Ben Rawson tried contracting first. It didn’t take.
“I’ve tried the contracting thing before and didn’t pan out very well,” said Ben, owner of I Wood Build in Kintore. What did take hold was woodworking. In 2015, he started building custom tables and furniture on the side, and the response surprised even him. “I realized how great that was taking off and how much I loved it,” he said. From there, the business expanded naturally into refined timber work, custom carpentry, and live-edge pieces — the foundation of what I Wood Build does today, built almost entirely on word of mouth and repeat clients rather than a hard pivot or a grand plan.
Ben built the business deliberately small. Rather than scale into a larger operation, he wanted something where people could come in, buy a finished piece, or commission something entirely their own — a shop where he gets to work as much as an artist as a builder. “I loved woodworking enough that I wanted to focus it,” he said. “This is where I wanted to venture.”
What Ben is proudest of has less to do with technique than with meaning. He values being able to connect with a piece’s history — where the wood came from, why a client wants it, what story it’s carrying, and what it means to the person who brought it to him. Sentimental requests are common: a family tree that came down in a storm, salvaged timbers from an old barn, logs with a story attached that a client wants preserved rather than discarded. Ben’s work turns those materials into something a family can keep using and living with for generations, rather than a piece that simply sits on display. “I can turn it into something for them, for their family, to continue living on,” he said.
Running his own shop has taught Ben a harder lesson than any single project: honesty, particularly with himself. “Don’t undervalue yourself,” he said, calling it the most unexpected thing he’s had to learn as a business owner. It’s advice that flows directly into what he tells anyone considering starting their own venture. “Trust your gut,” Ben said. “If something doesn’t feel right, question it.” He’s equally direct about the trap of taking on cheap work simply because it’s available. “It always comes back to pay you,” he said — a cost he’s learned to watch for closely.
Looking ahead, Ben is aiming to grow I Wood Build’s reach well beyond Zorra Township, and eventually beyond Oxford County altogether. He’s also hoping to move further into heritage refinishing and repair work, adding a restoration dimension to the custom builds that have defined the shop so far.
For Ben, Rural Oxford has been steady ground since well before I Wood Build existed. Even during his earlier, less successful run at contracting, the local community backed him. “Oxford has supported me from the beginning,” he said. “The people have been fantastic. They’ve kept me going for all these years.”
Eleven years into the business, Ben mostly works by appointment, though the shop keeps flexible hours in practice. Much of that flexibility comes through his close relationship with neighbouring Kintore Custom Hardwoods — when that shop is open, customers are welcome to stop by, and when a project calls for more intricate custom work than Kintore Custom Hardwoods typically handles, they send it Ben’s way directly. For anyone reaching out fresh, Ben prefers first contact through his website, followed by a preliminary email to get a sense of the project before setting up a time to meet in person.
Ask Ben about the wood itself, and the shop’s real character starts to show. Every species has its own personality, he says, and each comes with trade-offs. Ash has become something of a specialty by circumstance — a species hit hard locally by disease in recent years, which has pushed a surge of ash into both the firewood pile and the maker’s market. Ben appreciates it for how well it takes stain, even if it comes with a catch: ash tends to move unpredictably as it dries and settles. Walnut, by contrast, is a longtime favourite — warm in colour, easier to predict, and genuinely enjoyable to work with. Oak sits at the opposite end entirely. “It’s a nightmare to work with,” Ben said, “but the end result is stunning.”
Nearly everything that passes through Ben’s shop starts out remarkably close to home. Much of his timber comes straight from the bush lot across the road, milled from scratch rather than purchased pre-cut. The rest arrives through local farmers or customers bringing in their own logs to be turned into something new. It’s an arrangement Ben doesn’t take for granted, particularly the collaborative bond with Kintore Custom Hardwoods next door. “Very lucky to have them in my corner,” he said.
From a failed contracting attempt to a shop built almost entirely on local timber and local trust, I Wood Build has grown into exactly what Ben set out to create: a small, deeply personal operation where every piece carries a story worth telling.
I Wood Build
Ben Rawson
155999 15th Line, Kintore, ON
Zorra Township
Established 2015
iwoodbuild.com
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