CUSTOM SHAKER BUILT-IN… engineered to fit up a ladder-like stairway in an historic residence near Ellicott City Maryland  ( hover cursor over image to pause slideshow )

The Union Mill, aka Oella Mill operated along the Patapsco river in the town of Oella starting in the early 1800's . The company virtually owned the town and rented out these quarters to its workers. Primarily a cotton & wool mill, during WWII it was kept busy making Army blankets. The mill ceased operations in 1972

Our clients wanted a built-in like this Shaker original located in the Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts...

They planned it out well and constructed this mock-up to test the idea...

We traveled to the site, took some measurements, created some templates and then built this back at our Lititz workshop...

We were aware from the onset of this project that our reproduction Shaker wall unit would need to ascend this very challenging staircase...

Our Solution was to build the piece so it could be taken apart into smaller sections...

We built and finished it in our Lititz workshop, then took it apart...

Piece by piece we brought it up the stairway and began to reassemble it...

Here the face-frame, or front of the case is being put together...

We used a series of "half-lap" joints that were secured with screws from the back of the frame...

A template was made when we first visited the site that gave us a pattern to work from while building the piece...

This pattern would allow is to reassemble and fit the cabinet in place with very little if any cutting around baseboards & crooked floors...

Even the fit to the centuries old plaster ceiling was right on...

The frame took the most time to template, fit & reassemble, it had to meet the walls, floor & ceiling just right because we are very picky craftsman...

A few cuts were made to accommodate some baseboard quarter-round...

Back-cutting the top of the frame to snug it up a little closer to the ceiling...

After the face-frame was reassembled we needed to move it out of the way until a little later...

The quarters were tight, out of the way was a few feet behind us...

This box-spring was the client's clever solution for getting one up the ladder-like steps...

Now we are starting on the base that the case sections will sit upon...

Then we work on fastening together the case uprights...

The piece was completely assembled previously with all doors and drawers fit and functioning...

Pretty much a matter of putting everything back in the right place...

We used many screws and other clever fasteners...

Here the ceiling of the cupboard section is being installed...

Now we are working behind it fastening the back in place...

Very tight quarters...

Securing the top case corner together...

Now it is time for the face-frame again...

A difficult task with the tight room, pretty sure we hit that fan a time or two...

Getting there...

Closer yet...

Face-frame was attached to case sections with a series of screws and other proprietary fasteners that were completely hidden...

There was quite a bit of crawling in and out of this cabinet while setting it back up...

Looking just right...

Now it is time to put the doors back on...

The hinges were attached to the doors already, we just need to put the screws back in to the face-frame members...

Note the required right-hand hinging on the far left door...

Drawers on their way back in...

All drawers were fully dovetailed, finished finely inside and mounted on premium soft-close glides...

A final fit...

A little clean-up... the finish of this cabinet was a tan over red aged paint finish that the owners selected...

We were in the client's home for about 3-1/2 hours to complete this project...

CRATING & SHIPPING OF ONE OF OUR LARGEST PIECES…some fine Pennsylvania Cherry wood & craftsmanship gets packed up for the journey to a Redwood forest in California

A good client from the West coast fell in love with this 16 Drawer Case while visiting our showroom & workshop recently, we were asked to get it safely to their in California just South of the Mendocino National Forest which is North of San Francisco...

The piece is made out of Pennsylvania Cherry wood and weighs a lot...

Josh is shown here starting the wooden crate that we will use to ship this fine piece of furniture...

The same cabinetmakers that built our furniture built the shipping crates that protect our pieces while in transit...

We start with a base that is set on blocks to allow lifting with a forklift...

All of our crates are put together with screws to allow our receiving clients to easily take them apart to recycle the components...

It also makes it very easy to open the crate to remove the contents...

Dressers are shipped standing up, edges of drawers are all wrapped with stretch tape to avoid rubbing case...

Any loose hardware such as keys and tether fasteners are safely packed inside...

Here the panels for the crate front & back are being joined with a pneumatic corrugated fastener gun...

Sheets needed were larger than your standard 4 x 8 plywood, we needed to make them larger...

All of our pieces are branded, signed & dated by the cabinetmaker that made it...

Certain taller pieces are fit with a tether cable for added safety...

After individually wrapping drawer edges they are all secured into the case with more stretch wrap...

Pretty sure Josh is getting dizzy here...

Ready to insert into the crate...

1" thick rubber cushions are located before we set the furniture in place...

We use 3/4" thick plywood to crate our furniture, we have found that it protects our pieces from forklift abuse and the like very well...

Here the case is in place and we are now securing the rear and side panels first...

Another view...

Yet another...

Rubber cushion is used as a shock absorber for the truck ride West, it is actually stable mat that is used in horse & cow stables...

Left side is on now...

Here foam blocks are being inserted to fill gaps and keep furniture from shifting in crate...

Packing is very light, highly protective...

