Eight years ago, Clayton Cox was a mechanic, leasing a service station in tiny Glendale, a few miles north of this southern Utah community. Business was slow in the wintertime, and when Cox was offered a chance to supplement his income by working with wood, he took it.

Woodworking had always been his hobby. He had crafted beds, an entertainment center and several rocking chairs in high school - and the job offer played to those skills.

First, he was asked to strip the bark from some wooden poles, "just to make ends meet," he recalls. When he completed the job, there were a number of poles left over, which the owner gave to Cox. Those poles were turned into pieces of furniture, and eventually sold.

Then, in 1998, the EPA stepped in. It ordered owners of the Glendale station that Cox was leasing to dig up an old tank. The cost, well over $100,000, made it easy for Cox not to renew his lease - and a furniture business was born.

It was a year of coincidences. The Thunderbird motel at Mount Carmel was undertaking a major remodeling effort, and a friend offered him work.

"That was my first commercial account," he recalls. "I did their pro shop and a few other pieces for them."

That first year went surprisingly well - he did $58,000 worth of business - but even he couldn't have predicted where his "hobby" would lead him.

Today, Cox is no longer a one-man operation working out of his garage. He is, instead, the owner of Rustic Mountain Furniture, a business with eight employees. It did $430,000 worth of business last year, shipping handcrafted furniture across the United States and beyond.

The Internet opened up the European market, and sales continue to grow. "There are pieces all over the world," Cox says, noting that recent shipments have gone to Germany, Spain and England.

The various wood pieces are made in a shop located along U.S. Highway 89 at the edge of Orderville. They are constructed out of aspen or pine from drawings Cox does to scale.

Jim Wood, one of eight craftsmen working for Cox, says that while the workers come from varied backgrounds, they have one thing in common: They "love to work with wood," he says. "It's kind of a knack. You've either got it or you don't."

Adjacent to the manufacturing building is a new showroom that shows off Rustic Mountain's handiwork - beds, dressers, armoires, dinette sets, patio furniture, fireplace mantels. Nearly all furniture is made on site, although Rustic Mountain does import a few pieces for resale - willow furniture from Mexico and rockers and gliders from the Amish in Pennsylvania.

The company also makes numerous railings for high-mountain cabins. "We do a boatload of those," says Nate Soderquist, Cox's brother-in-law who handles sales, marketing and developing the company's Internet site. He says area contractors funnel a lot of railing work their way, resulting in Rustic Mountain railings being a common sight in places such as Elk Ridge, Duck Creek Village and East Zion.

As for Cox, he can't help but be pleased with the way things have turned out.

"Over eight or nine years, we've done several millions [of] dollars worth of furniture. That's quite a legacy."

Rustic Mountain Furniture

Owner: Clayton Cox

Where: U.S. Highway 89 at the edge of Orderville

What: Handcrafted furniture constructed out of aspen or pine from drawings Cox does to scale