OUR STORY

WHY A COMPASS?

I get asked that a lot.

My deeper dive into woodworking actually started with boats. From 2003 through 2017, I built and sold around 45 wooden boats. As far as I know, those boats ended up in at least 15 different states, including as far away as Washington State. Boatbuilding was, and always will be, a passion of mine.

Years later, when I began making cutting and serving boards, I wanted the new work to still have a connection to where I started.

At the time, my son Cole was in elementary school, and on the wall of his school auditorium was one of my favorite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

The compass seemed to tie all of it together — the boats, the idea of creating something different, and the direction I wanted to take with my woodworking.

There was one more practical reason: it was a brand I could make myself.

Following in the footsteps of my stepdad, a phenomenal woodworker and decoy carver, I made my first compass brand from a piece of conduit and some cut sheet metal. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2007, but his interlocking “OC” brand still appears on many pieces he made for me and for Cole over the years.

That idea of leaving your mark, finding your own direction, and making something worth keeping became part of Compass Woodworks from the beginning.

It’s why the back of each signed information card carries the same words:

Find Your North.

FROM WOODWORKING TO THE INFUSED GRAIN

Compass Woodworks Co. officially began in 2016, building one-of-a-kind cutting boards, serving boards and custom pieces from distinctive hardwoods.

Those early pieces are an important part of the story. They taught me to pay attention to the grain, let the wood help determine the design, and avoid making everything look exactly the same.

That same approach eventually led to something completely different.

In 2021, I developed the first Infused Grain Cocktail Smoker — an all-inclusive design that incorporated the smoker, powered airflow system and smoke delivery directly into the wooden serving board.

I wanted something that didn’t look like another gadget sitting on top of a cocktail. I wanted the smoking system to become part of the piece itself.

That year, the Infused Grain was selected as an Our State Made in NC Award winner, and I filed for patent protection on the design.

The patent was issued in 2025.

Today, the Infused Grain remains the flagship of Compass Woodworks Co. and the product most people know us for.

STILL MADE ONE AT A TIME

More than 1,400 Infused Grain Cocktail Smokers and Infused Grain Minis have now made their way to customers, bars, restaurants and distilleries around the country.
Despite that growth, the basic process has not changed much.

Each full-size Infused Grain is still handcrafted in North Carolina, individually finished, signed and numbered before it leaves the shop. Many begin with a specific customer request — a particular species of wood, epoxy color, engraving, vintage sporting theme or an idea I haven’t tried before.

That is still the part of the work I enjoy most.

No two pieces of wood are exactly alike, and I have never had much interest in making everything look exactly alike either.

THE NEXT GENERATION

Cole has grown up alongside Compass Woodworks.

He was an elementary school student when the compass name and Emerson quote first became part of the story. Today, he helps with the business, works shows with me and has become part of where Compass is headed next.

What started as a woodworking side business has grown far beyond what I expected when I made that first homemade compass brand.
But the foundation is still the same:

Build something different.
Make it well.
Leave your mark.

And always —

Find Your North.