03/04/2026
If you lived in central Pennsylvania in the ’70s, you may have walked into a small woodworking shop and commissioned a dining room table from an Amish craftsman named Eli Troyer — my grandpa.
Size, design, wood species, and finish would’ve been discussed at a workbench, among the sawdust and tools of current projects. You would’ve left smelling faintly of sawdust, pipe to***co, and maybe coffee.
I’m slightly un-Amish, and more of the design process now happens over email than at a workbench — but I’m still focused on creating commissioned, handcrafted furniture for those who appreciate such things.