rough pays off

Kates prefers to keep his period style pieces in the same dimensions as the originals.

time. Every piece, however, is built as sturdy as new.

Kates, 50, grew up in Carlinville, Ill., and enjoyed being a musician in his early adulthood. He trained to be a psychologist at several educational institutions, including the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin. He was a researcher and clinician in that field for 18 years. In time he

reached the university level, as he calls it, and learned that a certain personality was required of him — a political poise that was to him a corporate game he was not cut out for.

Furniture making had been his favorite past time and hobby. In 1995 he left his lucrative psychology career and turned pro. He settled on making peri-

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Don Andrew Kates

Name of Business: D. Andrew Kates, Cabinetmaker

Location: Batavia, Ill.

Age: 50

Specialty: 18th- and 19th-century furniture reproductions.

Years experience: 10 as a pro. Kates came to furniture making after an 18-year career in psychology. Shop size: 1,000 sq. ft. Quotable: “The manufacturing mentality has no place with my clients and I have avoided that attitude, which has kept them coming back for more pieces. I would probably have more success if I automated some of my processes, but I don’t believe art can be automated. So I rely on a small group of people who appreciate the time-honored techniques of hand-built reproductions.”