What is the difference between hand crafted furniture and furniture bought from the stores?   Store bought furniture is made in fast paced factories with many employee’s working on the same project. Most parts are cut out using automated machinery and then mechanically fastened with screws to hold it together.Solid wood construction in store bought furniture for the most part is non-existent. You would be hard pressed to find anything but a veneered particle board with a sprayed on factory finish that will take your eyes away from the poorly constructed piece. And there is also a good chance that it is made anywhere but the United States.
I make all my furniture the same way it was made 200 years ago. There is nothing automated about my shop, every piece is made one at a time by hand using a combination of power and hand tools. I carefully select every board of wood for grain and color match and take the extra effort to consider the placement of every board in each piece of furniture I make.I take great pride in the traditional construction techniques I use. Mortise and tenon and dovetails are the primary joints used to make all the furniture in my shop. Making furniture in this way does take a considerable amount of time and after many hours and days in the shop, it’s easy to get a personal attachment to the piece I’m working on. Often times it’s difficult to see the furniture that I’ve worked so hard on leave my shop. Do you think the men and women working in a factory making their furniture ever feel this way?
I use a variety of finishes on my furniture, from oils, varnish, shellac, lacquers and waxes, but nothing beats a hand rubbed finish to give a authentic look to every reproduction. Museum quality is what I strive for.My goal is that you are as proud to have one of my pieces in your home, as I am to have made it. Because I feel this way about the craft, I honestly believe that I am, Making Tomorrow’s Antiques.
Byrd's Woodworking Making Tomorrow's Antiques 937-456-5883 or 937-336-2822