Thirty Years!

It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that I started building furniture full-time 30 years ago.

But in another sense, it feels just about right. There’s great confidence and satisfaction at having come so far from my early efforts. And the past few years have been particularly satisfying and full of exciting changes.

The recession certainly had an impact on my furniture orders, but the writing and teaching portions of my career have grown dramatically. I have been teaching at most of the country’s top woodworking schools and have increased my workshop offerings at my shop here in Chicago as well. I wrote a new book (my fourth), The Foundations of Better Woodworking, and released a companion video as well. I’ve recently written more than a dozen articles for major woodworking magazines, including a cover article for Fine Woodworking.

This change in the balance of my work has also given me a little more time to develop new designs, and these efforts has been very fruitful. My new rocking chair and the Toccata Chair (above) are both from this period. Lots of other exciting ideas are percolating along in various stages of development.

I’ve made major changes to the shop as well, most notably with the construction of four terrific new workbenches that help me in my work and provide better work stations for students in my classes. I’ve also added and upgraded some of my other equipment, which has improved shop capabilities, speed, and safety.

On a personal level, the kids are now both off in college. What might have been a tough transition (for us, the parents) has been made easier by their delight in being on their own, and our delight at having them out on their own.

So many thanks to my family, friends, customers and students for 30 years of support!