On the wall of the newest shop to open in downtown Milan is a piece of art that serves as a warning of danger.
Owner Bill Gordon was using his 110-pound chainsaw mill to cut some cherry, but being careful since a discoloration in the wood hinted metal was inside.
“[It was the] crotch of a cherry tree and I just nicked part of it. I thought it was just a nail,” Bill Gordon said. Gordon then worked by hand to reveal the head of a rake encased inside.
If he hadn’t been paying attention, metal can make the saw turn back on him, resulting in a serious injury, he said.
Gordon said he could never do a desk job. He’s previously worked for U.S. Fish and Game in Marquette, as a hunting guide in Alaska, as a fire chief in Onota Township, and as a boat captain on the Detroit River. In between, he’s worked construction and with wood and over the years his side hustles turned into his occupation.
At Gordon Woodwork in Milan, Gordon is hoping to create a place of discovery for woodworkers, DYIers and those looking for custom work.
While working, Bill Gordon uncovered the head of a rake encased in cherry wood. It now hangs on the wall of his store in downtown Milan.
Michigan lumber
To prepare for his soft opening on Oct. 17, Gordon lined up large slabs of wood along the wall of his store, inside the forest-green storefront once occupied by Plum Tree Yarn Shop.
Gordon sells kiln-dried Michigan wood slabs and boards, including those he procured himself. Among his offerings are walnut, black locust, white and red oak, curly, ambrosia and spalted maple, red cedar, and cherry. Gordon said woodworkers can purchase the wood for their own projects or customers can hire him to build something for them.
“There they can go through a couple hundred pieces of wood and pull out what they like,” he said, gesturing to the wall.
Among his stock are also big pieces of Eastern White Pine he purchased from a guy in the Upper Peninsula and old salvaged barn wood.
Bill Gordon sells the wood he cuts with his chainsaw mill at his shop in Milan.
Products
As a craftsman, he does a lot of floating shelves and live edge tables, he said, though he also specializes in mantles, benches and other custom work. He offers services like slab flattening on his planer for woodworkers who obtained their wood elsewhere and chainsaw millings and carvings.
Recently, he said, a customer asked him to carve a big stump into a gnome house, with a little door. Wednesday he spent the day at a restaurant installing his custom-built live edge tables. Tuesday a returning customer reached out looking for wood for a bench.
Gordon also sells professional woodworking products, and pieces from a few trusted vendors, including bourbon barrel furniture made by his college roommate and metal work made by the Saline High Welding class.
Thursday afternoon he met with another of his vendors, 17-year-old Max Scott, a Milan woodworker who will be selling fine cutting boards at Gordon Woodwork.
Gordon said he also loves to cook and smokes meats. He sells his cherry and bourbon barrel chips, coffee rubs, and everything for BBQ smoking.
On Oct. 17, the day of his soft opening, Bill Gordon met with one of his vendors, 17-year-old Max Scott, a Milan woodworker who will be selling fine cutting boards at Gordon Woodworks.
Background
Gordon and his dad bought a saw mill after Gordon moved to the Upper Peninsula to work for U.S. Fish & Game.
“I kind of always wanted one,” he said.
He brought the band mill back to southeast Michigan when he moved back here, but now also owns a chainsaw mill so he can cut wider slabs.
Gordon previously operated a successful storefront for three years in Dearborn, but said the drive got long from his home near Maybee and the neighborhood changed. So, he looked at other locations. After he and his wife parked on Milan’s Main Street and counted people coming by, and heard good things about the landlord and the DDA, they decided Milan was the place to be.
Bill Gordon uses his 110-pound chainsaw mill to cut large logs.
Opening
Gordon’s soft opening started Oct. 17 and will extend through the end of the month while he gets everything in place. His hours are 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the shop. He will spend Monday through Wednesday in his woodshop building, but those with questions can ask his wife, Rita, who owns Pink Shamrocks next door.
As part of Milan Seniors for Healthy Living’s series of Fireside Chats, Bill and Rita Gordon will share their life story, including “how we ditched our old 9-5’s in our mid-50’s to start our own businesses.” They will speak at 10 a.m. at 45 Neckel Court on Wednesday Oct. 22, 2025.
Gordon Woodwork is the newest business to open up shop on Main Street.
8123 Main St Suite 200 Dexter, MI 48130
