Frames

Historic accuracy is very important to us, so we offer only authentically styled true mortise and tenon frames that are crafted entirely by hand. The historically accurate design of these extraordinary frames, complete with recessed horizontals and corner pegging, offers the perfect compliment to your Arts & Crafts style interior. 

We use only the highest quality quartersawn white oak in the production of our frames. Our lumber is produced from white oak that is first quartered, and then cuts are made perpendicular to the tree rings. This produces the dramatic ray flake patterns seen in the diagram below. Such patterns inherent in the oak became the distinguishing characteristic of Arts & Crafts period furniture.

Each board used in our frames is hand selected for its ray flake content and quality. Upon receipt of the raw lumber from the mill, every board is evaluated, and at this point in our selection process it is common for us to incur a 30% loss. The wood is them milled and ripped to the appropriate width and height, which is a process that exposes more of the true character of the board in terms of defects and ray flake content. The boards are then reevaluated, and at this point it is common for us to incur an another 30% loss.

After this rigorous selection process is complete, the wood is ready to be surfaced on all four sides. The end of each board is first marked to outline the ray flake, and that board is then placed on a surfacing machine in the direction that will allow trimming to expose even more ray flake. This labor intensive and time consuming process of surfacing our boards assures 100% consistency and accuracy among the boards.

Once the boards are surfaced, the wood is ready to be cut to the desired size for the vertical and horizontal members. Once cut, the vertical pieces, which are 2' wide, are placed into a mortising machine, which carefully cuts a slot, or mortise, to accept the horizontal tenon. The tenon is cut into the horizontal members, which are 3" wide, and the pieces are fitted and clamped. A hole is drilled completely through the joints, and a dowel is then placed through this hole, locking the frame together. The structural integrity of the mortise and tenon joint is incomparable, and it is valued highly by collectors as the hallmark of fine furniture.

Once the frame is completely assembled, it is sanded by hand several times to prepare the wood for finishing. Our finishing process is as historic as our frame design and production process, following Gustav Stickley’s time-honored four step process of sanding, staining, sanding again and finally sealing with a hand-rubbed wax. This process imparts an antique patina that is unparalleled in the contemporary furniture marketplace.

The result of all of this labor-intensive handcrafting and careful production is an heirloom quality historically accurate piece of furniture that is stain resistant, mar resistant, water resistant and low maintenance. All that is required to maintain its beauty is simply dusting with a soft dry cloth.

Dimensions
Interior dimensions are measures rabbet to rabbet.