How It's Made
Design
Everything starts with an idea! Our designer Kelly sketches out your product in CAD design software starting first with making it how she ideally wants it to look. Then the design is modified if needed to take into account what our tools and materials are capable of handling. Finally she makes any adjustments to strengthen weak points that experience has taught us might not survive the journey from our shop to your home.
Production
With the design in hand, our cutter Mike fires up the CNC machine to start the process of turning a 48"x48" sheet of premium wood into the raw elements of the piece you ordered. Some designs are a single cutout. Others are a dozen or more pieces that each have to be planned and accounted for to make sure the cuts are clean, wood isn't wasted, and the cutting bits don't break. When the cutting is done, the sanding begins, and each rough edge, tool mark, and fuzzy wood bur is removed to prepare for finishing.
Finishing
By the time it's ready for finishing, hours of work and a lot of resources have been already been expended creating your personalized piece, but one of the most difficult phases (finishing) hasn't even begun. Priming, painting, sanding, waiting, curing, repainting, checking, more waiting, repainting, and more painting. Premium finishes require multiple coats, a steady hand, and a keen eye for imperfections that will show up even after multiple coats of paint, but Nick is truly the perfect man for the job. If any assembly is required, this is where it happens. Gluing a dozen pieces together is a painstaking process that must be done with care so that it all lines up perfectly. If something goes wrong here, very often we're starting back at the beginning, so the pressure's on!
Shipping
The word "shipping" conjures images of packing peanuts and forklifts, but with Tyler, there's really a lot more art than industry involved. Of course, the first priority of shipping protecting the piece from damage in transit. And second is controlling costs in terms of size, weight, and packing materials. But the fun part is packaging the piece in such a way that when you first open the box, you're already excited and impressed before you even see the finished product! You'll enjoy opening your package, trust us. And there's a few extra touches you'll find inside to let you know how much we enjoyed making your piece something special for your home and how much we appreciate your business.