ASE Custom Woodworking opens downtown storefront

MOUNT VERNON — ASE Custom Woodworking celebrated its grand opening at 5 E. High St. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday.

Adam Estes specializes in one-of-a-kind cutting boards, home décor, and other personalized wood creations. Products range from cedar chests and game boards to tables and wishing wells.

Mayor Matt Starr noted that ASE is another reason to visit downtown Mount Vernon.

“Adam and his family, ASE Custom Woodworking, is another unique shop added to the portfolio of shops that we have in downtown Mount Vernon,” he said. “And that’s one of the things that makes experiencing the town special.

“We really are happy that Adam and his family have decided to open up a storefront. As someone who had a storefront in downtown a while ago, it takes courage, and I applaud that very much.”

“Adam is not new to doing woodwork. He’s been doing it a long time. But this is now his official storefront,” Knox County Chamber Executive Director Carol Grubaugh said.

“You are a master craftsman. All of your work is so beautiful. I’m very excited to be here today to help you celebrate your grand opening,” she told Estes.

Estes’ story started when COVID-19 hit hard, and the job market and COVID response were uncertain.

“I started taking pallets and creating things, learning what I could do and learning what I shouldn’t do — especially keeping fingers close to those blades,” he said.

“From there, it just kind of grew, and I started doing craft shows. Experience Mount Vernon helped me out doing the First Fridays and the Music & Arts Festival.

“A few years later, I decided that I should be more stable, and that’s where I am now.”

Estes said one reason for opening a storefront was that he was losing inventory while traveling to craft shows.

“Every time I loaded the truck or unloaded the truck for a craft show, I was breaking more than I could sell, or I was fixing it,” he explained. “So I was like, ‘I need to stop doing it.’”

He also noted he was getting to the age where he should not be lifting as much.

“The brick-and-mortar is more of a solid ground; now I won’t break as much,” he said with a smile.

Estes credits his family’s support as a significant factor in his work.

“They’ve been there,” he said. “Yes, my wife gets on me about bringing more pallet wood home.

“But they’re my critics, they give me suggestions. They either tell me or don’t tell me that they like something. They’ve just been my rock.”

Estes said his favorite wood to work with is “all of it.”

“I don’t do cookie-cutter-type items,” he said. “Every cutting board is unique. Every cutting board is a special size.

“So if you want it 10-by-12 or 32-by-60, I can make it. I will make it for you whichever way you want and the specific woods you want. Except some of the exotic woods; I’m not going there.”

In addition to the custom-made display items, Estes applied his skill to his shop counter.

“The counter is actually reclaimed three different times,” he explained. “It’s a 20-year-old fence picket saved from a sugar shack. The top part was a workbench. And then the 2-by-4s were a covered trailer. I just combined them all.”

Starr can attest to Estes’ craftsmanship, as he bought one of Estes’ tables at the August Mount Vernon Music & Arts Festival auction.

“I set my coffee on it when I read my book in the morning and in the evening. I’m very happy with the product Adam has done,” Starr said with a smile.

Regarding favorite things to make, Estes “really likes doing the intricate stuff.”

Although he just opened his storefront, Estes has other goals in mind for the future.

“I’m going to start pushing more of the rehab of cutting boards,” he explained. “Not just the ones I make, but the ones that people have, the wooden ones. Because sometimes they get put into dishwashers, they get lost, or whatever.

“In maybe a year’s time frame, I want to start teaching classes of basic hand-working with wood and stuff like that,” he continued. “No CNC, no routers; just actual hand-working.”

Estes is a self-described military brat who attended six different high schools. He attended Mount Vernon High School in the 1990-91 school year and played on the football team.

He moved back to care for his grandparents. His grandfather worked with computers at First Knox National Bank, and his grandmother was a paralegal.

He has two adult daughters and one grandchild and lives less than a mile from the downtown.

Regarding his craftsmanship, he said, “If you can think of it, I can most likely make it out of wood.”

“I think outside the box, and just like the name says, ASE Custom Woodworking, I do custom sizes.”

A Christian ultrarunner who likes coffee and quilting More by Cheryl Splain