Walker’s Woodshop is located in Smithton, Illinois in the Southern part of the state. It is operated by me, Dan Walker along with my wife Laura Walker. It is a small business operation that has been a dream of mine since I was in my early twenties.

My first project was an Appalachian Banjo that my father and I built when I was in high school. (Pictured to the top right.) The design was taken from the Foxfire series of books which focused on crafts and history from the Appalachian Mountains.

After that build, in 1979 I purchased a Diamond Eagle banjo kit from Stewart McDonald. This is where the passion started. I learned a lot about banjo design and construction, not to mention I ended up with a very high quality, great sounding banjo that is hanging on my wall to this day. (Pictured to the bottom right.)

Unfortunately, my passion was put on hold for about 45 years. A career and four great kids put woodworking on the back burner. Fast forward to 2023 when retirement was in sight I started purchasing the tools and equipment that I would need to complete my shop. A few small projects were completed and then on April 1st of 2025 I retired and the dream of a fulltime woodworking, fly fishing, and golf became a reality.

Between banjos I started building cutting boards, charcuterie boards, and cheese slicing boards. My latest ventures are dulcimers and chess boards which will be coming to the website later this spring.

We hope you enjoy our website and look forward to sharing our products with you.

Thanks,

Dan & Laura Walker