More Than a Craft Shop & The People Behind the Work

At McClure Tables, we’re a small team building handcrafted shuffleboard tables, most of whom have been with us for years, many for over a decade. Together, we bring over 40 years of experience within our company, and our collective expertise in the woodworking industry exceeds two centuries. This legacy of craftsmanship inspires us to create exceptional tables that stand the test of time. That’s the difference in how these tables are built, and it’s something you can feel the moment you play on one.

In a small shop like ours, everyone contributes their fair share. We work together as a team, and while no one is perfect, we support one another. Just last week, as we were gluing up some boards, a couple slipped past the layup team. Fortunately, when we reached the glue roll press, we caught and replaced those boards. Sometimes, longer boards don't pick up glue evenly from the rollers, so we stop and apply a bit more glue manually with a glue bottle. During this process, someone remarked that in a factory setting, tasks are often performed without attention to detail—workers complete their jobs without considering how their actions may affect the person at the front or the end of the line who might need to fix any issues that arise along the way.

In a small shop like ours, roles aren’t fixed the way they are in a factory ~ they overlap.

Just this past week, while we were gluing up playboards, you could clearly see it.

Sam, who handles much of our production management, was in the shop helping with layout. I was working alongside the team. Frank, our finish craftsman, was helping sort lumber and cut out defects. Dan and Jose, who are primarily furniture makers, were moving between bench work, glue-up, and helping wherever needed.

That’s how our shop operates. Everyone contributes across the process, making handcrafted shuffleboard tables.

The same people who build the tables also sand them, assemble them, and often help prepare them for shipment. If something doesn’t look right, it gets caught not because it’s someone’s assigned job, but because it matters to the person doing the work.

In larger factory environments, those roles are separated for efficiency. One person may sand all day. Another may only assemble. Another may only pack. That structure makes sense at scale, but it also means each step is disconnected from the next.

When work becomes repetitive, it can turn into routine. The focus shifts to completing the task rather than always questioning the result.

In our shop, that disconnect doesn’t exist. The person who notices an issue is often the same person who would have to fix it later, and that changes how the work gets done

When you’re comparing shuffleboard tables, most of the focus is on size, price, or appearance.

But what often gets overlooked is how the table is actually built—and who is building it.

In a small shop like ours, the same team that selects the lumber, glues up the boards, and assembles the cabinet is responsible for the final product.

That means:

• Problems are caught early, not passed down the line
• Details don’t get overlooked
• The end result reflects the people who built it, not just a process

It’s a different level of accountability, and it shows up in how the table plays, how it holds up over time, and how it can be serviced years down the road.

Every handcrafted shuffleboard table we build starts right here in West Michigan.

The hard maple is sourced locally. The boards are milled, glued, pressed, and finished in our shop.

We’re not assembling parts from multiple suppliers; we’re building each table from the ground up.

That’s what allows us to stand behind what we make, and why our process hasn’t been handed off or outsourced.