All of our products are hand made

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The making of a solid wood board is not as easy as going to the hardware store and picking one up. You can't simply go pick out a solid wood board that is 50"Tx36"W and cut it down to the size you want- trees just don't grow that big and wide. The board has to be manufactured in sections to make the desired size. The steps below cannot be forced or skipped. If they are not done properly, the board will not look as good as possible, and surely will not last. Every board we make is done the same way- no exceptions.

Below is a step by step description of what we do to make your board before we put anything on it....

The first step is to go to the mill and choose a set of boards that has the grain and color properties needed to build a good looking board. Once the boards are chosen, we bring them back to the shop to do the major cuts to make them the correct height, surface them , and prepare them for jointing. Choosing wood usually takes a few hours (including the drive time to the mill) and doing major cut downs takes anywhere from 1 to 2 hours depending on board size

The next step is to joint each edge of the boards to prepare them to be put together. Each edge is run through the jointer to make it as close to 90 degrees as possible. This process ensures that each board will join together with an almost invisible seam between boards. We also check that the grain on each board is opposed to keep the board from turning after built. After jointing the edges, we drill pocket holes on the back of the board and assemble the board. We use a combination of pocket holes with screws and exterior wood glue on each edge to assemble all of our boards. After assembly, the board is racked to allow it to dry with pressure to ensure maximum straightness when finished. All of the above generally takes about 3-5 hours to build the board and another 6-8 hours to allow the board to completely dry in the rack.

Next we see the completed back and front of the board. Pocket holes are covered with matching wood plugs (for outdoor boards) and the board shape is cut (if a particular shape is desired) The board remains in this state for up to a week to allow the wood expand/contract and cure naturally. This time gives us the opportunity to check the board periodically for cupping, bowing, or turning. Any defects in the assembly are corrected at this point before moving on to finishing the board.

After the final inspection of the board, we then proceed to surfacing it on both the front and back. Depending on board size, this takes anywhere from 3-6 hours. It covers rough surfacing to get the major imperfections out, medium sanding to smooth the face, cleaning all edges, and routing the edges with the appropriate profile bit. Once the major work is completed, we then finish sand the board by machine, then hand sand for final preparation for varnish.

Now we see what looks like a board! The board is now varnished with outdoor grade marine varnish (no matter if it is an indoor or outdoor board) and allowed to dry with finish sanding between each coat. Depending on the weather, dry times can range from 4-5 hours to 8 hours between each coat. Humidity in the air affects the dry time of each coat. If it is very rainy- it takes longer. If it is hot and dry, the dry time is naturally accelerated. After 4 coats of varnish, the board is now ready for assembly. The entire process of varnishing a board with 4 coats can take up to 1 week if the weather does not cooperate. Just because the shop is climate controlled, does not mean the humidity in the air will not affect the dry time.

Assembly of the board can take from 3-10 hours depending on board size and how simple/complex the layout is.

This is the main reason why it takes a good amount of time to make your display- not to mention that we usually have at least 5-6 boards in various stages of progress at any one given time.