Celebrating Norwegian-American Heritage: Ray Kjos, Master Woodcarver and Kubbestol Artisan

13th Mar 2025

Wanda Hanson

When you see local Ray Kjos sitting at Norsland Lefse and having coffee with his friends, you’d never realize that behind that quiet demeanor is a skilled woodcarver. Ray Kjos has lived in the Rushford, Minnesota area most of his life. In 1975, he took over the family farm. In 1990, about seven years before it was time for him to retire, Ray decided he was going to need a hobby in retirement. His good friend Millard Vitse was in a wood carving club in Rochester and helped Ray get started with basic tools and books.

After a few years, Ray became interested in particular in acanthus carving, a Norwegian style of carving. Acanthus originated in Greece and gained popularity in Europe and Scandinavia. Acanthus is a plant with roots, stems or vines, leaves and terminates with a bud. Ray took classes at the Vesterheim complex in Decorah, Iowa. His instructors were Hans Sandom and Torger Lirhus who were from Norway.

Ray explained that what he enjoys most about carving is that “You get into your own little world—in your happy place, concentrating on what you’re doing.” He’s made treasure boxes, wall hangings, plaques and kubbestols using the acanthus style.

Kjos has made over 20 kubbestols; some for his children and some for orders. Kubbestol is a Norwegian word which literally means log chair. To start a kubbestol, you first need to cut an eight foot log, cut it in half, strip off all the bark and let the log segments air dry for about three years. If you try to work on the log when it is still wet, it might tend to crack as it dries. The cracks will need to be cut off before any carving is done. If a piece is already carved and then cracks, you will need to throw it away. The log cannot be dried in a kiln. Crystallization often occurs in kiln dried wood which would affect the carving.

According to Ray, to begin a kubbestol you first need to get the bottom leveled. Once it is cut level, Kjos measures up from the bottom to mark the 17 inch height of the seat. Ray sets the round seat of the kubbestol into the log just as cravers did in earlier times. The back of the kubbestol flares out. A finished kubbestol ends up being about 36 inches high.

The first tool used is a chainsaw, then a right angle grinder and eventually hand carving tools. Ray uses his power tools in his garage workshop, but once he is ready to carve with hand tools, he works in his studio in the house so he can enjoy his music as he carves.

When he started carving kubbestols, Kjos intentionally chose to carve acanthus designs on his. Local kubbestol carver Halvor Landsverk usually carved a central motif such as a dancing couple, a stave church or a Viking ship. Not wanting to be accused of copying Landsverk, Kjos opted to use acanthus carving on his. The acanthus style is easy to adapt to fill in a space.

Ray no longer carves kubbestols for orders; the heavy log is difficult for him to work on. He is, however, working with his son on a kubbestol when his son comes to visit. Kjos is also trading talents with another woodworker. Kjos is teaching him to carve a kubbestol and, in turn, Kjos is learning to make furniture.

Another Norwegian wood craft Ray enjoys is kohlrosing which means decorating with coal. Ray uses kohlrosing to decorate bowls and plates. Kjos had seen kohlrosing demonstrated at the Vesterheim; he bought a kohlrosing knife and used a DVD to learn the craft. The kohlrosing knife is not sharp; no wood is removed from the item. The knife is used to incise the design into the wood. According to Ray, the biggest thing to worry about is going too far; a line cannot be removed. Rosemaling designs as well as floral designs are the most common motifs that Ray uses. In order to see the delicate details, Ray uses a magnifying visor as he works.

On lighter wood, Ray darkens the design by rubbing coffee grounds into it. On darker woods, he uses charcoal briquettes which he hammers to a fine powder in a plastic bag. The coffee grounds or charcoal powder are pressed into the design with his fingers; Ray uses mineral oil to seal the color into the design.

Kjos has made ale bowls for his family. The two-handled ale bowls were traditionally used for Norwegian weddings and other ceremonies. The handles are either dragon heads or some sort of non-typical horse heads. As people sat around a big table, they would take a drink from the bowl, hold the bowl with one of the handles and pass it on to the next person who grabbed the other handle. Ray’s granddaughter used her ale bowl at her wedding for the wedding toast.

The wood Kjos uses in his carving comes from his farm—basswood, walnut, oak and butternut trees all grow in the farm’s woods. He has a ready supply of wood to keep him carving for years to come!

Ray, as a good Norwegian, makes time for coffee each day. You can often find him at Norsland Lefse’s café. Some of his favorites at Norsland are the lefse wraps—both the hot breakfast wrap and the cold lunch wraps. He enjoys the scones and pastries from the bakery.

The Kjos family has always enjoyed Norwegian baking at holiday times—krumkake, sandbakkels and rosettes. A long-standing tradition has been getting the extended family together to bake and enjoy their own lefse for the holidays. Norsland Lefse is Ray’s source for lefse the rest of the year.

Ray always liked the RømmeGrøt that his wife Ada made; it was less sweet with very little sweetener added. Ada and Ray used to make their own flatbread and hardtack and enjoyed herring in wine sauce on soda crackers.

When Norsland Lefse was trying out a new lefse machine, they asked Ray and his coffee group to taste test the lefse the machine produced. These expert lefse eaters gave two thumbs up to the lefse produced with the new machine!

Check out these pictures of Ray and his work!

Ray Kjos in his wood carving studio in his home.