After winning the 2024 #YoungWoodPro contest, Joel Keener, a 24-year-old student at Thaddeus Stevens Technical College in Pennsylvania talked about his work, his education, and his future in the industry. 

(Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length. You can listen to the full interview on the Woodworking Network Podcast.)

Will Sampson: Tell me how you got started in woodworking to begin with, Joel.

Joel Keener: I started back in high school. They have a little shop there and do the woodworking program there. So, I did that for one year, then needed to fill up my schedule again. I really enjoyed it. So, I did it the second year and then the third year, when I was graduating, I didn’t have anything else to fill and I was like, I really love that class. I remember it was always one of the classes that I enjoyed the most, it never felt like work, just felt like a good time, good, fun. And so I did that for three years. That’s really what got me into realizing that I really just loved the whole concept behind it, thinking and the math and all  — everything involved in that.

WS: And so then you went from high school on to Thaddeus Stevens College and the woodwork program.

JK: Yes. I graduate in May with an associate’s degree for cabinetry and wood technology.

WS: Let’s talk about the piece that you won the contest with, tell us about it. It’s a mid-century modern liquor cabinet and a record player. 

JK: Yeah, it could be considered an entertainment center. I call it a mid-century modern credenza bar and record cabinet. It is a cherry case that sits on tapered cherry legs that I made. So, it’s basically a case in a sub-base and then inside is a tray and also a dovetail drawer that is meant to store the glasses and everything. On the doors, I put offset knife hinges on, MDF doors with makore veneer on them that I folded over at the back, which is also MDF with makore.

WS: One of the things I know that the judges were impressed with is the intricate details of the piece. And you know, particularly you mentioned the knife hinges. Those are definitely fussy and present a challenge for installing them, but they look so elegant in the piece.

JK: Yeah, a lot of jigs to make sure that would work.

WS: And then you also did things so there wasn’t a lot of visible hardware on the front of it.

JK: Yes. For the front, I liked the look of the sleek, flat look. I did buy handles and I was debating whether to put them on, but I could never do it. I wanted to use brass to make it look pretty, [in keeping] with the whole style of that time period, but it didn’t really look right, and it took away from the V-match of the doors. So I decided to put brass at the top to just give it a little accent, and also they could use them as push latches for it.

WS: What are your plans post-graduation? Are you going to open up a shop or go work for somebody else?

JK: The current plan is to work for an architectural millwork place, then to save up so I can start to build a small shop and then do hobbyist stuff from there. Right now I don’t have any dedicated space, but if I can clean out part of the garage, I can set it up [with] the table saw and everything.

WS: Well, you’ve got to find a place for that nice new Grizzly table saw they’re going to send you. [Top prize in the contest included a Grizzly G0899 10-inch, 2-horsepower cabinet saw valued at $1,825 and donated by Grizzly Industrial. Keener also won a $500 cash prize and travel to the Wood Pro Expo in Schaumburg, Illinois.]

JK: Yeah.

WS: That’s a good plan to start working for a professional business first and learn how the business is conducted, and then you can definitely grow into creating your own shop as you’re able to do so. But one of the things that I’m curious about, Thaddeus Stevens is a well-regarded school, but a lot of people outside of Pennsylvania may not be familiar with it. Can you tell us about the school and what you got out of it?

JK: Well, the school itself, it’s not a huge campus but it is very nice, quaint. It was founded by Thaddeus [Stevens, a congressman from Pennsylvania in the 1860s]. He actually left money to get it started for people who didn’t have the opportunities to start their own businesses. So, it got everyone in the trades and then expanded from there.

WS: I was just curious about this school and the program for woodworking there. What were you doing there?

JK: I’m mainly working in a shop. First year, starts off with just learning your hand skills and growing from there. And then you really get an understanding of how to use just simple chisels and dovetail saws and stuff like that to really get your hand skills down. After that, then you start to actually build projects, which goes to a Shaker table. Then the next year is a wall cabinet and a bookshelf. And then second year, sophomore year, is where they will let you look for plans. I was actually given the opportunity to design my own plans, which I really appreciate because I had that plan for that credenza in my head for years. And so I finally got the chance to actually make something I wanted to make with the shop.

