Hand Made American Furniture & Doors: A Ferrari Is Not A Yugo "However They Are Both Cars"

Hand Made American Furniture & Doors: A Ferrari Is Not A Yugo "However They Are Both Cars"

A Ferrari Is Not A Yugo "However They Are Both Cars"

A Ferrari Is Not A Yugo "However They Are Both Cars"

We are only trying to get your attention. In the market place today the coping of America's and European handmade custom heirloom furniture, doors, lighting, and hardware designs is running ramped. The use of high tech machines and cheap foreign labor make it possible to make paste board and veneers look like good product. There is no investment value in these products and do not compare to hand made investment quality furnishings. In fact, most of the famous name brands we all grew up believing were high quality have sold out in the name of profit to cheap foreign production manufacturing, mostly due to current government trade policy and corporate greed.

Scottsdale Art Factory Will Never Sell Its Soul To Cheap Foreign Manufacturers For Any Reason.We sill make all of our products in America the old fachisioned way with top quality natural materials and by the American hands of our master craftsman.

Made In China Furniture Will BeYard Sale Merchandise Soon

Why Production Furnishings Will Never Be Investment Quality

With the introduction of mass production in the early 20th century (and up to the present day) the newfound speed and ease of furniture building has drastically cut production costs. This is a manufacturing concept truly unique to any other time in recorded history. While this has been a grand idea for production in certain key industries, it has become the best thing of all for furniture industry profits because it drives down labor costs. However, with human nature being what it is, it also became the accepted trend to reduce material quality in an attempt to even further reduce cost. Reducing the material quality and embracing automation has been the unfortunate and prevalent trend found in modern furniture manufacturing and as if this was not already fleecing the American public, now we move and destroy further American jobs in the name of human greed. For example: China where a labor force that is paid in cents per-day is coupled with modern technology to further build even poorer quality furnishing under old brand names that used to stand for quality and the pride of American Master Craftsman.

See whyAmerican handmade Furniture will always return your investment and will stand the test of time

California Fire Victims Information / Considerations When Filing Fire Claims

When a devastating event happens, such as the fire loss of your property, there is usually a rush to file loss claims. 

This knee jerk reaction can cost you thousands of dollars in unrecoverable loss. Most insurance companies will respond immediately with a adjuster usually under the guise of "we are here to help." The biggest mistakes most insured make is to believe the adjuster is there just to be helpful. He or she is there for two reasons. 

The insurance company is bound by your insurance contract to respond. 

The insurance company knows it is in their best interest to get you to settle as fast as possible. His/her real job is to get you to settle and sign off for as little as you are willing to accept. Thus resulting in controlling the amount of loss the insurance will have to pay. 

The following is a step by step how not to become a victim of your insurance company. 

1. Make sure you obtain a professional, fire claims experienced, attorney to handle your claim. This will sound expensive however, it will not cost you anything in the long run. A good attorney or firm will accept your case with no up front payment and a fixed fee not based upon the amount of settlement. To find a qualified attorney in your area contact the State Bar of California attorney search.

2. Separate the replacement of your home from your personal property loss. Keep all claims and settlements separate. This allows you to get the maximum and correct payment for your loss. 

3. Most insurance polices are for replacement value. This means you have the right to choose your builder even if the bid is the highest one. You do not have to settle for your adjusters recommended contractors. See your attorney for details. 

4. Many homes that burned were built eight to ten years ago or more, prior to the huge influx of foreign made building, decorating materials and furnishings. For example Home Depot, Lowes, etc., primarily only offer foreign made (mostly in china) interior and exterior lighting, doors, windows and other building items. These items might look the same but the value is not the same that was installed on or in your home back when it was real steel instead pot metals or solid wood doors instead of paste boards and veneers. If you settle for less quality you loose in the long run. You have the right to request these materials be the same.

5. Furnishings that were in your home, purchased prior to seven or eight years ago, were probably from a name brand American manufacturer made in America. The further back your furnishings were purchased the better the quality and your investment. If you allow replacement by these same name brands you may not get the quality you once had. Most furniture made by these same manufacturers is now made in china or some country with a less expensive work force. The work force is only part of the problem. In the name of making a larger profit these same manufacturers allowed the use of fake or faux materials such as composition boards, paste boards, and veneers or films that look like the real thing. Furnishings that are made this way will never become antiquities or increase in value. This kind of merchandise and materials is 98% of what is being offered in the market place today. Usually marked up four to five hundred percent for profit. If you settle for this merchandise to replace your investment quality, U.S. made furnishing of a higher value you loose. Many these manufacturers once stood for quality and your furnishings would have become priceless family heirlooms. This foreign made merchandise made with inferior quality materials will only be yard sale fodder in the end. 

