I suppose you could say being a maker runs in my family. My great-grandfather started the Automatic Index and File Company in Green Bay Wisconsin in 1905. My grandfather eventually took over and moved it to Youngstown Ohio during the depression, merging it with General Fireproofing, and continued to design and build office furniture and filing systems. I grew up in houses designed and built by my dad. I can’t remember a time in my youth when he wasn’t building something or working on one of his sports cars. For me, there was little choice but to follow in their footsteps. You can learn about my custom furniture projects at www.charlesfreeborn.com .

I “grew up”  in the 60’s and 70’s. We took for granted a basic level of quality and craftsmanship in our everyday lives and belongings. I can remember when “Made in America” was truly a badge of honor. Seemingly simple everyday items were heavy duty, well made and lasted a lifetime. I own many (thousands!) of tools that I began acquiring when I was a teenager. Some of my woodworking planes date to the 1920’s and are still as accurate and essential to my operations today as they were when they were new nearly 100 years ago. I’m saddened by the trend to “value engineer”, which is a fancy way to say make cheaper, so many things in today’s marketplace. I don’t follow that path. What I build is made to last a lifetime and then some.

The Valet Cases on this website are a logical extension of my larger furniture making business. Originally meant as a way to use up beautiful end cuts and left over wood from furniture projects, it has blossomed into a full line of cases for an number of purposes. Take a stroll through my online store and see if anything resonates with you. If you’ve got an idea for a custom case, by all means get in touch. The sky’s the limit on pretty much any aspect or detail you could imagine.

In addition to my furniture making, another true passion for me is designing and building guitars. It’s something I started doing when I was very young (14 or so) and worked in a music store after school and on weekends. I primarily build flat top acoustics, but I’ve got a run of electrics in planning right now. To learn about them feel free to visit www.freebornguitars.com

Thanks for checking my site out and if you have any questions give me a yell. Thanks !