Caring for Your Amish Furniture

Amish furniture is hand crafted by some of the finest Amish wood craftsmen in the Country. Your purchase will last for generations with a little care. Here are some pointers in caring for your Amish furniture.

Keep your Amish Furniture out of direct sunlight and away from heat. Direct sunlight is the most natural element that destroys furniture finishes. Paste wax and polishes do not block the penetration of sunlight on furniture. Avoid polishes that contain silicones and dust the table ‘with the grain’. Clean the table with soap and water and dry with a clean towel or rag.

Maintain your home’s humidity in the 35% to 45% range. Rule of thumb: if you live in a high moisture area and have no ability to control your humidity level, give some thought to buying Amish furniture built from quarter-sawn white oak. White oak is naturally resistant to water damage and the quarter-sawing places the growth rings nearly vertical which cause the wood to ‘swell’ nearly vertical. This allows the wood to expand and contract with little chance of twisting, cupping or cracking.

Our quarter-sawn dining table and chairs, desks and entertainment centers are reminiscent of time past. They are built by Amish craftsmen and will last you a lifetime. See the entire collection on our website: www.amishwbf.com.

Jay and Carol

Amish Quarter-Sawn Furniture

What makes an Amish built piece of furniture a superior heirloom piece. Obviously, part of the credit goes to the expert craftsmanship of the Amish. But one must also give credit to the harvested, dried and sorted lumber grade.

Quarter-sawn lumber is the uncontested winner when compared to plain (or flat) sawn lumber. It reduces shrinking and swelling in width and it reduces twisting, warping and cupping. It is less prone to surface checking and does not allow liquids to readily pass through it.

But the most notable characteristic of quarter-sawn lumber lies in it incomparable grain patterns. The revival of Mission style furniture is just one example of how today’s Amish furniture craftsmen are rediscovering the unique beauty of quarter-sawn lumber. Quarter sawing is a specialized technique requiring more time and greater skill to produce.
For most, the art of quarter sawing has been lost over the years, except for Amish furniture craftsmen. And, quarter-sawn oak is one of the most difficult woods to dry. It requires the longest amount of time in the kiln.

Our quarter-sawn dining table and chairs, desks and entertainment centers are spectacular. They are built by Amish craftsmen and will last you a lifetime. See the entire collection on our website: www.amishwbf.com.

Jay and Carol

Amish “Gluing and Sanding” in Building Table Tops

“Amish Furniture” has the reputation of a “brand name” based on years of heirloom quality construction. The careful selection of solid hardwood lumber is the first step in building dining room tables.

Amish furniture craftsmen first select their lumber by color and grain pattern. They then use a wood jointer to smooth and straighten one edge of the board completely straight. The craftsman checks carefully to get a perfectly straight edge on each board. The boards are then “ripped” to different widths to yield as much lumber as possible from each piece of wood. The wider boards give a nicer grain pattern; and, although they are more expensive, they are worth the money.

After the boards are laid out in the correct order for gluing, the craftsman checks the end grain for the proper grain pattern. It is preferable to keep every other board’s yearly growth rings “opposite” from each other. This process helps control the wood from “cupping”.

After the glue is dry, the clamps are removed and excess glue is scraped off. The wood is placed into the wood planer and smoothed down to the approximate final thickness. Usually we begin with 5/4” lumber and plane it down to a solid 1” thickness.

The craftsman is now ready to run the board through a special machine that has a large sanding belt inside. This belt gives a uniform sanding to the board. Amish craftsmen then finish the process by using various grits of sandpaper by hand to complete the process.

Our dining table and chairs are built by Amish craftsmen and will last you a lifetime. See the entire collection on our website: www.amishwbf.com.

Jay and Carol

Amish “Joints” in Building Furniture

Amish furniture craftsmen have built a “brand name” all their own. Most of the Amish furniture shops (often barns) are family owned producing small amounts of furniture each year. Each family takes pride in their work and produces a product that will last for generations. The “joints” used to build their dining tables, chairs, hutches and buffets and bedroom furniture use special joining methods to add strength to their fine furniture.

