Custom Wood Bar Builder Designer Dale T. Hood:
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I was farm-raised in the Texas panhandle with making things in my blood: my Dutch ancestors were shipbuilders in 
New Amsterdam.
A BS degree from Texas Tech in landscape architecture, while practiced briefly, provided me with design and drawing skills, and a
glimpse into the world of forms-- in nature, classicism, and the endless variety of styles.
I moved from Austin to Tuscon about 1971, without a dime, to join a fellow woodworker. In one sense poverty became an
advantage. With a minimum of power tools, I assiduously collected fine hand tools at the flea market, and books and knowledge,
to practice furniture making “the old way”, along with skills in the many trades I had interest in. In elaborate
work as seen here, alongside the machine operations, comes the indispensable application of the razor-sharp plane, chisel,
and carving-gouge.
I built my first complete bar for the Tuscon Athletic Club: a sleek, boat-like concave oak bar with a fine mahogany top.As
far as I know it's still there, but I never got any decent pictures. That job likely started my focus on the idea of
bar-as-centerpiece.This was a presumed concept in the not-so-distant past, and for centuries. In hotels, restaurants, and clubs,
the pride of place was expressed in the focal point of relaxation, cordiality, and service: the bar.In our hasty world of plastic
and cubicle, I would like to see the warmth of fine woodwork return to that environment.
I moved back to the Austin area in 1976 and set up my evolving shop, and was fortunate to obtain the barwork I refer to as the Treehouse.The owner liked my sketches, looked at some samples, and I went to the
Brooklyn shipyard for a truckload of Thai rosewood and zebrawood from Cameroons. I suppose I was looking at a lot of Deco/nouveau
then: concave-conical front, convex stemware canopy, leather armrest, elliptical bevelled mirrors. It was a celebrated piece.
Shop
My work is done in a 5,000 square foot shop I have built over the last several years and equipped with restored vintage machinery, laid out with efficient custom production in mind. Not many people can participate in this sort of work and control of every procedure is paramount. Many tasks can not be delegated and no imperfections are allowed. Inevitably hundreds of hours are required; full products are fabricated in the shop, disassembled and moved. I am prepared to install anywhere in the world.