Bob Berghorst turned back the clock in one section of his shop, with old machines he has restored and shafts, pulleys, belts and beams salvaged from old factories.When Bob Berghorst, of Zeeland, Mich., went looking for equipment to create a woodworking shop as it might have appeared in 1900, he didn’t have to go very far. Because in that era, nearby Grand Rapids was the hub of the largest concentration of furniture factories in the country, all of them stocked with robust cast-iron machines driven by line shafts. Berghorst, who built prototypes and models for the furniture industry and then ran a business making custom plywood, had acquired and restored many old machines over the years. But when he decided to turn back the clock on one section of his metal-clad, pole-built shop, he began frequenting old factories and salvaging shafts and pulleys, belts and beams, lights and windows. Working amid the whirring belts is transporting, he says: “It’s an amazing feeling.” He invites others to visit the shop ([email protected]).

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