Nauvoo woodworker takes vintage approach to fashioning wood

[Papaw]

Another carpenter story- http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/b8c87f61d4744dec8e40c3849c0fb1eb/IL--Spotlight-Nauvoo-Woodworker

NAUVOO, Ill. — Lon Simpson Jr. easily straddles the centuries just standing in his custom furniture and millwork shop.

Modern-day tools vie for space in the Nauvoo shop with vintage pieces, an old bench and a specially-designed tool chest.

"People think this is for display, but I use this stuff. I don't collect stuff. The old tools I have I've gotten because I have a need for them," Simpson said.

"My shop is really a hybrid," he said. "There are a lot of things I'll do by hand more efficiently than I could by setting up a machine to do the same thing. On a daily basis, I work between the centuries."

For some projects, using vintage tools is a requirement.

"When you do work with the National Historic Register, they specify original tools, techniques and materials," said Simpson, whose projects have included window work on the Abraham Lincoln Law Office in Springfield.