Mantle

Hi my name is Brad Vickery
I am a third generation fine woodcrafter with 50 years of experience from an old Pioneer family (mid 1800’s) from Glendora Ca. My Great Grandfather started the ball then my Grandfather, then myself taking over the 2000 sq ft. shop, and fabricating fine furniture, Architectural mill work, cabinets, Hardwood flooring for the interior design industry. It was an old school education with my very patient mentors and Grandfathers insisting I learn all the old methods of hand tools, their maintenance and sharpening before I was allowed to use any power tools. That means at age six I was using hand planes, saws, chisels, etc. Joinery skills such as dove tailing, doweling, mortise & tenon using hand tools were all put to the test. Today I perform those same tasks but have kept up with technology and have even developed. In the mid 1980′s I was an Architectural specifier or a high end wood flooring firm, and was involved with award winning deigns including a new floor installed in the White House Oval Office of the President of The United States. That floor is destined to remain for history. I put the family shop in part time status in 1986 as I was consulting and running various furniture facilities across the country. This included being PIA Wood Products Supervisor in California Prisons utilizing Inmate labor to produce hundreds of thousands of dollars monthly in the manufacturing of Institutional furniture. By definition Institutional furniture sees more wear in a month than most furniture will see in its lifetime, meaning it is made strong and with longevity in mind. After retirement from PIA It has been temp work managing projects such as the fire doors at the San Diego Convention Center and consulting and plant engineering for various firms. The consulting and Plant engineering would involve designing wood industry plants production flow. That would be ridding factories of antiquated equipment, and retooling with modern day devices including CNC automation. Well now I’m have started my senior years, and currently live on a small Rancho in the high desert country, named, “The Via Con Dias”, near Joshua Tree CA. I am at this time a seven times Grandfather and interested in doing my own unique, “Piece of a kind” design in my one man well equipped shop. I have promised myself & my family, that I will only take on work that enables me the time, and has the personal fulfillment of fine Craftsmanship joinery. That is a passion I can pass on to my work. If I work on a project for you will benefit from that passion and experience.