Craftsmanship

We build what we design to the highest standards of our craft.

Gary planing table top
Gary planing table top

Reverence

A reverence for the material is required. Each piece of wood has its optimum orientation and treatment and its highest use (although that may be in the stove). Recognition of this is technical, experiential, and devotional.

Austin and Bonner marking rocking chair legs
Austin and Bonner marking legs

Inspiration

We have designed and built machines and tooling, written protocols, and established routines, but precision and the structural, visual, and tactile integrity of the furniture are in our hands--not in machines, tools, or programs. Judgment and ability are challenged, and risk abounds.

Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a reed shaken in the wind.

Johannes Brahms

Execution

What seems most beautiful in all I see about me is what men and women can create with their hands, issuing from their heart and heads.

Norman Maclean

Precision

For excellence in joinery, stability, durability, fit, and utility, parts must be produced to precision. Note the placement of the splat mortises along the radius of a rocking chair crest.


Sculpture

We sculpt joints and surfaces to please the eye with the play of light and shadow and to please the hand by a muscular and sensuous contour. There are few flat places on our chairs.

To "sculpt" in this shop is to cut, carve, file, grind, plane, or sand to a form that is individual to that piece and moment, but consistent with an ideal. True to the ideal, but not to the thousandths.

close up of sculpting a bevel on rocking chair crest
Austin, Autumn, and Audra discussing details
Austin, Autumn, and Audra discussing details

Chairs are like sculpture.

Robert Wilson

Integrity

Defined
Firm adherence to moral and artistic standards. Sound.


Contribution

May the world be blessed by the work of your hands.

A Unitarian Welcome

We are artist-craftsmen, not machine tool operators. Inspired hearts and informed heads guide calloused hands to produce extraordinary works of beauty and utility.


Making Our Patrons Happy

When they receive their furniture, our patrons often mention craftsmanship in their reports to us. Click to see reports and reviews filtered by "Craftsmanship."

December 06, 2001

Dear Mr. Weeks:

Thank you for the beautiful walnut rocker you and the people in your company made for me. I really love it . . . The rocker and I spend a lot of beautiful time listening to music. It makes my den. But what matters most to me is that it was made by people who love and care about what they create, and as a result the product has integrity.

God bless, and good luck,
J.F.

Stamford, Connecticut​


Articles in this Section


Wood is a substance with soul.

William Penn