When playing
The market has changed since Don Andrew Kates was featured in Woodshop News,
but his rough-and-tumble way with furniture remains the same
BY JENNIFER HICKS / STAFF WRITER

Some pros gasp at Don Andrew Kates’ woodworking practices. This period-style furniture maker in Batavia, Ill., mauls fine hardwoods and is anything but nurturing to his tools. He sees handmade furniture as inherently flawed, a view

fortunately shared by his clients.

“What success I’ve had is due entirely to my customers. I am lucky enough to have some very, very good customers who appreciate my work and all that goes into it,” he said.

But sales have declined in the past two years for Kates, who was featured in Woodshop News in January 2004.

He suggests the sluggish economy is a major factor, and that the market has decreased for his niche style.

“People don’t have as much disposable income as they once had and many of the traditional period furniture buyers are aging out. Unfortunately, they’re not being replaced by younger people.”

Traditionalist by heart

Kates’ woodworking philosophy is the opposite of those who prefer surgically sharp tools. He copies the traditional styles of the 18th and 19th centuries — Shaker, Queen Anne, Chippendale and William & Mary — and masters capturing the physical changes that have occurred in originals over