A lot has happened since I last wrote. We've been so busy I haven't had time to sit in the office and put some stuff together for the blog. In fact, I haven't had much time to take pics and show you some of the exciting things we're doing.
Let me talk about the trends we're seeing in woodworking. This past year we've seen a rise in paint jobs. Paint jobs are cabinets with paint finishes rather than stain or glaze finishes. In some ways, a paint finish is harder to do because paint surfaces are less forgiving than stain or glaze. Stain and glaze surfaces are accentuated by the natural color changes in wood and small imperfections, (especially discoloration), can be easily covered up.
Paint surface can't have small nicks and dings in it. It needs to be flat for the paint to be consistent. So there's some prep work involved in making sure the surface is flat and smooth. This is usually accomplished through sanding. However, if there are places where deep nicks are present, we use a wood putty or bondo to fill it and then sand again until the surface is completely level.
I think a paint finish would be harder to keep clean as well. Because the surface is rather unforgiving and any flaw is highly visible. If you have children, painted finish will really show every tiny imperfection.
On the other hand, paint finishes offer people something more traditional finishes can't. The color options are far more varied. You have the ability to match your cabinets to other color schemes more successfully with a paint finish. Your cabinets can become part of your color scheme rather than merely a color compliment.
And I think this, more than anything else is why paint finish is becoming so popular.
We've invested in a new CNC router. I'm sure you remember reading posts about our router a while back and I'm pleased to announce, the router made a huge difference in our ability to produce work. We've increased our output by leaps and bounds. We've also hired additional crew to handle the increased amount of work we're producing.
In addition to hiring new crew, we've said goodbye to some as well. We saw one of our long time employees retire last year in September. That was quite a milestone as we haven't had someone retire with the company in years. We wish John continued success in all of his endeavors and look forward to seeing him from time to time when he stops in to say hello!
We've done other things this year as well. We've redesigned the shop and moved equipment around to facilitate a more productive assembly line. We have areas designated as holding areas for different things like doors, drawer boxes and cut material. As we refine our prep process, we increase the speed with which we assemble boxes and stage them for delivery.
Right now we're working on ways to increase our productivity even more.
I'll try to post some new pics soon and you can check out some work we're doing around town. Thanks for sticking with us and keep checking back with us.
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