We use it only where it is needed so there is not much to dispose of or recycle when unpacked...

This is why the stretch wrap was used to keep the drawers from opening....

Fastening the top and front panels...

After it is built and closed we go ever edges with a scrub plane to get rid of sharp crate edges...

Crates are then labeled and weighed...

The shipping company is contacted and we are ready to ship...

A Bill of Lading is prepared and tracking information is obtained when the crate is picked up...

Into the truck...

And off we go to California, the cross country trip will take about 5 or 6 days...

CREATING HEIRLOOMS FROM A FAMILY WALNUT TREE…another California friend seeks our shop out to turn her Father’s cherished East Coast American Black Walnut slabs into fine furniture to ship West

We were commissioned recently to turn these Walnut slabs into some furniture for a client from the Santa Maria California area...

These "Live-Edge" slabs had been sawed & stored by her Father decades ago...

The tree once grew in the Towanda region of Pennsylvania, just South of the New York border...

After inheriting these boards when her Father passed away, Elizabeth decided to keep these boards in her California home, in furniture form...

Slabs were from a very nice crotch section and we worked with this while laying the project out...

Desk ends on the way...

The slabs were over 2" thick and could be split for certain parts, note the "Book-Matched" parts in some following images...

Re-sawing on the bandsaw...

Elizabeth visited during the early stages of construction...

This is the leg assembly for the base of a table that was ordered...

Many parts, there were two pieces of furniture ordered by her to crafted & shipped West...

Elizabeth was very interested in learning anything she could from us about wood and how we would work with hers...

AJ was the cabinetmaker for the project...

Parts on the bench, the piece of Walnut on the bench in the foreground still has bark on the edges, this is referred to as being "Live-Edge" and is very popular in furniture once again...

Boards being glued up in a press...

More parts, some with tenons...

Turning the legs for the table on the lathe...

The knobs were also turned, every piece of wood used in this project came from the 3 slabs provided...

Assembly starting on the table base...

From this cut we can guesstimate the age of the tree when it was felled...

Drawer parts....

Drawer dry-fit...

Desk assembly required four hands...

Delicate "Rule Joint" on the table top provides a very refined appearance when the leaf is up or down...

This is the table, it is one of our standard 2 Drawer Drop Leafs...

We dovetail all of our drawers in all four corners...

The "Rule Joint" with the leaf up...

Underside of the table, note the raised drawer bottom & special drop-leaf hinges...

The small piece protruding through the apron next to the hinge pulls out to support the leaves, there is one of these pull-outs located under each leaf...

We brand, sign & date all of our work...

Another drawer bottom view...

A nylon glide is attached to the bottom of table legs to protect the leg and the floors it sits on...

Top of desk with lid closed...

Pull-outs to support desk lid when opened...

This is one of our standard Kentucky Slant Front Desks that Libby commissioned us to create with her wood...

Here both pieces are ready for finish...

Elizabeth selected a wax finish, here Rolando is working his magic on the table...

The desk is on deck...

Wax finish really brought out the beauty of this fine walnut...

Desk pull-out close up...

Beautiful Burl...

Side view...

Nice...

Some of these grain features were selected by Elizabeth while we were examining the uncut slabs...

Drop-leaf down...

Very petite table is a popular piece for us, we build many of them...

Nicely finished and ready to pack up for the trip...

All loose or movable parts are secured with stretch wrap, the crate they will be shipped in is in background...

Lifting the pieces into the crate...

Strategically placed foam blocks are used to prevent the contents from shifting during transit...

Josh is shown securing the lid of the crate down...

Soon this will be picked up by the freight company and shipped to our client, the cross country journey will take about 5 days...

SHANNON & JOHN’S HOME OFFICE…custom designed & crafted for some great clients in Enola Pennsylvania

We built this home office unit recently for a good client in Enola Pennsylvania...

It was a custom design that was built in sections so that it could be moved more easily...

It had 3 large file drawers...

They were mounted on heavy duty file cabinet slides that fully extended...

The upper right drawer opened and folded down to reveal a printer platform for a rather large printer...

This piece is being built out of Tiger Maple wood that will receive our Cinnamon finish...

Just about ready to be taken apart for finishing, the shelves are all adjustable...

It was pretty much built in 6 cabinet sections with a common top crown assembly...

Here it is after finishing...

Everything is set back up and adjusted...

It took our finisher Rolando about a week to work this through our finishing room...

Large file drawer fronts were one board wide, we were saving these boards for years for a project as special as this...

Our file system is designed to be used with hanging files, the files will hang on aluminum runners that are yet to be installed...

We will take this apart once again, transport it to our client's home and put it back together again...

ANTIQUE CAR RODEO AT OUR LITITZ SHOWROOM…as a designated stop for this antique car tour through Lancaster County Pennsylvania, dozens of these fine machines and their occupants paid our showroom a visit one fine September day