Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Taccini.
Dan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story starts in February of 1987. I had been working for an airfreight forwarder at Logan airport for the past eight years. Not satisfied where this path was taking me, I decided to make a change in my career which changed my life.
I had always been interested in woodworking but never thought of doing it as a full-time job. I asked my friends if they knew anyone who was looking for help. A friend who was in the carpentry industry suggested I talk to a man who was looking for help in a cabinet making shop. I walked into Weymouth Woodworking and interviewed with the owner, Bob Fink. I had no experience other than what I had learned on my own and somehow convinced him to give me a chance. “I’ll give you two weeks and then I’ll decide if I will keep you on,” he said. It was a small, three-man shop that produced high-end cabinetry and I was able to learn from the ground up. Over a relatively short amount of time and a lot of hard work I was able to learn every phase of woodworking from design, layout, making the cabinets, doors, moldings, spray finishing, and finally the installation of the product.
That was 27 years ago. Today, I produce more detailed and higher quality cabinetry and furniture than anything I had done as an apprentice to Bob.
In reality, I got into this business by mistake and was able to find a job which I absolutely love to this day. I consider myself a very lucky man.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
During the 1990 recession, I took over the woodworking business from Bob and renamed it. I started by buying a table saw and some basic tools. DWT Woodworking Company was born in the basement of my home in Randolph.
With no formal business education, I had to learn to run a business through trial and error. My work with Bob taught me a lot what not to do in running a business. Some of it were just hard lessons learned. Certainly, starting a business during a recession had its own challenges.
The first year, I found myself continually going back to Weymouth Woodworking to use the tools and equipment that I had learned on. Bob suggested I move my operation to his shop in Braintree. So, I did. Thirty years later, I still work in the same building. We still use the same equipment I learned on (a 1946 Tannewitz table saw, and a 1920 Wysong and Myles mortising machine amongst many other older machines), in addition to many newer pieces of equipment.
DWT Woodworking – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We still proudly consider residential work as one of our greatest passions–kitchen renovations, fireplace mantels, bookcase units, entertainment centers, and even libraries–to name a few examples. We even designed and built a complete entryway door unit for the main entrance of home. We also carry two high- end lines of cabinetry for our customers to choose from.
Over the years we have expanded heavily into the commercial end of the woodworking business. We’ve designed and built many tables and complete bars areas for restaurants in and around the Boston area. One of our biggest customers is one of the major universities in Boston. We are commissioned to design and build cabinetry and furniture to match existing older cabinetry, as well as create new cabinetry to upgrade areas. We are often called to repair furniture and cabinetry.
We build in the old style with no computer driven machines anywhere in the shop. All of our projects are drawn full-scale on plywood showing all the project details, right down to the exact dimensions, and is presented to our customers for approval. These drawings then become our blueprint to build from. All of the wood that goes into these projects are hand-selected. We keep our customers informed every step of the way and encourage them to visit us at the shop to see the progress first hand. We spray finish everything we build in our finishing room at the shop. Custom matching stains and making new wood look old is all part of what we do every day. Finally, our installations are second to none and every piece is scribed to fit perfectly.
Customer satisfaction is paramount and we take great personal pride in exceeding customer expectations.
Contact Info:
- Address: 21 Elm Street, Braintree, MA
- Website: dwtwoodworking.com
- Phone: 781 843-9490
- Email: dtaccini@verizon.net
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
