A Young Man Crafting an Old World Future

A Young Man Crafting an Old World Future

By Leonard Shapiro

When Andrew Knepper completed his junior year at Arizona State last spring, he knew exactly what he wanted to do next, even if he also was fully aware his father, Scott, definitely would have another idea. Andrew was not looking forward to that conversation.

Instead of heading back to Tempe, Andrew wanted to go to work full time—and often overtime—for his father’s company, Old World Woodworking located halfway between Middleburg and The Plains. The business specializes in finely crafted wood products, and Andrew, 23, was particularly enamored with learning the skill from Dave Fox, an Old World master craftsman.

Andrew Knepper friends promise that they’d make sure I finished.”

Photo by Leonard Shapiro

“Every year I’ve come back from school and worked in the cabinet shop,” Andrew said. “I always had a passion for millwork, working with my hands. It’s something I’d like to keep doing.”

At first, his father wanted him to head back to school and finish his degree. But Andrew offered an alternative. During Covid, he had taken a number of classes on line, and he told Scott he could do the same to finish the final 27 credits he needed to graduate.

“Once I worked out a plan to complete all my credits, he was a lot more open to it,” Andrew said. “I promised him I would do it, and he made all my friends promise that they'd make sure I finished."

So these days, Andrew is at the shop full time, learning from Fox and also branching out to help start up the company’s recently added handyman division. While he’s at it, he’s also in the front office working on invoicing, tax preparation and material procurement for the entire business.

“I’m learning everything,” he said. “I started working on my dad’s other company (Oz Construction), when I was 15. Construction is like a puzzle, and you’ve got to problem solve through it all. I really enjoy that.”

Cabinet making offers similar challenges and Andrew is thrilled to be working with Fox. He estimated there are probably not more than a dozen high-end cabinet makers on the east coast, mostly because young people are not exactly flocking to the trades.

Computer technology has allowed for more cabinet mass production, but that will never truly match the subtle skills learned over many years by meticulous artisans like Fox.

“I just see a huge market there and I’d like to be in it,” Andrew said. “And you couldn’t have a better mentor than Dave.”

Andrew also is intrigued by the handyman work, whether it involves painting, fixing a loose gutter, installing some drywall, even light electrical work.

“You sort of learn as you go,” he said. “My dad tries not to send me on jobs I might not quite be ready to do. Electric has always been a little scary to me. But my dad’s mentor taught him everything 40 years ago working with him 16 hours a day. Now my dad is giving me verbatim what his mentor taught him.

“You have to have patience with everything you do. It’s something I was lacking a few years ago. But since I’ve started working here, my patience has skyrocketed. If you rush through things, you’ll mess up and have to start over.”

Sounds like an Old World mantra coming from a young man who knows where he’s going. College degree included.