craftsmanship

the design.The design elements that make up a piece of furniture should be in conversation with each other and they should be mutually intelligible. Furniture is like music, but the form it takes is visual and tactile instead of sonic. There should be a harmony that emerges as design elements are combined into a single form. And being in its presence should make you feel something.

the joinery.For us, the fun and the beauty of woodworking is encapsulated by the process of using wood itself to solve technical problems of construction. So we emphasize the highest quality wooden joinery and we avoid metal fasteners whenever possible. 

the wood.We will use any wood that is right for the job aesthetically and technically. We appreciate the beauty of Northwest and North American wood species; We also appreciate the contrast that tropical hardwood accents can bring to a piece.

the finish.As with wood choice, I use any finish that is appropriate for the use case and the aesthetic circumstances. If a tabletop is going to see heavy use, conversion varnish may be a good fit. If a bookmatched panel on a cabinet door features distinctive, chatoyant grain patterns, lacquer may be a good choice to bring out the natural beauty of the wood. If a customer prefers an all-natural finish, a boiled linseed and tung oil blend may be right. And if they want a little more water resistance out of their oil finish, a adding polyurethane to the oil blend to create a Danish oil finish may be the right move. Just about all finishes have their place and no finish is ideal in all circumstances. We do not use paint or artificial stain. We are more interested in the possibilities afforded by ebonizing, fuming, and bleaching. Natural dyes like walnut ink and india ink may also be used.