My Cherry Spice Rack: A Visit to Andrew's Wood Design

Andrew's Wood Design, on a stormy day

In the remote rural hills West of the small town of Penn Yan in Western New York, you'll find a small out-of-the-way cabinetmaking shop called Andrew's Wood Design. Andrew Sensenig is a young Groffdale Conference Mennonite man who left his apprenticeship under his great-uncle Alvin Horning five years or so ago to go out on his own.

A TOP reader (I don't recall who now) told me about Horning's Furniture not long after I moved to Penn Yan, in a comment. I paid the shop a visit, and eventually ended up ordering six pieces from Alvin—a custom-made bookcase/stereo cabinet, a pedestal card table, a glider (a type of upholstered rocking chair), two wooden chairs, and a beautiful Mission-style couch with burgundy leather cushions. Four of the six were built in Lancaster County and "imported" here from Pennsylvania by Horning's; and the first two pieces I mentioned above were built by Andrew when he was an apprentice at Horning's. After Andrew built his new shop with help from family and friends and struck out on his own, I got into the habit of visiting his showroom every so often. I enjoy seeing what he's been up to, and we always have good talks.

In the picture of the shop above, the building on the left is a horse barn and a garage for a buggy. Old-Order Mennonites, like the Amish, feel that reliance on the horse and buggy promotes a slower pace of life and a greater sense of community. The family house is out of the picture this side of the driveway.

Here's the showroom. Some of the furniture on display is for sale, other pieces are finished commissions awaiting pickup. Sometimes, between jobs, he'll build a series of small pieces for display and sale—recently, for instance, he turned out a number of coat-racks that are now for sale in the showroom (three are left—two can be seen in this picture). Very sturdy. I'm always tempted to buy things I see when I visit—even things I don't need!

The shop is adjacent to the showroom. Sometimes you'll see Andrew and Norma's small children playing in the shop—their young son has already built his first project, a toy tractor, with a little help from his dad—but Andrew's work is mostly solitary. I sometimes drive past at nine on a Winter's evening and I'll see the lights out in the shop burning bright.

Spices
A while ago I asked Andrew if he would build me a spice rack for my kitchen. I was getting tired of rummaging through the cabinets for specific spices and I couldn't find an attractive shelf that fit my space.

Andrew doesn't advertise. He gets business via word-of-mouth. You can tell how far out he's booked by the "Current Lead Time" clock in the showroom—at the end of October, when this was taken, his lead time was the end of March, so five months out. I've waited a little longer than that for him to get around to my spice rack.

Andrew made the Current Lead-Time clock so new customers won't take it personally when he tells them he can't start on their projects right away!

He knew I wanted to see him building it, though, so when he got the parts all made me called me so I could come out and watch.

He had already cut and shaped the pieces when I got there. I had chosen cherry as the wood, with brass rod stock. Gluing is done on a heavy bench, but he does it right on the wood top—any spilled glue is either wiped up while it's wet or scraped off after it dries. Every now and then he simply sands and refinishes the butcher-block top. 

The plans I had approved months earlier were lying on a nearby table. We went back and forth several times finalizing the design and measurements.

By the way, Andrew normally has to turn down commissions for such small projects. Little projects like this don't pay his time. There's a certain overhead involved in running a shop this size, and he needs to work mostly on larger pieces—for one thing, the proportion of client-time (such as working out these plans with me) to working-time is more favorable on bigger projects. The more days he can spend doing nothing but working, the better. He did this for me as a favor to a friend.

When I was there, he was in the middle of making a narrow twelve-leaf(!) dinner table, a traditional wedding gift for young Mennonite couples starting out. Newlyweds will normally be given the table with six, eight, or twelve chairs. However, he doesn't depend on the Mennonite community for commissions—many Mennonites inherit furniture, or already have woodworkers in the family! He mostly makes bedroom sets, dining room sets, and large pieces of custom furniture like armoires and entertainment centers for mainstreamers. He also makes commercial pieces, such as a really stunning reception area for a local business that incorporated a receptionist's desk, client consultation counter, and storage cabinets and drawers with with an array of slots for papers. A very handsome piece, custom designed to fit the space it was intended for.

