Gary Fusselman cashed in his retirement, waited two days after his daughter's wedding, and launched Precision Millwork out of a shared shop in Utah. In this episode of the Designers and Builders Podcast, Gary sits down with host Alyssa Olson to share how thirty plus years in the industry taught him that building a great door and building a great business require the same thing: precision, patience, and a team that rallies when it counts.
Gary's journey through the world of millwork started with a red oak table his dad built in high school. From there, he worked his way through high production pine mills, co-founded a company with his brother, and eventually landed in Utah's custom millwork scene, where he discovered a whole new level of craft. A mentor with forty years of antique furniture restoration experience showed him the artisan side, while a push into sales taught him the business side he never knew he was missing. When the time came to start Precision Millwork, Gary brought both worlds together and built a shop where five-axis CNC technology meets old world joinery.
Gary and Alyssa dig into how Precision Millwork balances technology and tradition, from parametric CNC programming that cuts parts to perfection to sourcing the best rift and plain sliced white oak on the market. He talks about the realities of exterior wood doors, why American impatience with aging wood creates color matching headaches, and what he learned at a recent door and window show in Germany that lit a fire under his approach. The conversation also gets honest about the painful lessons of overselling, the systems Gary built to never repeat that mistake, and how losing a key team member revealed the true strength of his crew.
Chapters00:00 A Red Oak Table and Falling in Love with Wood
06:31 Blending Five-Axis CNC with Old World Joinery
15:37 Planning Up Front: The Seven Ps
26:09 Scaling the Team and Operations
37:14 Moving to 30,000 Square Feet
42:29 Raving Fans, Adaptability, and Future Proofing
48:51 Most Challenging Millwork Projects
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You can connect with Gary at:
https://precisionmillworkutah.com/
https://www.instagram.com/precisionmillworkutah/?hl=en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-fusselman-6359969a
