Traditional agriculture and furrier craft has been in his blood since childhood, his grandfather Imrich Vilhan from nearby Korytárky was also a furrier who tanned and sewed hides. However, when Jozef was still a young child, his grandfather was strong, and he did not dedicate himself to production when Jozef later became interested in furrier craft, his grandfather was weak and no longer focused on production. Fortunately, in Látky he met furrier master Július Hazucha-Poľko, who showed him and passed on all his knowledge of processing hides and sewing fur garments. He has been actively involved in production since 2002.
He is personally most attracted to traditional agriculture. Along with his parents, he also raises a hundred sheep on thirty hectares of land, mainly the original Valachian breed, once the most widespread in our region, but now almost extinct. He is one of the few who processes hides from them in a traditional way and also uses sheared wool. Additionally, he receives hides for processing from breeders in the area who do not know what to do with them, so he cannot complain about a lack of material, according to his own words.
An enrichment of his activities was the start of collaboration with furrier Lukáš Jurč from Hriňová, thanks to whom he became even more acquainted with the history of his region and more aware of the value of his direction towards traditional forms of farming and production.
Primary for him is the care of animals and then the production of hides. Sheepskins are processed as needed. The key is the masterful skinning of the animal. The hide is then either dried or can be processed immediately. First, it is soaked, degreased from fat and residual meat, washed, dried, and then the processing of the hide can begin, i.e., applying a mixture of water, salt, formic acid, and barley bran or bran. This mixture is left to act on the hide a few times, and in between, the hide is pulled with a skiving knife. After this series, the hide is neutralized with a mixture of oil and water, to which peroxide is added for bleaching effect. Then, the hide is left to dry in the shade. The processed hide can be set aside for long winter evenings for further processing by softening and combing the fur. Jozef Kučera leaves the finished hides either in their natural color or dyes them in a decoction of woad or other natural substances.
He also engages in the production of hairless hides, called jercha, which are used for stitching, applications on coats, or made into separate products. The difference in processing is only that after removing impurities from the hides, he soaks them in a solution of milk of lime, where the hair begins to separate from the hide.
In addition, he also processes sheared wool – after washing and sorting it, he teases it, cards it, and then spins it into yarn on a spinning wheel or hand spindle. He starts in the fall during grazing when there is less work with the animals, in winter his friends from the theater group, in which he performs, help him with processing.