CONSTRUCTION

CRAFTMEN MICHAEL

Michael's clients value the beauty of solid wood and appreciate things finely constructed. After all these years, Michael still works alone. Each piece is designed, laid out, glued up, sanded, constructed and finished by Michael.

The Shakers have had a profound influence on Michael's work, their clean unadorned simplicity, functionalism and craftsmanship. Whether building an exact reproduction or an adult crib, he keeps the basic Shaker tenets in mind.

Every piece is built by Michael and his aim has been, and continues to be, to create the highest quality individually built furniture to suit your specific needs. Toward that end, he uses the best wood available and time honored joinery techniques. When you invest in Michael's furniture, you get the benefit of over three decades of experience in joinery, wood technology, restoration, design, technical perfection, and meticulous craftsmanship. You get furniture to enjoy for life, built by someone who really understands wood. As one client put it: "Your craftsmanship is incredible and beautiful... so exacting, it's hard to believe that the piece was built in 2012."

MODERN WOODEN CONSTRUCTION

Modern furniture construction - say, from 1840 to present - is marked by a number of innovations. While some see the modern period as the end of high quality hand-built furniture, this is not so. Furnishing an entire house was possible for only the wealthier citizens. Hand-made furniture was made the most efficient way possible, but it was still a labor-intensive and expensive craft. In the machine-age, dowel joinery largely replaces mortise-and-tendon, and dovetails are machine-cut and joined in seconds. Modern adhesives are stronger than wood, set rapidly, and withstand adverse environments and intense use. Nails, screws, and other fasteners - once made individually by hand - have become inexpensive as well as sophisticated. They now replace and even improve the strength of some joinery in new construction. In much modern furniture, joinery that was traditionally unseen is shown for decorative effect. When you buy a crib you will need to get a (Mattress and Mattress Support  with is a 3/4 Plywood cut to fit the medial rails.)  All our adult cribs are made of poplar excluding the closed panels witch are not.
 
In spite of these innovations, high quality hand-made furniture has always been available. In the late 19th century, the highest-quality furniture was custom designed and hand made. The cost of this class of work was, and still is, merely reflective of the skillful maker and the use of fine materials. And in the late 20th century, we can add an additional factor: the mystique of the craft.

FUNDAMENTAL JOINERY

There are really only a few ways to successfully join wood, whether building a house or a chair. The greatest challenge, beyond fashioning a log into boards, is joining the wood components at right angles to one another. The earliest archaeological examples all exhibit typical joinery - no matter where in the world they are found. Joints do more than make use of small pieces of wood. They make frames, increase length, and make large surfaces of solid wood. Many of these ancient methods were still found after the advent of metal fasteners (nails, screws, etc.) simply because the joints had proven so strong.

NOTE: When you buy a crib you will need to get a (Mattress and Mattress Support  with is a 3/4 Plywood cut to fit the medial rails.)  All our adult cribs are made of poplar excluding the closed panel cribs, panels are plywood or particle board.