The most often used joint in Amish furniture building is the mortise and tenon joint. It has tremendous strength by allowing more surface area for glue to hold. Some Amish furniture builders use the blind mortise joint. The blind mortise still allows for superior strength in the joint, yet saves the craftsmen some time in building.

They use the dovetail joint for drawers. It gives superior strength in all directions due to the interlocking “fingers” of the joint. Each dovetail is machined within a few thousands of an inch from solid wood.

The dado joint is made with a special blade on the table saw. This allows a board to be “grooved” inside another board. It adds tremendous strength to the Amish furniture.
All of our furniture is built by Amish craftsmen and will last you a lifetime. See the entire collection on our website: www.amishwbf.com.

Jay and Carol

Amish Furniture = Intrinsic Values

Amish furniture is more than just wood products. Its quality and craftsmanship speaks to family and friends, telling stories of past gatherings and memories. The construction and finish tells a story of beauty, attention to detail, and a simple elegance that cannot be found in today’s mass produced furniture. Amish built solid wood furniture can define your home and the unique beauty it beholds.

For our Amish furniture builders in Ohio and Indiana it’s a testament to design, art and skills passed down from their fathers. Many of our Amish builders have invented their own unique tools and jigs to build their furniture. Their skills of woodworking with minimal tools and limited resources will impress anyone who cherishes heirloom quality furniture.

Feel free to use our website (www.amishwbf.com) to look at all our fine furniture to make informed purchasing decisions. Then call us to talk about how we can customize the furniture to suit your needs. For instance, many of the finishing shops work with companies that manufacture stains to get ‘color matched’ colors for clients that are trying to match existing furniture.

We’re always glad to assist you with particular requirements to meet your special needs. We try to be ‘simply the best, not the most expensive’.

Jay and Carol
Amish Workbench Furniture Co.

Decorating for Keeps

I have a relative who is able to redecorate major portions of their home frequently. I always enjoy visiting to see the latest results. If you think the redo is done to keep up with the latest design trends, think again. The following timeless items are kept in mind:

• Buy what you love, as it is a part of your character; create your own style (we love Amish and juried handcrafts);

• Spend a little more for quality; you’ll have it a long time, and since you love it, you won’t grow tired of it (Amish heirloom quality furniture comes to mind);

• Be wary of trendy colors; decorate with the colors you love as they are part of what makes you unique;

• Stick to classic lines (Shaker and Mission styles are classic);

• Avoid buying everything at once; it’s more fun to shop around and add something just a bit different yet knowing it will blend with what you have because it fits your style; save for a favorite piece of art; collect interesting articles;

• Create balance between the elements, wood, stone, metal with fabric to soften the edges;

• And make the experience of buying a good one.

Even though this relative redoes the wallpaper and paint frequently, the basics remain. They are enhanced with one or two new items, not necessarily large pieces. A new lamp, wall hanging, candles, decorative florals, etc. Try it yourself. You’ll like it.

Carol

Elections

The upcoming presidential elections are right in our faces these days.

The Amish face a different election, the selection of preachers and deacons in their church district. Selection practices differ among various churches, but they derive from the traditions of the first generation Anabaptists.

A brother, among other attributes, must be of strong personality to handle the responsibilities of this position. After it is announced at a church service, there is time for reflection and prayer for the brother who may be chosen, as he has a great burden to carry in this position. Ending days of consideration, there is an ordination service. Members pass an open door and whisper into the ear of a brother the name of the candidate they feel would be a good leader. This name is recorded. The candidates with the most votes come into the lot. This is a practice coming from the apostles choosing a replacement for Judas. Hymnals are produced with one of them containing a slip of paper with a Bible verse on it. The books are shuffled and each candidate chooses one. The brother who chooses the hymnal with the Bible verse in it, is then ordained for office. This office is held for life, unless the bearer of the office commits a serious misdemeanor, whereupon he is “brought to a stop in office”.

A standard voice for the Amish has never existed, meaning there is no main Amish church. Each church is autonomous. There have been gatherings of church leaders to discuss interpretation of the Bible and how to apply it to Amish life. Yet, each church decides for itself if it will follow.

