Designing ornate doors is a passion for Paynesville man

PAYNESVILLE, MINN. – Tim Worms has always loved working with wood.

Whether it was a passion he inherited from his father, who had owned a lumberyard, or one he picked up over time, Worms is not sure. But what he is sure of is that the 2003 investment he made in a small wood shop was well worth it.

The owner of WoodMax Custom Wood Doors LLC began his career in Sauk Rapids, working for Komo Machine. But as hard times hit the Sauk Rapids company, Worms began exploring other options.

That search led him and a partner to purchase the Paynesville business. Worms bought out his partner a few years later. He owns the business with his wife, Sonja Gidlow.

WoodMax produces custom fitting-room doors for nationally known retailers such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Tommy Bahama. That's the bread-and-butter for the shop's five employees.

"That makes up about 55 to 60 percent of our business," Worms said. The remaining 40 to 45 percent is custom residential doors.

For $1,000 to $10,000 a door, Worm's shop can hand-carve ornate designs into solid wood doors to create a one-of-a-kind entrance. In addition, the shop specializes in wood engraving and inlay designs.

Because it's a small company doing custom work, there is usually a backlog of orders. It can take six weeks for a customer to get a finished product.

Each hand-carved or engraved door gets its start on a machine where bits as small as one-sixteenth of an inch rough out the design. Worms said the doors are then turned over to a local artist or a hand carver to finish the design.

Worms said he works with several hand carvers in the area and has tapped into new artists through word of mouth and through the Minnesota Wood Carvers Association's central Minnesota chapter.

The results are intricate works of art primarily featuring outdoor scenes. "The artistic skill makes all the difference," Worms said.

Most of the shop's residential doors are sold in Minnesota. They are often found on high-end homes in the Twin Cities area. Some of Worms' doors have made their way into Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Canada.

"We used to do a lot more [carved and engraved doors] before the recession," he said. "Carving went away during the recession."

But with help from the commercial fitting-room-door business, WoodMax's business has returned to pre-recession levels.

"We've been picking up business ever since," Worms said.

It's a good sign for the small shop. And a good sign for Worms, who couldn't imagine doing anything else.