On my spice rack, the top and bottom crosspieces are held in position with connectors called "biscuits." The slots are cut to fit with a special power tool. Because Andrew mostly builds much larger furniture, he seldom uses his biscuit joiner. When glue is applied to the biscuit, the moisture in the glue makes the biscuit expand so it fits the slot tightly. When the glue dries, the joint is very strong. Believe me, this is going to be one well-built spice rack!

Gluing the first side isn't difficult...

Lining everything up to assemble the other side is a little touchier. But this is a very simple project for Andrew.

Everything will get clamped...

"A shop can never have enough clamps," he says with a chuckle. That's all for this project for this day; now we have to wait overnight for the glue to dry.

The next day
On the way back in, I couldn't help but stop and take another picture of the amazing live-edge table currently in the showroom. It's made of hickory, black walnut, ash, cherry, steel, and epoxy.

Although he doesn't claim to have one, just from observation I'd say tables might as well be Andrew's specialty. I've seen some amazing ones waylaid in the showroom over the years on their way to their new owners' houses. It's always fun to stop in at Andrew's to see what's new; you never know what you're going to find.

Here's our destination today:

...The spray booth. In the foreground is part of a custom oak Murphy bed that's awaiting varnish. And by the way, those aren't windows in the spray booth: each opening contains two fluorescent bulbs, which you'll see more clearly in one of the photos below. Viewing the reflected light at an angle makes it easier to inspect the varnish as it goes on so he can judge the thickness of the coats he's laying on. There's also a powerful fan behind the latticework, and plenty of fresh air for ventilation. Today it's cold in the finishing area.

I spied this king-size bed waiting over in the corner of the finishing area. I mentioned that bedroom sets, dining room sets, and large freestanding pieces of furniture are the shop's bread and butter, but Andrew can do, and has done, virtually anything for clients, including replicating furniture from old photographs, building furniture to clients' own drawings, making new pieces that match the style of owners' existing furniture, or dreaming up things that are original.

Getting back to the spice rack, first the piece is sanded...

Then he asked me if I wanted it signed. Of course I said yes. When putting the shop's name on a piece, he makes no effort to make the lettering perfect or regular; he just writes in pencil in his own handwriting and then, with a sure hand, traces what he wrote with a router tip about the thickness of a Sharpie. I'll show you the result later, after it's stained. Each piece made in the new shop receives a sequential serial number, too. The spice rack is project no. 311.

Next, after I choose a stain color from samples, we go to the spraying booth with the spice rack. First any remaining sawdust is cleaned off the piece with compressed air. Then, stain is wiped on quickly and liberally, then wiped off, which creates a smooth, even coloring.

The stain reveals excess glue—but only on this one dado joint. A quick pass with fine sandpaper removes the excess glue, then the area is touched up with stain.

After a short wait for the stain to dry, finally it's time for the first coat of varnish, which is sprayed on. The stand the piece is on rotates, which allows Andrew to turn the piece with his right foot as he works the sprayer.

The spice rack will be sanded again, then get a second coat of varnish.

This was my final trip to the shop, to pick up the project. There was one more step to finish up—installing the hanging hardware. These are actually the wrong kind of keyhole hangers—these are for surface-mounting, and we went ahead and countersunk them—but they were all I could find locally. But now you can see the routed "signature."

And the finished project...
Ta-dah! I wanted it to be nice but not gaudy. It's not so important that it should call attention to itself, but it should be nice enough to be satisfying when you do pay attention to it.

I deliberately chose cherry and a medium stain because this will redden and darken slightly with exposure to sunlight over the coming years. Cherry ages beautifully. I have a cherry table in my front hall that was built in 1850, and it looks more like mahogany now.

If you should want one of these...well, you can't order one. Sorry, but as I said, Andrew isn't able to accept little jobs like this. However, he accepts commissions for larger pieces of furniture from new clients, and can ship furniture all over the U.S. Almost everything he does is custom, and he can accommodate your cabinetry desires in any way you want. If you'd like to inquire about a project, here's his card:

In case you might be wondering, I have utterly no pecuniary interest here. I'm just a friend, and a customer. I paid his asking price for the spice rack ($100).

Well, I do have one little interest, if I'm honest...I'll put in a little plug here for spices! Turns out spices are plant foods on steroids, so to speak, with concentrated amounts of the phytochemical goodies that God's plants give us. They're loaded with antioxidants. Who knew? Not me, prior to about two years ago. I never could really taste them all that much, so I just skipped 'em. Wrong move, turns out. Spices are great for you. I go through a lot of them now. So don't neglect your spices.