Carol

Craftsman Style Furniture

Stickley-esque in appearance; Amish heirloom in construction; 100% solid hardwood Quartersawn White Oak…craftsman style sofas, loveseats, Morris chairs, coffee and end tables, made by Amish builders, are a fantastic buy. This is a value not to be missed.

For example, the full-length (84” x 36”) sofa in quarter sawn white oak, priced at $2,588, will save you enough, compared to the branded product, to buy a matching chair or two end tables to go with it. And the Amish build using traditional dovetail, hand finished construction and provide a lifetime guarantee on the foam cushion material.

Quartersawn White Oak became popular in the U.S. in the late 1800’s when Gustav Stickley and other craftsmen began building Arts and Crafts for Mission furniture in quarter sawn white oak and has again shown a strong rise in popularity in recent years.

See the entire collection on our website: www.amishwbf.com.

Jay and Carol

Living Without Electricity

But not without gasoline, even though they don’t drive a car. However, the Amish rely on the same fuel we use in our automobiles, to power their tractors, or diesel to power their tools. Home heat and home industries rely on portable generators powered by diesel, propane or gasoline. Thus the Amish are also feeling the pinch with higher prices of these commodities.

In addition, the cost of stains, finishes and lumber has increased. Their suppliers have higher expenses, which they pass on to Amish Furniture buyers, and the Amish manufacturers in turn have to increase their prices to cover their costs.

No one is immune to the economic situation including the Amish.

The Journey

It isn’t often that we receive a visit from our Amish vendors. (Remember, that’s Ahhhmish, as in comfortable furniture) But the owner of the company who builds our Amish gliders came to visit this week from Holmes County, OH. A long journey by train. We were delighted to greet them at the train station on a wonderful sunny day. (Summer finally came to the Northwest) We rented a large van and drove to a high spot in town so they could see mountains, even though they’d passed through Glacier Park in Montana with magnificent mountains. Here, they could see the famous volcano, Mt. St. Helens, and our other snow covered peaks that surround the city of Portland. What a glorious sight of nature!

For lunch we went to a restaurant on the Willamette River and had waterside dining where we enjoyed the antics of the Canada geese and one duck with her ducklings. And delicious seafood too. We tried walked off our meal strolling by some of the shops along the waterfront. Some of us still had room for an ice cream cone. They will be making a scrap book of their trip, using postcards they’ve bought along the way. I took some pictures of where we ate lunch, the geese and bridges of Portland to put in their book.

It was too soon and back to the train station where our friends were to continue on their way to southern California, then Colorado and more mountains. We wish them a safe journey. We thoroughly enjoyed having them as our guests.

AHHH…mish Furniture

It is so comfortable! Like an old shoe you don’t want to throw away. So many people come, have a “sit” in the gliders, or the dining chairs and find that the seat is carved just to fit their bottom. So comfortable. They could sit at the kitchen table and talk with family and friends for a long time after their meal. And well built too. The sales representative, for one of our lines of dining furniture, demonstrated how sturdy the dining chairs are. He turned one over and stood on it. And he’s had plenty of Amish cooking to fill his belt. One customer who bought a glider, breathed a big sigh of contentment before buying it. His biggest problem? Which color, or should he buy both. One for the porch, and one for inside. Ahhhmish.

Do The Amish Use Power Tools?

The Amish value simplicity over comfort, convenience and leisure. Their lifestyle is a deliberate way of separating from the world and maintaining self-sufficiency. Amish people interpret linking with electrical wires as a physical connection with the world – and the Bible tells them they are not to be “conformed to the world. (Romans 12:2).

But can you imagine the heirloom quality production of their hardwood furniture without using power tools? Yes, some smaller builders still make their products by hand, but for the most part power tools are used to amplify their skills passed on from generation to generation.

Some will have a generator in their barn (not in the home) to run the power tools. Often an ‘Englisher’ (non-Amish) owner will manage the shop and the Amish will work in the shop plying their trade. In both cases the quality construction and techniques they use result in fine quality dining room sets, bedroom suites and furniture for the entire home.

Check our website at www.amishwbf.com to see many of the fine products they make.

Carol and Jay

Amish or Irish?

To be green or not to be green. It’s not easy being green. Wear green on St. Patrick’s Day or get pinched. Certainly the Irish are “green”. But I don’t know whether Ireland signed the Kyoto agreement or not.