WS: And now you designed that in AutoCAD, you said?

JK: Yes. It took about three weeks because I had the idea in my head for years. So, I knew exactly what I needed to do in AutoCAD. It was mainly just dimensioning and making sure everything fit with all the specs. And so, yeah, I use AutoCAD to design that slowly and all the parts, the case, the drawers, making sure the doors swung freely and didn’t hit anything as you tried to pull it out, as well as the base for it and everything.

WS: So, you created in AutoCAD, a whole 3D rendering?

JK: Yeah, top view, right view, all that.

WS: Did you have any particular instructor at Thaddeus Stevens who was inspirational along your way?

JK: It probably was my first-year teacher, Steven Latta, because he really got me interested in it [and] I could see the passion that he had for woodwork. He would choose pictures of these really ornate things that he made out of solid wood, and he’d think they were nothing because he made them. He was like, hey, after the 10,000th hour, he was kind of done with it. But it showed the craftsmanship and the dedication to it. Then after like a month of being there, I realized I loved the class because he always just had a way with getting everyone really interested in what they were doing and just pushing everyone forward. Even if he had a bad day he was still able to keep pushing forward.

WS: That’s great. I’ve met Steve previously. He’s a very meticulous and dedicated woodworker and does some beautiful stuff. So that’s a great person to have as an inspiration. Now, did you have any kind of woodworking influence when you were little — a family member or anything like that?

JK: There wasn’t a ton, but it might have happened because they’re related. My family was big on camping. I know for a period of time my dad worked in a cabinet shop, and he really was interested in that. So, when he found out I got into the trade, he got really excited about that.

WS: You were saying, too, that he’s a coin collector, and you’re working on maybe some projects to make something for him for coin collecting.

JK: Because he’s retiring, he got into collecting coins. And so, he’s like, I got all these nice coins, but I don’t have a way to display them. I have to pull them out of these cases all the time. So, I’m starting to design — I’m milling up wood actually right now — just a small box. He can sit it on his desk so he can pull trays out and look at coins and everything, change the display, you know, as he wants to.

WS: One of the things that I’m curious about is that we brought you here to Schaumburg, Illinois, to the Wood Pro and Closets Conference and Expo, to present the award, but also to let you experience what a professional trade show and conference is like. So, here we’ve dropped you into 1,000 other woodworkers. What’s your impression?

JK: Right now a little overwhelmed, but it is very intriguing as well as, I think, inspirational because it really shows where it can go. I was just doing something small and everything, but it shows that if you go into furniture or kitchens and stuff and cabinets and all the bigger [things] that are more needed now for houses and stuff, that the opportunity is still there. It’s still growing. Earlier today, you did the podcast with Grizzly, and I really enjoyed that because it does show that, when I got into the trade school, I was worried that the [woodworking] trade’s dying, but it seems to be the exact opposite that I got in right at the best time, they’re seeming to explode there.

WS: There’s definitely a lot of things happening. But one of the problems, which is a good thing for you, is that most of the industry cannot find good skilled workers. So, there ought to be job opportunities if you want to work for somebody else. And certainly, there are opportunities to make stuff that people want to have in their homes. 

Or, if you get into commercial work and businesses, if you’re going to work for an architectural millwork company, there’s a lot of big, interesting millwork projects that are being done all across the country. And that’s pretty spectacular work sometimes. So, there’s a lot of opportunities out there. One of the things, you know, Grizzly is really looking at schools and small businesses these days, and that’s why they sponsored the Young Wood Professionals Program. I think that’s a great benefit for us, and I hope it’s a good benefit for you, a good launch for you in your business. You’re going to have this nice new table saw, and you know, you’ve got a new future ahead of you.

JK: Definitely.

The #YoungWoodPro recognition program is both a contest and an educational program sponsored by Grizzly Industrial and featuring professional custom woodworker Matt Buell as the host. Buell shares articles and videos offering tips for people starting out on careers in woodworking. Learn more at woodworkingnetwork.com/ywp.