And if you ever call Andrew, please tell him Mike Johnston sent you.

Mike
(Thanks to Andrew)

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Romano Giannetti: "The table in foreground in the shop photo is simply stunning. Probably too big for my house (European sizes...) but what a piece of art."

James Bullard: "I love that table in the view of his showroom that has 'rounds' between two live edge boards. I'm guessing that the space around them is resin? and betting that a table like that is expensive but if I was ever to come by a substantial windfall I'd come down and have you take me around to his shop."

MarkB: "More photos of his work/workshop, please! As an erstwhile cabinetmaker, nothing is more pleasing to my senses than a craftsman's hands turning wood into heirlooms. Even a clean and new shop like Andrew's is a joy to behold, despite the 'standard woodshop image' being a dark and dusty place, with a wizened man, in a leather apron, surrounded by weathered tools, making nothing but a hard stare at the lens...."

MikeR: "What? No cinnamon (except in the garam masala), no turmeric!"

Mike replies: The cinnamon (I use Ceylon cinnamon) lives on the dining table, and I use turmeric root, which is kept in the freezer. I grate it onto my salads and throw the end stubs into my fruit smoothies. The turmeric root I buy comes from the country of Fiji! Supposedly the best way to keep turmeric root is in a bucket of clean dry sand, where apparently it does very well, but I haven't progressed to that.

David Dyer-Bennet: "Very nice bit of workmanship there! But where will you keep the rest of the spices?"

Mike replies: That was my cooking-enthusiast brother Charlie's thought...he sent me this picture of some of his spice racks, which cover the entire back side of a closet door. I gather this isn't everything. I do have a few more in a cabinet and on a rack above the stove, but as I mentioned I've just gotten into the whole spices thing, so I'm a newbie.

Comments

[Richard Parkin]

When you are out and about you may find this link useful. Spanish link but in English.
https://english.elpais.com/society/2020-10-28/a-room-a-bar-and-a-class-how-the-coronavirus-is-spread-through-the-air.html

[Albert Smith]

Interior shots... 14mm?

[No, all the pictures were done with my Fuji 23mm ƒ/2 (35mm-e). --Mike]

[Clayton]

I was thinking about your part of the world before reading this. Many years ago I read Vonnegut`s Guide To The Finger Lakes (Hocus Pocus). Yesterday I finished listening to the audio version. Both very good.

[Kye Wood]

My father was a Master Craftsman with wood. This reminded me of the years of joy spent in his company, being his offsider. As in "Here, hold this buddy", while he'd he'd live his ethos of 'if it's worth doing, then do it properly'.

[Thomas Walsh]

The one thing that caught my attention is that Andrew's shop is spotless. The floor is immaculate; not even a bit of sawdust. It is refreshing to know that this type of excellent
craftsmanship is still being practiced. Thank you, Mike, for documenting Andrew's work.

[That's funny, because when I tried to take an overall view of the shop itself, Andrew quietly objected saying it wasn't very neat. :-) --Mike]

[Peter, in Boulder]

Surely it occurred to you, Mike, that the lighting in the spray booth could make for some interesting full-body portraits. Just hang a roll of seamless in front of the rear vents.

I really enjoyed this article. There is something very satisfying about seeing a skilled craftsman at work.

[Peter]

beautiful story

[Graeme Scott]

Nice spice rack & nice photo essay Mike.

I've been getting quite enthusiastic about woodworking over the the last couple of years, ( Enthusiastic but not necessarily any good at it ).

If you're after some serious furniture porn check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7FkqjV8SU5I8FCHXQSQe9Q

( It's also beautifully filmed ).

[JimF]

We lived about an hour from Lancaster. It was a wonderful place to visit in the early 80’s. The Amish are still there but it’s overrun with house farms and tourists now. Not the same at all. As the Eagles said, “call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye.” The place didn’t stand a chance with towns named Paradise and Intercourse. The thing we miss most after moving is the local Amish market. Best meat and vegetables we ever had.

[Frank B]

You need to talk him into building wood 4x5 field cameras.

[I took the Wista out to show him! He was quite interested. --Mike]

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Your photo essay suggests just how hypnotic it can be to watch a skilled craftsperson do his/her thing, particularly when the final product will be yours. It’s good to see you stretching your photo legs on a little project. A very healthy effort ... as long as you’re all masked!