The Amish are “green”. I mentioned previously that the wood used for their Amish furniture is from sustainable forests. In the one man shops, electricity is provided by a portable generator. The larger plants, of course, have electricity from the power lines at the road.

The turnover of employees is low. Turn the business over to a son, nephew, etc. Not so with offshore furniture. Less time spent training new people.

The best “green” of all, is buying Amish made furniture which will last for years and years. If properly cared for, it lasts and lasts. The style is classic and will be fashionable for generations. No need to buy new every five or ten years. No worry about what you ordered, it’s coming by ship, with hundreds of other mass produced items, and will it still be “in” when it gets here.

Enjoy “green” Amish handcrafted heirloom furniture.

Carol

Secrets about Amish Furniture

It’s no secret that Amish furniture is handcrafted from solid hardwood lumber and that with proper care will provide a lifetime of service.

But, here are little known secrets that may endear you to Amish heirloom furniture as it has Carol and me.

1. The hardwoods selected for making Amish crafted furniture are sustainable. There is more available and growing than there is being used on an annual basis!
2. When working with solid lumber, it is expected that there will be variations in color and grain. These characteristic qualities give solid lumber furniture its unique charm.
3. Hardwoods are a natural fiber. Because most solid woods are open grained, your solid lumber furniture will breathe, expand and contract with temperature and humidity. Care needs to be taken to control the furniture’s environment (25% to 35% humidity is ideal).
4. In fact, major changes in temperature and humidity will shrink or expand dining table tops and furniture.
5. Natural cherry will age faster than any other wood. The more sunlight that it is exposed to, the darker it will become.

Our Amish builders use time-tested construction techniques handed down from generation to generation. They strive to make each and every piece of furniture to the best of their ability for a ‘higher authority’…a practice that we all can enjoy with the purchase of each piece of heirloom handcrafted hardwood furniture at Amish Workbench Furniture. Visit www.amishwbf.com to view the entire collection.

Jay

Custom Heirloom Quality Furniture

Our solid hardwood Amish Oak Furniture, Amish Cherry Furniture and Amish Maple heirloom furniture is made by Amish craftsmen in La Grange County, Indiana and Holmes County, Ohio. Their standards for workmanship with attention to the finest of details have been applied to creating a line of furniture that is designed for a lifetime of use and pride of ownership.

To keep up with the demand for this high quality furniture at such a reasonable price, we have a 53’ truck deliver to our west coast warehouse, at no cost to you, the finished pieces every-other Tuesday. Carol and Jay personally inspect your orders to insure delivery in mint condition.

We have highlighted some of our best selling furniture on our website: www.amishwbf.com. We welcome you to imagine and experience the beauty of Amish Workbench Furniture in your home.

Jay

What Is Amish Furniture?

“I don’t know what Amish Furniture is….” That’s the comment that I occasionally hear as people walk by a store, and see the Amish Furniture sign in the window.

The “style” of Amish furniture is “whatever is handed down to us”. That could be something handmade by family members. But it doesn’t designate a particular style such as Shaker, Colonial or Mission. Shaker is not Amish, Amish is not Shaker. Two different groups of society.

Amish furniture today is a wide variety of quality furniture that is amenable to décor in 21st century homes. Plain and simple with straight lines, as in Shaker styling, can be used in homes with colonial, contemporary, or country décor. Other styles are also available: Mission (think Frank Lloyd Wright or Stickley), or traditional with ornate turnings and dentate moldings, or something in between that is distinctly different.

Most people, when they walk in the store, are pleasantly surprised to see the range of styles available, all quality made in the USA, by people dedicated to making the best they possibly can.

Carol

Did You Know?? What we learned at the NIWA….

Our recent trip to the Northern Indiana Woodworkers Association Exposition reminded both Carol and Jay were reminded why we proudly present 100% Made-In-America Amish handcrafted furniture. At that event there are hundreds of Amish woodworkers who contribute to the production of quality solid hardwood furniture using the best techniques in building their products to produce the finest furniture on the market today!

