How We Build Our Furniture

Our work is inspired by 19th-century-style furniture. We adhere to the belief that simple, sturdy, functional furniture—crafted by hand with quality materials—are timeless pieces that owners will be proud to pass down from generation to generation. To maintain authenticity in building historically accurate pieces, we use only vintage hand tools as well as production techniques actually used during the 19th century. We design and construct our furniture not only to last for hundreds of years but also to be used for hundreds of years. To ensure authenticity, we hand sign each item, continuing a tradition of most 19th-century cabinetmakers. Because we make each piece by hand, one at a time, our furniture is distinct from all others.

We use no plywood or veneer in our pieces. We choose our wood based on historic usage, including local hardwood trees that we fell with an ax, including oak (red, white, and burr), ash, maple, walnut, poplar, and cherry. Softwoods help keep the weight and cost of a piece down and are often more historically correct. Softwood choices include pine, cedar and Douglas fir. We start with rough-sawn boards, a hand plane, and a lot of labor, making each board flat, straight, smooth, and the right size.

We take great pride in our wood selections. Robby is personally drawn to interesting grains-knots, holes, and swirls that make each piece unique and distinctive. All furniture is made using traditional 19th-century joinery techniques, such as dovetail, mortise and tenon, tongue and groove, lap, half-lap, and dado joints. We even make all of our own dyes and finishes, using historical 19th-century recipes. Color choices include onion-peel, log wood, walnut, raspberry, and raspberry walnut.