Meet David DeGraaf of Ash&Ember Woodshop in Gilbert

Today we’d like to introduce you to David DeGraaf.

David, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up around woodworking as my dad has been in the industry since before I was born. I spent many years of my childhood tinkering around with the machines in his shop. About four years ago, my wife and I built a shop in our backyard (I guess a “build it and they will come” type of thing because I really wanted a shop, but didn’t quite know why!). With some of the basic tools I had, I began making various items and small projects for our home. I kept seeing these really cool wooden rustic American Flags around town and really wanted one for our house, but like so many others from the “nailed it” Pinterest revolution, thought “I am pretty sure I can make this myself!” Long story short, with a LOT of work, I did successfully build my first flag, but in hindsight, it certainly did not look like the products I was admiring. The original flag I made hangs in our shop, mostly to amuse my wife and me, as we remember thinking it looked pretty good for a first attempt and now we look back and laugh! I was determined to get the process down and my perfectionist nature wasn’t going to let this flag beat me. I spent more time and money buying the right tools to make this one wooden American Flag that I would have I just purchased the one I saw originally. After six long attempts (fifty hands carved stars per union), I finally started to really get it. I posted my final product online and was completely surprised by the feedback I received of several others contacting me, wanting one for themselves. Long story short, that is how Ash&Ember Woodshop started!

I have been a Firefighter/Paramedic for almost 14 years now and was looking for a side hustle that was something I enjoyed, but that would not take me too far from home since I spend enough time away already. When I made my first flag, I had no idea it would turn into a business, but I am so thankful for how it has worked out. I now have a shop CNC and do a lot of customization and personalization for different branches of the military, fire, police and more. I also do custom signs and home decor as well. I post photos of my projects around the shop on Instagram and Facebook, as well as add helpful tips for those wanting to get into flag-building, woodworking or just to build upon their current skill set. The next step is to finally build a website!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Starting any business can bring its share of challenges. I feel that woodworking is one of those trades that can look easy (I fell for that!) but can be pretty challenging when learning and in the day-to-day. It takes a lot of time to understand the different woods, as well as the tools and equipment you are working with. I struggled with patience at the beginning, especially when hand-carving the stars on the flags with a Dremel. It was a VERY long process that took me almost two hours per flag. Keeping a constant steady hand was tough and one slight slip and you have ruined the entire Flag Union. The CNC has been a game-changer for me and has made a huge difference in production, although the learning curve with that technology was challenging and it took a lot of time to tune it in. It is not set-up and go type of machine and I found the only real way to learn was to make mistakes (a lot of them!) and to learn from those mistakes. The other challenge in starting out was finding the right market for our product. Friends and family were always interested and so supportive, but I wanted to share my products with the community and did not know where to start to get my name out. I started with Etsy but found the market to be saturated and the shipping to be time-consuming and expensive for the larger and often heavier items I sell. The “free shipping” option did not serve us well on my first few orders! Social media takes time to build a following, especially a local following, and I had to work really hard to do projects and things that would set me apart from others and am constantly working to continue to be creative in what I share.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Ash&Ember Woodshop – what should we know?
I believe what sets me apart is that I am a small, family and firefighter-owned backyard shop. I also try to share my processes with the community, so they did not only get a great product, but they learn something in the process. I am a hard worker and determined to get it right and to make a product that my customers can proudly display in their home or give as a gift. Today, my shop specialty continues to be the epic rustic wooden American Flag that I started with on day one. I make several variations: standard Red, White and Blue or black and white, often complemented with a red, blue or green stripe for Fire, Police, Military, etc. I do a lot of customs unions for different branches of the Military or Firehouses or sports teams and personalize the flags them by engraving names, years of service, rank, etc. into them. I do an Axe Flag that is very popular that can be fully customized for firefighters. These flags are my passion and what I am best known for, but I also do other custom projects for customers that have something particular in mind, whether it be a state sign, home decor, cutting board, 3D project and much more.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
First would be my wife, Taryn. We started Ash&Ember as a husband and wife business but quickly realized that it’s not so easy to get shop time together while raising a one-year-old (also known as my little shop hand). So now, she acts as my “business manager,” keeping orders organized, allowing me uninterrupted time in the shop, editing my bad grammar on my social media posts and she continues to be my biggest supporter. Woodworking-wise, there have been many mentors. Believe it or not, the woodworking community on Instagram has been absolutely amazing when it comes to needing help or advice. This was and is still my go-to for guidance on a project. There are thousands of woodworkers on Instagram, many who have a lot more experience than me and they are always there and willing to help.

Contact Info:

• Email: ashandemberwoodshop@gmail.com
• Instagram: @ashandember_woodshop
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ashandemberwoodshop

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