Imagine walking into your average discount furniture outlet. That 6' curio cabinet standing over in the corner looks pretty nice from the front door, so you walk over for a closer look. A nice wood grain, a rich reddish-brown stain. The inside has nice glass shelving and mirrored backs.
Then you look closer. The doors are nailed together, and are already showing sag and poor fit, even for sitting in the display room. Then you look around at the back of the cabinet, pressed as close to the wall as the employees can manage.
That rich grain ends abruptly at the side of the cabinet, and you find the unmistakable edge-on view of particleboard.
You realize that the wood-grain finish is merely contact paper. You continue to look in disbelief at the back of the cabinet. The back plate, so responsible for the stability of the cabinet, isn't even particleboard or decent-quality hardboard. The back of the cabinet is cardboard, stapled into the particle-board rails of the cabinet. You realize that the purpose of those mirrors isn't just to reflect your favorite coffee mug from college or your daughter's third-grade clay project. The mirrors, just like the wood-grain contact paper, serve to hide the awful construction quality, as cheaply built as the builder thought they could get away with. Now, the price tag hanging on the door of the cabinet tells a different story. It seemed so reasonable before.
As you can probably tell, I've had that particular experience before. Now, as my children have grown and moved on, I've had a chance to put together the woodshop I've always wanted, and have been producing cabinets and shelves for local customers.
I take a much different approach than a mass-production shop. My work is patient and methodical. You will never find particleboard or contact paper on any of my work. I do not use staples or nails, just good-quality carpenter's glue and screws. I believe that my pieces are meant to last a lifetime, and I have no desire for anyone to discover the result some shortcut that may have been taken decades prior.
I have recently begun a new project constructing children's furniture, called Thumbs(tm). These pieces are constructed with the workmanship and quality that I strive for in my other work, but are sized appropriately for children. Follow the link on the left side to the Thumbs(tm) gallery to see these pieces.
I have included on this site some samples of my work, and will continue to update my site as new works are finished. Feel free to browse my gallery, and to read about the different advantages and services I can provide in the construction of the woodworking you've always wanted.
--Dennis Yager