Our cosmetic standard
What handcrafted actually looks like from eighteen inches away
Read this before you order. It is the most important page on the site, and the one people wish they had read afterwards.
Expect all of this
These are features, not faults.
Handcrafted solid wood furniture includes every one of the following. A machine can avoid them. Two people with hand tools cannot, and would not want to.
- Open knots
- Visible brush strokes
- Micro-imperfections
- Textural variation
- Unique distress marks
- Exposed screws
- Wood filler marks
- Visible joint lines
- Nicks, splits, and cracks
Stain
Wood has a mind of its own
“Wood does have a mind of its own and every piece of wood accepts stain differently.”
Finer sanding goes lighter
Sanding to a finer grit closes the pores of the wood. Closed pores take less pigment, so the same stain on a finely sanded surface lands lighter than you might expect from a sample.
Distressed surfaces go darker
A more distressed surface is an open surface. It drinks the stain, particularly in the marks themselves, and comes out darker and higher in contrast.
Two boards from the same tree, sanded the same way, stained from the same can, will not finish identical. That is what makes it wood and not laminate.
Seasonal movement
Small gaps between the top boards are normal.
Solid wood expands and contracts with the seasons. In a dry winter house it shrinks slightly; in a humid Texas summer it swells back. Over a wide top, that can open small gaps between the boards.
This does not affect the structural integrity of the piece, and it is not a defect. It is the material doing exactly what the material does. Our tables are built to allow for it.
Drying properly in our vacuum kiln keeps that movement small, more on the kiln here. It does not stop it, and nothing does.
Band sawn oak
Saw marks are part of the look.
Band sawn oak may show small waves across the surface where the blade travelled. That texture is the reason people choose it.
Full coverage of saw marks across the whole surface is not guaranteed. Some areas will carry them heavily and some hardly at all.
Lead times
Our 4–10 weeks build window is an estimate, not a guarantee. It moves with the queue, the kiln, and the weather. We would rather tell you that up front than miss a date we invented.
Plainly put
“Those who do not appreciate variations and imperfections should not purchase handcrafted furniture.”
We are not being difficult. We would rather you buy something you love from someone else than buy something from us expecting a finish no hand can produce.