6. Keep in mind it is your insurance companies responsibility to put you back whole. This means replaced as it was and at its true value. True value also means if your items were the real thing and, would have become an antique, the replacement items should be the same otherwise you have lost your future investment value or family heirloom. Also don't fall for the adjusters line on depreciation, good quality furnishings can increase in value every year. 

7. Doors, windows and other building items are also now being farmed out to foreign manufacturers. Many under big corporate brand names we all recognize, names that once stood for American made quality. Copies of the real thing in faux materials will never stand up to the test of time. This is a major area of concern and you could come up short with out realizing it. Keep in mind a lot of chemical processes are used to manufacture furnishing, doors and other building materials to create composition boards, engineered boards, paste boards and veneers that comprise most of these kinds of manufactured goods. Also the jury is not in on how safe these materials made in china really are environmentally or to our health considering the lead paint in toys and furnishings recently discovered. If your home was not originally built with this low quality of merchandise you do not have to settle for it as replacement. See your attorney for details.

8. If you are handling your own claims there are some professionals with impeccable reputations that can be of great help free of charge. If your are replacing vehicles or equipment go to your original dealer and obtain a replacement value statement. Most dealers will be happy to provide this in hopes of getting your business. When it comes to house replacement or other buildings start with a reputable and well known architect. If the original is available this would be first choice if you plan to rebuild the same as before. Also, most builders maintain copies of blueprints which will be helpful in establishing your homes true value and replacement cost to rebuild in todays market. Many architects can also point you the best tried and tested builders and tradesmen. Also, they will be able to provide your insurance company with accurate bids allowing for true replacement value. 

When it comes to jewelry and other personal effects always go to the experts. When possible return to the original stores of purchase and make a list to obtain the true replacement value of your items. See your attorney for details.

The hardest thing to find is an American furniture, door, and lighting manufacturer that still makes the real thing. Here we provide a link to one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of truly handmade investment quality furniture, doors, lighting and hardware still made in the USA. This manufacturer will provide free replacement value statements that most insurance companies will accept and can not dispute. They are located in Scottsdale Arizona and will work directly with your insurance adjuster, builder, designer, or yourself to provide your replacement furnishing timed with your reconstruction. Do a Google Blog Search on this info! Or visit here for the latest!

This devastating time in your life is very emotional, however, keep in mind your insurance company realizes this. Not to sound like all insurance companies are out to take advantage of your situation, it is simply the nature of their business. Insurance companies are there to collect premiums and to keep losses to a minimum. The very nature of this system is never in your best interest. Like with your health care you must be pro-active in this process. No one will take care of you like you will. This call will save you thousands of dollars 
1 800 292 0008

FURNITURE AND DOOR MANUFACTURER

Doors, Lighting, Furniture and Hardware Handmade in USA

Art Factory.com Furniture High Style Show Airing On ABC

High Style Furniture, Doors, Lighting, And Hardware

Handcarved Doors Are Still Being Created In USA

Doors aren't made like this any more! well... except by us!

Scottsdale Art Factory Built On American Arts And Crafts Foundation

William Morris (1834-1896 ) Was the driving force behind the English Arts and Crafts movement. 

John Ruskin (1819-1900) Was an early proponent of Arts and Crafts ideals. 

Gustave Stickley (1858-1942) Known as the father of the American Arts and Crafts movement. 

Joseph Marbella (1867-1947) Inspired Italian master craftsman. 

Also inspired by these pioneers of craftsman style furniture was Charles Greene (artist), Henry Greene (engineer) and John and Peter Hall master craftsman from Stockholm Sweden. Beginning in Pasadena California, around 1904 the Green's got the contract to build the Gamble house and its furnishings. The teaming of their talents using these pioneers designs as a foundation to build from allowed the Greenes and Halls to produce furnishings that were a higher quality than Gustave Stickley's mass produced designs. The Greenes and Halls designs were all one of a kind furnishings. No unfinished backs or bottoms. Attention to detail was the order of the day. Function and style was kept in mind but foremost the focused was on the highest quality. These furnishings were mostly built for the privileged few such as the Gambles, Fords, Blackers, and Robinsons to name a few of the famous and ultra rich of the time period. This allowed Greene and Greene to be able to build what was called the Ultimate Bungalows. Not only were these vacation homes state of the art in their time but the furnishing were also custom built to fit each customers wants and needs with no thought of them ever being mass produced. This allowed the Greenes to build investment quality furnishing that would stand the test of time. Today you will find Stickly furnishings in many antique stores around the country. However a Greene & Greene can only be found in museums or in the homes of wealthy collectors.

Just a few miles away in Riverside County the Marbella brothers, master craftsman in their own right,are influenced by these builders, designers, and master craftsman. They notice they are practicing their craft in a way consistent to their own family values taught to them in Italy. These Italian immigrants with meager finances and no big money connections had a parcel of land and began to process lumber and manufacture in Arizona.

