About Us
Meet Our Owner
Our owner, Brad Spaugh, grew up in a small town of 80,000 people in Decatur, Illinois. His passion for woodworking started in middle school Shop class. For him, Shop class was like recess or lunch. After watching thousands of hours of safety videos, Brad and his classmates were finally allowed to make projects. They only needed to buy the wood to start building anything they wanted.
For his project, Brad decided to make a dartboard cabinet for his Mom (he really wanted it for himself though). She thought it was a cool gift and still has it until now. Since that day, Brad knew that he wanted to work with his hands. He has had many construction-related jobs in the years that followed, and he loved all of them. The appeal for him is in seeing the changes that a house or a piece goes through before it becomes a finished product.
Brad decided to attend school to learn all about HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) and later started a career in that field. He has been in this field for more than 12 years. Somewhere along the way, he met his wife and moved to Wisconsin where they had two wonderful children. Brad’s kids are very accepting of his hard work and lifestyle.
When his daughter Ashlyn was ready for school, Brad and his family moved to a smaller town where he built a wood shop in his basement. He has since expanded that into a garage (he does admit, however, that this is not a popular decision during the winter months). At this point, Brad had worked his way up the ladder in the HVAC industry to land an office job where he trained technicians and other managers. But he felt that none of it was as satisfying as building something with his hands.
As a solution, he started thinking up items to build and give away as gifts after coming home from work. He started making segmented vases and jewelry boxes after buying a lathe. It was not until he built a shadow box coffee table for his wife that he realized how peaceful and satisfying creating furniture was. Getting to see it every day and having it become part of everyday life made him feel a sense of accomplishment.
After more than 20 years of woodworking, Brad established 8024 Customs in January 2016. While he never thought to open a business, his passion and life experiences led him down this path. We believe that under his experienced guidance, we have what it takes to provide our customers with the best products and services.
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Mission and Vision
8024 Customs will create stunning custom wooden furniture and cabinets incorporating all the beauty of wood and providing a profitable place to work for all of its working family.