Neil Middleton is the owner of Middleton Woodtech in Rockford, Illinois. After working 20 years in the corporate world as a systems engineer, Neil turned his hobby and enjoyment of woodworking into a business. That was over 27 years ago and he’s still going strong.

Even as a boy Neil always had an inclination to build things. He fondly remembers helping his dad who was an Industrial Ed Teacher, build with wood. “In my youth I built many little wooden constructs. However my first most significant wood project was building a boat with my dad that we used for many years on the river at our summer cottage.” Neil’s dad game him his first woodworking tool, a scroll saw

And today Neil still gets satisfaction from taking raw wood boards and making them into something useful and attractive. Woodworking has provided an outlet for Neil’s creative bent to design and build in the medium of wood. “Positive feedback from others regarding the results of my creations has always been fulfilling. I would always rather have a friend than a customer.”

Neil’s woodworking projects include fireplace mantles, speaker podiums, authentic Japanese benches for Anderson Japanese Gardens, custom home cabinets and furniture pieces, theater stage craft, and antique furniture restoration. Most notably, Neil has helped restore and refinish more than a dozen baby grand pianos, bringing them back to their former glory.

Neil’s advice to some who aspires to work with wood … “A woodworker can never have enough clamps!”