Thanks for sharing that experience.

[Jim Kofron]

That's a beautiful spice rack, Mike. Very impressive work! My brother-in-law (up the road from you in Avon) is starting in on woodworking---he's really enjoying it so far. He got bored with just brewing, which he does a fantastic job with!

[Jnny]

Horning is the name of a popular chair shop in Lancaster PA. My parents had a handmade Horning chair and table set in their dining room and my family has had a Horning chair and table set in our kitchen fro about 25 years. About half of our furniture in our house is Amish made.

[The name of Horning's Furniture was orginally Horning's Chair Shop, and many of the Amish and Mennonite families in this area originally moved here from Lancaster County. I wonder if there is any direct affiliation. Alvin has since retired and sold his business to one of his sons. --Mike]

[Terry Letton]

As a professional woodworker and refinisher I find this interesting. Much more so than billiards as a matter of fact. That is a nice spice rack and as you have reported, such small projects are not profitable to build as if you compare it to building a bookcase, the only real savings is the amount of lumber, all the joinery is pretty much the same.
You would have had one difficulty with me though. Thanks to a ‘friend’ I have for years had a policy that starting with my basic shop rate, if you watch it increases by 50%, but if you ‘help’ the rate doubles. Productivity goes down severely with a person other than a trained helper in attendance.
Andrew probably is happy with the free advertising you have given him though so I would say you are off the hook 😎
Terry Letton

[JoeB]

That spice rack is truly a fine work of art. The attention to detail in so "simple" a piece is telling. Each small detail enriches the whole. It is a work that will be passed down to future generations. I could imagine it in a antique shop in 100 or more years.

[JoeB]

I forgot to mention- a business card without a web site to refer to on it! Amazing.

[Kirk W]

I now have spice rack envy . . . and wood shop envy as well. I left my tools (and shop) behind for a cross-country move so this really brings back the itch. I agree 100% with Andrew, you can never have enough clamps!

[Ben]

For spices I’ve got to put a plug in for Penzey's. I’ve generally been quite happy with the quality of their spices over the years. I tend to buy the single spices rather than blends, but that’s just me. No personal interest other than being a happy customer :)
penzeys.com

A very nice spice rack and photo essay. Thanks Mike.

[Not THAT Ross Cameron]

Thanks for the photo essay - glad to see large chains of mass-market goods haven’t pushed these shops out of business.
Could I please ask a question, borne of ignorance, which I’m seeking to remedy. It’s about the use of ‘modern’ technology (I guess pretty much anything using electricity or mechanical power) within these communities. Are some forms of technology not permitted (cars) and others allowed, or does it depend upon the given community and their particular beliefs?
Sorry, I’m trying to adhere to your policies on comments, and hopefully ask a question in a respectful way.

[You are. Don't worry. As I understand it, the various rules are determined by each group. Generally, Mennonites are a bit more permissive, Amish tend to be more strict. Most of the Mennonites around here are horse-and-buggy, but many use electricity for their work, and in some cases in their homes for lights. Amish men have beards (but never mustaches, which were considered to be for military men in Germany before they came here), Mennonites are often clean-shaven. I had a Mennonite housekeeper who drove a car and used a cellphone--different group. Andrew gave me a nice little book about Amish beliefs, telling me there is a good deal of overlap between what is outlined in the book and the beliefs of his group.

I'm just repeating what I've heard--I'm not knowledgeable about Mennonite beliefs! --Mike]

[Helcio J. Tagliolatto]

wow! This craftsman should restore old large format cameras!

[William A Lewis]

Exquisite photo essay, sir. Thank you.

[Romano Giannetti]

I would have put the engraving and the signature on the front part of the spice rack... it's a bit of a pity to have it hidden forever.