All Amish Workbench Furniture is solid hardwood: kiln dried Northern Red Oak, Cherry, Maple and Quarter-Sawn White Oak. Kiln dried wood provides a more stable wood graining keeping imperfection to a minimum. Dining table tops are 5/4” solid tops that are milled to a 1” thickness. This and state of the art construction eliminates splitting and warping.

Sustainable Woods

Amish handcrafters build their Amish Dining Tables and other products using sustainable American hardwoods that renew and regenerate themselves abundantly. Some species have been and will continue to be relatively more plentiful than others because that is how they occur in nature.

Red Oak is the most abundant hardwood species in the USA. It is widespread throughout the Eastern U.S. and comprises about 37% of the total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.

Cherry is readily available and grows primarily throughout Midwestern and Eastern U.S.

White Oak is readily available and widespread throughout the Eastern U.S. It is the state tree of Connecticut, Illinois and Maryland. White oak is impervious to liquids and has been used extensively for ship timbers, barrels and casks. It accounts for about 17% of U.S. hardwoods commercially available.

Hard Maple is widely available and grows abundantly in Mid-Atlantic and Lake States. It is a cold weather tree favoring a more northerly climate.

They incorporate the finest in design and construction and their finishing techniques provide the final touch. All necessary ingredients in building heirloom crafted quality dining room furniture and bedroom suites. Check out the up-to-date styling on our website: www.amishwbf.com.

Amish Handcrafted Furniture

A Little More About Wood...

Before attending the Northern Indiana Woodworkers Association Exposition in Indiana, we attended the first meeting of Ohio Wood Builders Guild in Holmes County, at the Flea Market in Walnut Creek, OH. The same confidence present in Indiana, that the best furniture is made in the US, was present in Ohio.

Seminars presented in Ohio included a forest service representative talking about sustainable wood. It is in Ohio, he assured the audience, that there are more trees growing in Ohio today, than at the beginning of the 20th century. Trees can’t be cut fast enough, they just keep growing.

Even though there are plenty of trees for making Amish furniture, there are new ways of using more of the tree that is cut. Rustic cherry and rustic hickory are examples. Less of the tree is trimmed away, giving more character and interest to the wood. Places where the limbs meet the trunk, or wood knots are left in place. Less waste. Waste not, want not.

A Trip to Amish Country, Northern Indiana

It takes awhile to unwind from our hectic “Englisher” lifestyle, but driving north from Indianapolis to Middlebury,IN helps. Thus begins our recent trip and visit to the Northern Indiana Woodworkers Association Exposition.

There are hundreds of Amish woodworkers who contribute to the production of quality solid Amish hardwood furniture in the USA. Many of them met early and exhibited for 3 days at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds. Not only the men, but women and children too; it’s a family affair. Carriages with horses are parked next to 21st century horsepower.

A short way into the exhibit hall, we knew we would be seeing quality workmanship. No irregulars, just the best they can produce. Many of them work their farms before doing their furniture making. Their products are purchased nationwide, and in some foreign countries. No offshore contracts, where the majority of furniture makers in High point, NC have turned.

We were treated to a scrumptious dinner, Amish style: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, salad, rolls and the biggest pieces of homemade pie! Several flavors to choose. No Costco here! The post dinner speaker gave a very informative presentation regarding colors and finishing of hardwoods.

We returned, three pounds heavier.

Northern Indiana Woodworkers Expo

Carol and Jay recently attended the Northern Indiana Woodworkers Exposition at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in LaGrange Indiana. Hundreds of Amish furniture builders attended to introduce their newest creations and share their quality craftsmanship with prospective new dealers throughout the U.S.

For us it was a chance to visit with many of our friends and look at their new models. They are a hard working lot tending to their farms early in the morning before working in their shops and barns making furniture for our customers who appreciate the finest in solid hardwood heirloom furniture quality.

John Otto showed us his newest hickory rockers fit for any porch or den; the Richard and Henry Yoder brothers proudly introduced us to their sheaf back chair now available with a choice of leg styles to match your décor; and we met Paul and Ida Yoder (no relation to Richard and Henry) who make the finest quality desks (roll tops and executive desks) we have seen. They incorporate the finest in design and construction and their finish is to die for.

Watch our website for updates coming soon.