Sachse resident Matt Beal installs an acoustic panel in a custom credenza he has been building in his Lavon shop for the past several months. (Once finished, he plans to enter it in a juried furniture show. )
When the workday ends for Sachse resident Matt Beal, his career in software security fades into the background, replaced by the whir of saws and the smell of freshly cut oak. The 38-year-old is the craftsman behind J. Beal Fine Furniture, a business transformed from a passion project into a side gig with award-winning recognition.
The seeds of his woodworking passion were planted decades ago. As a child in the 1990s, Beal watched master carpenter Norm Abram on PBS’s “This Old House” and “The New Yankee Workshop.”
“That really was kind of the peak of craftsmanship in that time,” he said.
About 10 years ago, around the time his children were born, Beal decided to try his own hand at woodworking. His first major purchase was a band saw he found online a week after his son’s birth.
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