Dave Guettler began his journey into the craft after buying a house in San Fransisco. He told himself he could either go buy furniture from the local chain dealer, or “go buy some tools and start making mown stuff, and eventually I’ll have a whole house-full of furniture.”

When he opened River City Bicycles in 1995, he found that the only way to get the numerous fixtures he wanted for the shop was to build it himself and in his own way.

“I start with a pretty clear vision of the piece or fixture. I do very little design work beforehand, but just scribble down some very rudimentary dimensions and then bring in some wood and start cutting. I have found that I can design as I go — maybe just draw out the complicated joinery — and it takes me very little time to finish projects, maybe only a week or two. I know this isn’t how most tackle projects, but it is a system that has proven successful for me.”

Here’s a short video produced by the folks over at River City Bicycles that sheds some light on the work Dave has done in the store.

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