My Mission Statement
The furniture and accessories I build all start with the basic principals of individual craftsmanship, beautiful hardwoods, strong mortise and tenon joinery, and Arts and Crafts design principals. Designs, woods and finishes that endure the tests of time.
My furniture and accessories all begin with rough sawn wood. I select each board I purchase, face joint and plane to thickness, then carefully select each board so only the very best surfaces are shown. Parts are marked on the wood, prior to cutting, to utilize the most beautiful areas in the most visible places. This process is essential in ensuring the highest level of craftsmanship and yields incomparable results in the finished product.
I work primarily in Quarter-sawn white oak. The end of a piece of quarter-sawn wood has the rings of the tree perpendicular to the face. This type of milling yields less usable wood from a tree so costs more than regular flat sawn wood but the result is a much more stable lumber, thus it is less sensitive to temperature and humidity changes which can cause the wood to shrink, swell, crack or twist. The beauty of quarter-sawn white oak is a hallmark of Arts and Crafts style; it’s what shows the random grain pattern of medullary cells that appear to luminescence and radiate in natural light. All the pieces I make are also available in cherry. Other woods are available, please contact me for information.
Joinery is one of the bedrock tenets of the Arts and Crafts philosophy. Mortise and tenon joints are the strongest way to join wood on an angle. I use this joint on most all my pieces from 5x7 frames and bookends all the way up to the massive spindle bed that has 236 such joints! The table and bed legs and the uprights on the lamp bases use a lock miter joint. This not only ensures a strong, long lasting part, but also allows the piece to show a matching grain on all four sides.
I use a wide variety of finishes in my work, most them custom blended in my shop. I have experimented with many types of finishes and methods and have developed my own combinations unique to the wood I’m working with and the use the piece will receive. All are hand applied to bring out the true beauty of the wood. The samples on my website are the tried and true favorites, but not the only options available.
Before any of the above can be started we need a design. All the pieces I have made started with an idea. I have a large collection of Arts and Crafts publications, original catalogs, reprints, “collector” books, auction catalogs and magazines. I’ll often browse thru them looking for ideas, mostly design elements, not whole pieces. I like to pull together the best of the classic designs with a slightly lighter modern feel. Once the basics are decided including; use, size, price range, etc. I sketch up some ideas then do some CAD drawings. If the piece is for my inventory I will then build a prototype, refine the design if needed and do a small run of finished product. If the piece is being designed for a commission, approval from You, the customer, must be granted before any wood will be cut. Please see my custom commission page for ordering details.
Tim Pursell