Jim Pileggi's present-day profession is joined closely to 10 generations of craftspersons. Pileggi, AS '75, has carved out a niche building classic furniture, a craft that's been practiced by his family for nearly 300 years. Through his mother, Pileggi is a descendant of John Adams, one of the first landowners in the Plymouth Colony established in 1621. Since the early 18th century, his ancestors have worked as coopers (barrel makers), carpenters and cabinetmakers.

Pileggi didn't embrace the traditional family occupation right away. After graduating with a degree in psychology, he was hired as a program director for a Salem, N.J., YMCA and, a few years later, he directed a community center in Claymont, Del. All the while, he recalls, an inner voice called to him.

"For a long while, I didn't know what it was, but I guess I had to go through a process of elimination," says Pileggi. "Applying for grants and schmoozing wasn't something I found satisfying."

What did capture his fancy was working with wood, building desks and bookcases as well as restoring old furniture. In the summer of 1984, with support from his wife, Pam, Pileggi embarked on a full-time career in woodworking.

He began custom-crafting Shaker furniture-a simple, yet elegant, style that reflects the life of that 19th-century religious community. Within a year, he had outgrown the garage of his Middletown, Del., home. He scoured the region for a suitable site for a woodworking shop and settled on Delaware City, Del. He designed and built his shop on a vacant lot on Clinton Street in what had been, until the 1930s, a thriving canal town.

"Delaware City has a huge stock of mid-19th- century homes," Pileggi says. "The atmosphere ties in nicely with the Shaker period. It's my belief the town will reblossom, so I saw it as a great spot to set up my business."

Inside his shop, a fresh collection of handsomely designed furniture in American and Shaker traditions lines the far wall-dressers, blanket chests, standing desks, a Shaker candle stand and Shaker harvest and trestle tables.

In researching the Shaker traditions, Pileggi and his wife have traveled numerous times to Shaker museums in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Massachusetts.

Known in England as the Shaking Quakers, the religious sect received its name from the trembling produced by religious emotions. Moving to New York in 1774, the Shakers had established 18 communities by 1826. Members believed that hard work was the path to redemption, and the settlers were highly efficient laborers in the areas of farming, home building and furniture-making.

"They were very self-sufficient as a community," explains Pileggi. "However, they practiced celibacy as a sacrifice to God, and their numbers obviously dwindled. They were down to four ladies in Maine, but recently a group of 40 new converts has decided to follow the tradition. It's a simple and straight-forward life."

As is the furniture. Unlike the ornate, heavily carved and curved Victorian pieces that Pileggi also restores in his shop, the Shaker furniture offers clean, classic lines with straight legs and minimal embellishment. The beauty of Pileggi's work is reflected in the extensive use of mortise and tenon, the dovetail joints and cedar-lined drawers. His custom-ordered pieces can take from three to five months to complete.

"The furniture from the 19th century is very well-made," says Pileggi. "The Shakers used hand tools to scrape each piece of wood until you could see your reflection. We continue that tradition, but with a selective use of more modern tools such as mechanical sanders, shapers, table and bandsaws. It allows us to draw from the best of both worlds."

He rubs coarse sandpaper across a tabletop to gradually heighten the subtle colors of the wood grain, bringing pigments to the surface. Pileggi says that the simple style of the furniture he constructs allows him to reveal some intriguing grains in the hardwoods he employs-American black walnut, black cherry and white ash.

"They are well-suited for furniture making," he says, reaching for a board. "They stand up to use. This walnut has red and yellow streaks, which makes it a very interesting piece to look at. I go to a lumber yard in southeastern Pennsylvania with my moisture meter and pick and choose the boards. All of our woods are kiln dried."

He finishes each piece with tung oil or varnish, both of which enable the naked beauty of the wood to show through. Over time, sunlight darkens the wood. Pileggi signs and dates each of his hand-crafted pieces and stamps them with his company logo, Adams Woodworking.

He reports that some of his cousins in the Shenandoah Valley have furniture built by Adams' family members dating back to the time of the Revolutionary War and that his great-grandfather constructed one of the old canal boats that navigated the C & D Canal just outside his shop window.

"Success for me is creating beautiful and functional furniture that's pleasing to people who appreciate this craft," he says. "It would truly be an honor to have some of my pieces treasured by my relatives generations from now."

-Terry Conway