6/21/2006 12:35:00 PM Woodworkers build reputation on custom quality
Former mining engineer Fred Kimball turned his one-man carpentry business into a semi-production cabinet shop with four full-time employees. Kimball Woodworks produces cabinet interiors but generally contracts out to other shops for cabinet doors. – Photo by Kasia Pierzga
A table saw wails as a worker pushes through a piece of plywood at a busy cabinet shop in Port Townsend.
The plywood being shaped at Kimball Woodworks will eventually become part of the interior of a new cabinet in someone’s kitchen.
The home-construction and remodeling boom that has taken place over the past few years has resulted in lots of new business for local cabinetmakers, shop owner Fred Kimball said.
Sixteen years ago, when Kimball decided to leave behind his work as a mining engineer to start a career as a carpenter, he was willing to take just about any job that came along.
“I did a lot of crawling around under people’s houses,” he said with a laugh.
These days, Kimball spends much of his time in front of a computer screen, designing semi-custom cabinet systems for homes in Jefferson, Island, Kitsap and King counties and beyond.
One project he landed was building the cabinets for the home of a wealthy, high-profile CEO with plans to retire at an 11,000-square-foot waterfront home in Jefferson County. The cabinets for the home called for 120 drawers.
Following Kimball’s computer-generated plans, the four workers in the shop produce the parts for the cabinets, which are then shipped to their destination for assembly and installation. Another part-time employee helps keep the books.
“We’re not a factory, but we have a very production-oriented process,” Kimball said.
But while the shop’s projects move through in an efficient manner, there are still enough problem-solving challenges to keep the workers engaged.
“They’re not just standing there putting boxes and hardware together,” Kimball said. “Everybody gets something fun to do.”
Kimball’s shop specializes in producing the cabinet housing, leaving the production of the doors to someone else. Contracting out for the doors is cost efficient because it reduces the amount of wood waste produced, keeping the cost of each project down. It also frees up more space in Kimball’s shop so the workers can focus on producing the cabinet housing portion of each job.
“The shop’s not big enough for all the work we get, so by outsourcing we can do more,” Kimball said.
Word of mouth is key for Kimball’s shop, though in recent years he has benefited by developing a relationship with Ross Chapin, a well-known architect based on Whidbey Island.
Word-of-mouth marketing
Gary Jonland’s woodshop is perched high above Port Townsend’s San Juan Valley, with a panoramic view of the Olympic Mountains that makes you wonder how he ever gets any work done.
But Jonland is plenty busy turning out handcrafted cabinetry for what he describes as “swanky” projects designed by high-end architects in Seattle.
When the Chicago native first arrived in Port Townsend some 30 years ago, his dream was to build wooden boats. But with a town full of wooden-boat dreamers and a need to make a decent living, he found he was spending more and more time working on carpentry projects for friends and neighbors.
Over the years, he has created a successful business building custom cabinets.
“It’s all one-of-a-kind,” he said. You have your hands on every piece.”
Some of the projects he takes on can occupy the better part of a year, such as an entire houseful of custom cabinets and built-in furniture. And you can bet that a homeowner with enough money to pay for that kind of work has something a bit bigger than a cottage.
Word of mouth is key to developing a reputation and landing new jobs, Jonland said. But it also helps if you’re good at self-promotion – something about which the low-key carpenter said he’s always felt a bit bashful.
“It’s all about schmooze, and I’m not really a schmoozer,” he said.
The toughest challenge in being a custom woodworker is coming up with a price quote. Since each job is different, figuring out how long it will take to complete is difficult, he said.
“If it’s something you haven’t done before, you’re just guessing,” he said. “Human nature is optimistic, and what you thought would take you one day might end up taking two.”
Like Kimball, Jonland finds that contracting out parts of many jobs is a way to take on more and bigger projects.
The biggest source of work for Jonland is contractors, though he also gets a considerable number of jobs from architects.
For most of his career, he’s been a one-man shop. While he has at times had an employee to help out, managing someone comes with its own challenges, he said.
“It has to be a perfect fit,” he said. “If you’re spending all day with the same person in a small shop, it can get a little tight sometimes.”
Unique challenges
In a compact woodshop packed into the basement of a house near the Jefferson County Courthouse, custom woodworker John Marckworth pauses from his work to offer a brief tour.
The walls are hung with hand tools of all shapes and sizes, from routers and trimmers to clamps – lots of clamps – all neatly organized and ready for the next job.
In the 20 or so years that Marckworth has been crafting cabinets and furniture in Port Townsend, the market has changed considerably. Customers who once came to him with more mundane projects are now looking for something special.
“Their expectations are different from what you traditionally saw in Port Townsend,” he said. “They’ve been exposed to high-end work, and that’s what they’re looking for.”
Many of the projects Marckworth has done in Port Townsend have involved repairing and restoring historic homes and buildings. In recent years, the influx of wealthy retirees with plenty of cash to spend on home-improvement projects has meant lots of jobs that require creativity, experience and know-how.
“This kind of work is never boring,” he said. “You don’t necessarily make a lot of money doing it, but at least every work day is fun.”
Marckworth said he enjoys the challenge that unique jobs present.
“It’s great to see the old houses brought back,” he said.
Some projects come with unexpected challenges, like the time 15 years ago when Marckworth was called upon to rebuild the doorway outside the commissioners’ chambers in the courthouse.
“The archway was irregular, so I couldn’t just build it and then bring it in,” he said. “It had to be built in place.”
To land new projects, Marckworth said he doesn’t do any advertising. As with Jonland and Kimball, it’s pretty much all word of mouth.
“Every once in a while you start to look ahead on the calendar and wonder where the jobs are, but something always seems to come through,” he said.
To fill in the gaps between some of his projects, he spent time writing a book aimed at do-it-yourselfers who want to build their own outdoor furniture. The book, complete with photographs, diagrams and step-by-step instructions, is to be published in November.
Marckworth’s shop is kind of like a secret cave. There’s no sign outside to indicate the industrious creativity that takes place within.
Many of the local, one-person shops are like that. Each woodworker toils away in his or her own space, emerging only for meals and time with family.
Woodworkers Show
To bring together some of those highly skilled hermits, Marckworth and several other woodworkers have teamed up to resurrect the Port Townsend Woodworkers Show, which for a while was staged on an annual basis but has been on hiatus in recent years. The event is expected to draw professionals not only from Port Townsend but from around Northwest Washington.
“The idea is to provide a no-stress environment for people to show off their stuff,” Marckworth said. “And it’s a great opportunity to meet the people who are doing the work.”
And for the woodworkers themselves, it’s a chance to connect with folks who share the same passion but who often spend most of their time working separately and alone.
“We all tend to be pretty reclusive and tucked away, he said. “Unless we happen to meet up by chance at Edensaw, the show is really the only venue that would bring a group like this together.”
The event is set for the weekend of Nov. 4-5 – the same weekend as Port Townsend’s monthly Gallery Walk.
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