About Me
My name is Dale J. Horst and I build Pennsylvania German furniture in Lancaster county PA. I learned from some of the finest cabinet makers in the area, countless books and magazines and learning trips to museums, galleries and historic homes. The information on this website is a combination of everything I learned the past twenty-five years.

Information is available on this site to make a variety of different wood joints. As my website grows it will also include classic furniture plans. Step by step instructions will be offered to build different PA German masterpieces.

If you are just getting started in wood working or have been building projects for years, this is the website for you. I will be explaining techniques that have been handed down from generations of great cabinet makers. Come. Let me do what I do best. With each procedure you buy you will receive an 8 1/2x11 stitched booklet that lays flat on your workbench. This booklet will be packed with color photos and multiple pages of instructions, tips, and techniques. For example, have you ever wondered how professionally made dovetails do not have the slightest gaps or defects? I will show you a technique handed down for generations that insure no gaps ever.

All the photographs taken of my procedures are of digital quality in my work shop. This is a real working shop. You won’t find a polished bench or brand new tools that never get used. The material you receive will help to make you a better wood worker. So stop wasting your money on expensive books and videos and let me help you build beautiful furniture.

I was born in 1958 in Akron PA, very close to the Ephrata Cloister. During my teenage years when idols were people like Roger Staubach or Joe Namath, mine was George Montgomery. Remember him? He was the guy on TV commercials that made all his own beautiful furniture. I made the first ever grand father clock at Ephrata High School in my senior year and from there I studied and learned from friends and countless books. I started selling my furniture in the early 1980’s. You will never find the information found on this site in any one book or even several books. The problem with books is they never seem to lay flat on a work bench, photos are limited, and they cost a lot of money. I think I solved that problem. Give one of these lessons a chance and see for yourself.

Dale J. Horst.