Brad Smith was born in 1954 and raised on a farm in Worcester, Pennsylvania, in the southeastern part of the state.As a farm boy he was always fixing and building things around the farm. This led to an interest in woodworking which he developed in high school. For four years after graduation, he worked in several different woodworking shops in the area. Although he learned the basics of woodworking and developed a strong work ethic, Brad felt a more formal education would be helpful. In 1976 he attended the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Craftsmen and graduated with a BFA in woodworking and furniture design in 1980.

Later that year, he started Bradford Woodworking with his wife Sandy, who also graduated from R.I.T. The business began with a line of kitchen tools and accessories, which Brad and Sandy designed, crafted and marketed themselves. In 1986, Brad expanded the business by developing a line of distinctive furniture. The first piece in the line was the Ax Handle Stool™, which continues to be the workhorse of the line.

For nearly 15 years Brad ran the business from a small barn on his father's farm and a barn on his own land. Recently he's moved to a new shop completed in early 2005. While he misses the old place, he love's the radiant heating in the floor as do his employees too!

Assisting Brad full time in the shop is Joseph Kolasinski and John Nelson. Brad's son Adam Smith has begun working part-time in the furniture studio and good friend Cress Oberhotlzer puts in a few hours a week as well.. Joseph has worked with Brad since November of 2000. He has background in fine art and manages many different tasks around the shop. You can visit his website to see more of what he does when he's not working for Brad. John is a young furniture maker with plans of starting his own line of furniture. Adam is a promising jeweler and sculpter. You can see more of Adam's work here. Cress is a retired worker from the American Olean Tile company in nearby Lansdale.