Expert: Jamie Yocono - 9/13/2004

Question
Hi Jamie, I was a former industrial arts teacher. I graduated from Fitchburg State College in  1975. I now operate a home improvement business outside Boston, MA. I'm looking for a custom cabinet manufacturer to build an entertainment center for a customer of mine. I could make them myself I just don't have the time to build them. Can you recommend any? Thanks, Danny

Answer
Hi Danny,

The city of Boston is rich with great woodworkers, so you shouldn't have much problem locating a builder for that entertainment center. I don't know someone specifically, but I recommend that you visit the website of the Furniture Society at www.furnituresociety.org to find someone.

The Furniture Society is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization founded in 1996, whose mission is to advance the art of furniture making, by inspiring creativity, promoting excellence, and fostering an understanding of this art and its place in society. Anyone who works with wood is welcome, and you might want to consider joining. Membership dues are very reasonable, and you get a listing in their yearly directory, which is really handy for locating a builder, such as this situation.

There are two ways you could find a builder on their site. In the "Forums" section, you can go to the message boards for Studio Furniture and post some sort of message about looking for a Boston woodworker. Or there is a directory that lists woodworkers in various parts of the country. I did a quick search for the Northeast and found MANY people in the Boston area. Posting a message in their Forum area might bring you better responses, since you will be getting responses from people who are interested, rather than cold calling every one in the Boston area.

Good luck, I hope this helps. Feel free to write back with any other questions you might have after reading this.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV