Life & Work with Joe Duffy of Ahwatukee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Duffy.

Hi Joe, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was lucky to grow up around skilled men, such as my father and grandfather. They showed me how to use tools and build things at a very young age. I fell in love with what I could do with my hands: the process and the satisfaction of knowing what I just created. I continued building throughout my childhood whenever I could get my hands on building materials and tools.

Fast forward a few years, and I joined the military. I served on the USS Juneau from 00-04. It was a great experience and a fast track for a young boy to grow up into a man. I did my time in the service and set off to go to college. While in college, I worked as a home remodeling contractor, renovating homes and putting all my construction skills to use. I enjoyed building and business, but I was attending school to be a firefighter, which interested me. Once hired as a fireman, I continued doing construction for a while until it got to the point where I wasn’t looking forward to getting off work from the fire station and going and spending my day in a stranger’s home working. So, I took some years off from building and focused on firefighting.

I am a father of 4 sons. So, of course, I wanted to show my sons how to build and create things. So, as the boys and I spent time in the garage building things for fun, others started noticing what we were making and inquired about purchasing. At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get back into business, but when I thought about just spending days at home in the garage with the boys building and teaching them about business and mechanical aptitude, it would be a lot of fun. So we were off. Open for business. This time, I focused only on woodworking pieces and furniture—things we could build in our makeshift woodshop/garage.

The thing about woodworking is, if you want to be good, and with all the things I do, I want to be the best; you can’t just slap a bunch of construction materials together and cover all your mistakes with other construction materials as they do in building houses. Woodworking is precise. It is attention to detail and patience. It is 1/16 of an inch mistake, and your piece goes from the pros to amateur hour. I didn’t know much about fine woodworking then but knew I wanted to be the best at it. I became a student of the craft. Every day, I learn new techniques and hone my skills. I put all the money we made back into the woodshop to purchase better tools, more specific tools to help me become proficient at my craft. Eventually, one day, I had all the tools and skills to no longer be the guy asking all the questions but to be the guy who answers all the questions. It was pretty crazy when I realized one day that these other woodworkers I looked up to now asked me queries and complimented me. However, woodworking is constantly progressing and changing. I remain a student of the craft and continue to become better than I was every single day. I love the process. I love coming up with a vision and turning a bunch of rough chunks of wood into beautiful heirloom furniture and art pieces. I love watching the boys be creative and look forward to the day I can ask them questions about their work.

It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Every new business has its struggles. At first, we didn’t need the right tools or knowledge of fine woodworking; we just needed a background in construction. That is just how it goes. You stick with it, do things the way you know how to do them, find good role models, ask questions, read books, and eventually improve. You put money back into the business for tools that make things easier, gain new skills and an appreciation for your craft, and gain better customers as time passes.

Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I create Custom Furniture Pieces and Art pieces from wood. Pieces you can’t buy out of a store. Pieces you dream up in your head and want to make a reality. I create a lot of custom tables, doors, secret doors, waving flags, carvings, and beds. My favorite piece, of course, lives in my woodshop. It is a giant handmade cabinet designed to hold my hand tools. It was built using only hand tools, not modern-age tools. It is complete with a large tree carving on the outside and secret compartments on the inside. It took me around 3 years to complete it, only getting time to work on it between client builds. I build every piece myself as if I were building it for my family. I don’t contract out my pieces, so I know every portion of that project was built correctly and to my standards. I envision my children looking at one of my pieces one day when I am long gone and what they would think about their dad. No way would I let them think Dad took a shortcut or Dad was being lazy. I want the boys to be proud and my customers happy with a piece that will last generations in their families.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check?
Want to learn to do something? Get on YouTube. You can learn anything on YouTube. Take advantage of it; just don’t get sucked down the cute animal videos black hole. I can perform open heart surgery thanks to YouTube wink wink.

Contact Info:

• Website: Thehandyfireman.net
• Instagram: instagram.com/the_handy_fireman
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHandyFireman/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2XQT-tVCROMVkD-UA7svfQ