Ray Buffalo, born 1959 in San Jose, California, has been involved in woodworking since age 13. He learned basic woodworking skills in his Father's cabinet shop. Machine shop and metal fabrication training was acquired during high school at San Jose Regional Vocational Center. In college, Ray took science, engineering and mathematics courses outside his art major. He studied and received a B.A. in Studio Art with an emphasis on oil painting from Santa Clara University in 1991. Since then, Ray has supported himself woodworking in a variety of small independent shops around the Bay Area and San Francisco. In 2004, he acquired his own woodworking shop in San Francisco's SOMA. He continues to oil paint and is represented by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists' Gallery at Fort Mason Center.
Ray's shop is equipped with both classic hand tools and modern woodworking machines ranging from a Northfield 20 inch band saw to a T-26 tilting arbor Martin shaper and custom made large capacity US Concepts arch moulder. A small machine shop with 14 x 40 tool room metal lathe and milling machine, as well as, a welding and light fabrication area are included in the shop space. This gives the shop a wide range of custom fabrication capabilities used primarily for shop fixtures and custom furniture components.