Jack Straka

Originally from New England, Jack Straka set up his studio in Hawaiʻi, where he eventually retired as a Master Wood Turner. The woodturning community has Jack Straka to thank for taking Rebhorn’s basic idea and developing it into something far more useful. In honor of Jack’s development of a reversing chuck, it is referred to as the “Straka chuck”. Straka is very respected and admired and has influenced the work of a new generation of artists. He used only woods native to Hawaii, harvesting most of his material from windblown trees or stumps, and turning more than fifty different types including koa, mango, norfolk pine, and milo. His work has been widely exhibited, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Jack Straka's pieces have been very collectable and sought after, and since he is now retired they are even more so.