Trestle Style Coffee Table

WOODWEB Content Editor, Brett Hagstrom, Interviewed Roland Dilley in December 2009.Roland Dilley is relatively new to the woodworking business. Although he has been making furniture for only a little over two years, he is very dedicated to his craft. Roland’s one-man shop is located in Florida. He works predominately with black walnut and ebony and likes wood that is “resilient” and “holds detail.” He says black walnut is “beautiful and his favorite species to work with.” Prior to furniture making, Roland was a trim carpenter. One day he woke up with the desire to build a table. After building the table using only his trim tools, he immediately realized the need to purchase equipment in order to continue making furniture. His list of equipment now includes a Powermatic PM2000 tablesaw, Grizzly 8-inch jointer, Powermatic drill press, Rikon 14-inch bandsaw, Jessem router table, Woodmaster 18-inch planer, and a large supply of hand tools. Roland did a lot of research before purchasing his equipment and feels that the research was very beneficial. He would like to acquire more equipment, but right now his shop space is limited.

Roland works on commission. Clients with a general idea or purpose for a project come to his office to discuss their ideas. Before beginning the drawing process, Roland waits for an inspiration or idea to strike him. This can be in a matter of days or sometimes even weeks. Roland feels that it is important “to become familiar with your client and get to know him/her” as this helps with the direction of a project. A lot of inspiration comes from the client, so the better he knows them, the quicker and easier the project develops. Clients also enjoy the process more when they are able to interact with Roland and have a significant role in the development of a project.

Roland does not limit himself to any product specialties. He says that he likes to design projects that “accommodate the market” and, more specifically, he likes to design functional products that people use often, including chairs, light fixtures, floor lamps and beds. He has increased his inventory by building a few studio pieces, and he attends art shows to showcase his work. Roland feels he has “developed skills as more of an artist instead of strictly a woodworker, and by doing this the woodworking industry supports him better.”

Clients pick up projects depending on Roland’s schedule. Large projects are always delivered to ensure that they arrive to the client free of problems.


The coffee table above is primarily made of paduk and curly maple, with bloodwood accents. If you think it's pretty now, just wait until the paduk changes to brown.