[Brendan G]

Hi Mike, 2 of my favourite things, craftsman at work and spices. After quietly reading your blog for many years I do feel as if I know your “personality” which is why I have to tell you I’m surprised, extremely surprised. You are a man who has takes a great interest in the many minor details of life, without looking back I particularly remember and enjoyed your journey with coffee, machines for roasting, different beans and the many different nuances of production to deliver a perfect brew, all lost on me, I drink tea (UK subject). There are many more examples which for me, makes your blog so interesting. My surprise is simply this, you appear to have mass produced store bought spices, what i ask?? And you store them in glass jars and freely admit that they are exposed to direct sunlight. Mike, I can hardly believe it. Could I be so bold as to recommend your turn your attention to sourcing your spices in a similar manner to how you once sourced your coffee beans, you will not regret this and nor will your taste buds. As a lead off and example, I buy all my spices from a company called Seasoned Pioneers here in the UK (they do ship to the US) so have a look for some inspiration, I’m sure there are US based equivalents. www.seasonedpioneers.com Unfortunately their spice packs (metallic pouches to protect from sunlight) may not fit so neatly into your beautiful new rack! Regards Brendan.

[anthony]

Great work, Mike; I thoroughly enjoyed the whole piece, both writing and photography....

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Very nice bit of workmanship there!

But where will you keep the rest of the spices?

[Zack Schindler]

What was the price for the live edge table?

[I mentioned it in the next post...it's $8,000 with the six matching chairs (the seats are rustic hickory like the table) and the matching bench (which is another plank from, it looks like, the same log). It's the most expensive piece he's ever offered, so it might be there a while! --Mike]

[John]

Mike is obviously smarter than me. Many years ago, I attended my one-and-only photography workshop, run by David Hurn of MAGNUM. Among several lightbulb moments, one stunned me by revealing my lack of awareness of what I was seeing all the time in newspapers, magazines and books.

Hurn drew three rectangles, then filled the first with hangman style stick figures. (Spectators at an event, such as sport or a dance.) The second had two figures interacting with each other. (Boxers or a couple of girls dancing round their handbags.) The third showed a close up of an excited human face. (“Oy ref, are you blind!!?” or whatever.)

As a unit, Hurn called these a ‘Three Picture Story’. I was dumbstruck on realising this was the familiar grammar of cinema, without the necessity of cut-ins and cutaways to move action through time and space.

Hurn defined the three shots as - Establishing, which sets the overall scene; Medium, often showing the significant action; with the Close up tending to add symbolic emphasis. Together, the three are more effective at showing what is important, while providing visual variety.

He also was also critical of so called ‘projects’ that go on and on without a defined end. Linking this to photographing for magazines, he pointed out that they often used odd numbers of photographs in a single article. Three, five, seven up to rarely, as many as thirteen. The photographer would know in advance how many pictures were needed. The example he gave was of a pub, with seven pictures being wanted. Draw a grid four wide and seven deep. After research, select seven subjects within the pub, then in decreasing order of importance list them in the first column. Then photograph a ‘Three Picture Story’ of each of the topics, ticking off Establishing in column two, Medium in column three and Close ups in four. These don’t have to be done sequentially, but when all seven topics have a completed ‘Three Picture Story’ the magazine has sufficient material for an effective and varied layout.

This doesn’t prevent spontaneous reactions to the unexpected, but as check-list, mental or otherwise, does ensure a full and varied coverage. I have found it especially useful in situations I am not familiar with as it pushes me to clearly analyse both what I am photographing and how effectively I have covered it.

David Hurn is also the only person I have seen go through a stack of forty full frame prints on the same size paper and unerringly identify those made with a Leica, from those made with an Olympus, Cannon and Pentax. I was so gobsmacked I failed to ask him how he did it!

[John]

Mike, this is not a comment, but a heads up to an email on information which has the potential for a post, I sent you. As I suspect such things get ignored I'm using this as a means of communicating. Won't do it again.

https://pixii.fr/why-pixii

This seems to, at least in part, be an answer to your request for a simplified digital camera.

By separating the body from the software, with software updates being ported to the body via the user's smart phone, it seems to be a viable attempt to avoid the obsolescence of existing cameras. Ground breaking?

Though not owning a smartphone, my wife does, and I've already got the M lenses. It might tempt me to finally, to slightly embrace digital.

Also, a guy who helped GoPro to move from a niche product to a worldwide phenomena is now on board with it.

Best wishes,

John

[Scott McDonough]

I think I may have been the person to recommend Horning (although I think I mistakenly called it Hornung in my comment). Much of my living/dining room was built by Alvin (cherry table, 4 cherry bookcases. He (and his apprentices) do amazing work. I used to love to visit his shop when I lived up in Rochester.

[Yes, Scott, it was you! On Sept. 13th, 2015. Thanks very much for the tip, it has paid off in several ways. You did me a good turn. --Mike]