explained. “Then I soaked it in bleach and carved the teeth.”On the mantle, whales and ducks share shelf space with angels.?My wife likes angels,” he explained. “I carve a lot of Christmas things now too. At Christmas the mantle is covered with Santa’s.”Lazzaro said most of his customers have heard about him through word of mouth, but his wife set up a Web site at www.davelazzaro.com where customers can peruse his carvings and purchase products.Selectman Richard Lombard said Lazzaro offered to make a carving of the town seal, which would retail for approximately $1,500, for the wharf.?He is a great woodworker,” Lombard said. “He volunteered to carve the town seal so it can be mounted on the new building at the town wharf. It’s going to look so nice.”