McLaughlin Woodworks

03/31/2026

Built for a concert pianist in Bethesda, Maryland. Hard maple, ebonized exterior. Five dovetailed drawers with cloud-lift sides so sheet music slides out with ease.

Every dimension was designed before a single board was cut. There wasn’t a spare centimeter of unused space inside that cabinet.

That’s what designing first looks like.

03/26/2026

Every piece starts with a conversation and a sketch. This is Kyra’s café table — black walnut, knock-down trestle base, through-tenon joinery. Designed from the ground up for her space. This is how we work.

01/22/2025

Meet Gus, the newest member of the McLaughlin Woodworks crew. Gus is an American Foxhound I adopted in mid-October after he was rescued from the flooding in Asheville caused by Hurricane Helena.

His brother, Henry, was adopted by my brother, and the two still love to wrestle every chance they get. Gus has already settled into shop life—he gets along great with Walter, the other shop dog, and has made himself right at home.

That said, he’s already earned a bit of a reputation for sneaking off with tools or pieces of lumber when my back is turned. He keeps me on our toes.

01/08/2024

The American Chestnut, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful woods to work with. But the lumber is difficult to find other than reclaimed lumber from old barns. The species was decimated by the chestnut blight. I was once told that the common saying about chestnuts was “a squirrel could travel from Main to Georgia, and only touching chestnuts would never touch the ground.” According to the article it could take centuries to restore them to the American forests.

Lumber, shelter, delicious nuts—there was nothing the American chestnut couldn’t provide.

12/25/2023

Months after the Linden Oak was cut down, chain-saw carver Colin Vale memorialized Montgomery County’s ancient white oak tree with a bench.

12/08/2023

Trees are so cool!

“…soon after the flames were gone, California’s coast redwoods began calling upon a remarkable energy storage system helping these trees survive even after fires burned away every life-sustaining green needle.”

Raging wildfires in 2020 transformed Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County from a towering forested cathedral into a standing boneyard with some of the oldest trees on the planet seemingly burned beyond survival.

11/10/2023

Happy 248th Birthday to my beloved Marine Corps!

Just as so many great stories begin, so does this one… On this day in 1775, there were a bunch of drunk guys in a bar in Philly (it’s a classic). They formed the Continental Marines as a ship-to-ship and amphibious landing fighting force. The Continental Marines were disbanded after the Revolutionary War, then later reformed as the United States Marine Corps, and would go on to become America’s finest fighting force.

I still remember standing outside those doors at 19 years old and looking up at the sign. Happy birthday, Marines. And happy Veterans Day to my brothers and sisters in the Navy, Army, and Air Force.

07/21/2023

Once again, it’s time for me to put my passion project aside to make room in the shop for incoming clients. One of these days I will actually finish the dovetailed ash dining table and benches… and when I do, it’ll be GLORIOUS!

If you have need for custom built-ins or handcrafted furniture drop us a line. Our build schedule is filling up quickly!

07/10/2023

Just cut up approximately 120 board feet of ash logs. I can usually yield more on the mill but these things are so far back in the woods I think I’m going to have to use the chainsaw mill instead. I’ll likely come up with less.

I’m almost done with the ash dinning table, should I build another one?

06/28/2023

PICTURE OF THE DAY: Walt the shop dog barking at the rain. I'm shutting down a little early today. I'm tired of working on this dining table and my heart is not really in making charcuterie boards right now. I'll be back tomorrow to finish the bracing for the table.