SALINA, KS - Tischlerei - Fine Woodworking, LLC formally opens a high end custom cabinetry operation today. The 44,000+ square foot plant is leased from the Salina Airport Authority at the former headquarters building of airplane manufacturer Beechcraft.

Tischlerei- Fine Woodworking, which specializes in residential applications but also does some commercial work, will handle large-scale architectural millwork projects in its spacious plant. It is starting operations with about 15 employees.

The company's name, Tischlerei, the German word for "joinery," reflects manager Olaf Gerhardt's origins as a woodworker from Germany, where he was trained as a master cabinetmaker. He also has technical degrees in robotics, electrical engineering, and computer numeric controls.

Prior to this startup, Gerhardt was operating a custom cabinetry shop in Osborne, KS, about 90 miles from the new operation. That firm,  Tischlerei, Inc., featured in Custom Woodworking Business in 2004, closed in June. It focused on high-end residential cabinetry, and was the subject of a research support study regarding CNC machinery by Kansas State Business Development Center. A purchase of a CR Onsrud CNC and Martin T27 CNC shaper that followed are among equipment operating in the new business.

"After months of preparation and construction everybody at Tischlerei - Fine Woodworking is excited to start up production. It just takes a lot of planning, brainstorming and time to create the perfect setting for our wood products and professional appliances," Gerhardt said in announcing the opening. "We are very fortunate to have a healthy backlog and our dealers have a positive outlook for the future."

Software in use by Tischlerei includes Planit Cabinetware, Autocad and Alphacam. Microvellum is also available at the plant, and Gerhardt expects to use it for frameless cabinets later on.

"We want to stay high end residential, even though we do some commercial work like professional offices," says Gerhardt. "Our plans are to start offering Euro-style cabinets sometime in 2013, in addition to current offerings of face frame cabinets."

Gerhardt says his Osborne location was successful, but finding employees to settle there was a challenge. The area around the former Hawker Beechcraft airplane plant and one-time airforce base also has a ready population of skilled woodworkers. Cabinet manufacturers Crestwood, Inc. and  Ovation Cabinetry are located in Salina, as is Salina Planing Mill, an architectural millwork company. 

The Salina Airport Authority was created in 1965 to convert the former Schilling Air Force Base to the Salina Municipal Airport and Salina Airport Industrial Center. In February, another wood industry business, Universal Forest Products, opened a 15,000 square foot operation at the industrial center.