Every creative enterprise is always built on a foundation that was laid down by its predecessors. People who themselves were in turn dependent on the groundwork laid down by those who came before. Gustave Stickley's impact was felt far and wide at the time, he became a major factor in American furniture design. Gustave Stickly and the Greene's and Halls were the greatest early influence on the Marbella brothers concepts. These pioneers had laid down the foundation that the Marbella brothers would build upon in America. 

Still building upon this foundation,is a direct decedent of the Marbella brothers. World renown artist, master craftsman in his own right and designer H.J.Nick carries on to this day the same ideals, methods and master craftsmanship. 

Today known as Scottsdale Art Factory located in Scottsdale Arizona this factory is currently building some of the worlds finest handmade entrance doors, hand carved theme doors, custom investment quality furniture, hand-forged lighting chandeliers and hardware. All built to world class standards set down by these predecessors. 

H.J.Nick's Scottsdale Art Factory is one of the largest handmade in America manufacturers. Featuring a state of the art design department headed by H.J.Nick himself. Designs built today are a joint collaboration between the customer and their design department. Using high tech and low tech these investment quality designs are limited only by the customers imagination. 

Staying true to Gustave Stickly's American arts and crafts principals. Using Greene and Greene and Halls philosophy of raising the bar to the finest investment quality Scottsdale Art Factoryhas been able to continue to raise the bar even more. By training the nearly lost art of the master craftsman. Scottsdale Art Factory is able to maintain a consistent staff of the finest blacksmiths, woodcarvers,stone smiths, wood-rights and the many other tradesman necessary to build investment quality products. Without compromising the true sprite of the American Arts and Crafts movement each product is built by hand with attention to detail in the age old tradition(no paste boards, plywoods, or faux materials). No matter your if need is a custom door, lighting chandelier, furnishing, or piece of hardware it is guaranteed to stand the test of time . Recommended reading Darrell Peart's book on Greene & Greene

Your Home Should Create Memories.

Memory is such an interesting tool. We can, given the right stimulus, recall with clarity a moment in time, long past. There are times, when moving through a crowd when I catch a scent and will be catapulted back in time to my Grandmother’s house on Clear Lake on a Saturday morning. Sometimes it’s just a simple smell, like fresh berries,cut grass or fried fish that brings back vivid memories of my childhood. 

At Grandma's house we would begin our day by looking out at the lake and consider the possibilities. My Mother and Uncles would all be getting ready to water ski, fish or pick black berries. Sometimes all I have to do is look at Grandma's old hand carved cedar chest where she kept, what she called, the most important things. 

One of my most vivid memories was when Grandma decided she needed a new front door. The entrance to her home was always unremarkable so we all chimed in and encouraged her to get something unique. Then the question, "what would make it special?" We began on-line and stumbled upon a wonderful website artfactory.com. We then chose a style that reflected the ambiance of the lake home and its surroundings. With all the possibilities they offered we then all agreed that it should reflect our lifestyle and the things we all enjoyed doing while we were together. We got out a lot of our old photos of fishing, the woods and all the moments we loved when Grandpa and Grandma were together. 

We were excited to work with Scottsdale Art Factory because of their reputation and their ability to use our family photographs in the hand carvings on the door. Grandma was so pleased with her new custom door! The rest is history (see the photo included of our door of memories). 
It has been several years and Grandma is no longer with us but every time we get together at the lake house warm memories overwhelm me. 

It has been said that all we ever really have in life is our memories. If that is the case then I suggest we make memories that last. I once heard that it’s better to be looked over than overlooked and in the context of making lasting memories I believe this to be true. Why go through life in beige if chartreuse will linger in the memory? Why opt for basic black if tangerine will seal the moment? Why be boring if bold will cause you to stand out and be noticed?

As with all theories, there are exceptions; however, when it comes to our homes, making a lasting first impression is a must.

Speaking of lists, have you been adding to yours? Last week we were standing on the threshold of your home trying to assess what small projects we could undertake that would make your home a bit more beautiful. What did you accomplish in this regard? How did you make your home more beautiful? 

Please write and let me know how you’ve improved on the impression your home makes on others and how it will be remembered.

For ideas and actions I suggest an American manufacturer with a long reputation of being able to create hand carved doors, handmade lighting, and top quality furnishings of all styles. This company has many designers that make interior decorating a no-brainer and at prices most can afford. Visit Art Factory to see examples.

How To Do Your Own Home Inspection

Let’s take a walk through your home and see if there may be an item or two worth changing in favor of something more beautiful. At the end of the day that's what we all want for our homes. We want to provide a beautiful environment for our family and friends to enjoy their time while under our roof.

Beauty in the home does not just happen, it takes great effort to create specific beauty throughout your home. Honestly,few of us are gifted with an eye for scale, proportion and balance as to guarantee effortless decorating and a lovely home. Most of us work diligently, reading, researching and asking questions. We are always searching for he next idea that will make our home more appealing.

Let’s begin at the beginning. Walk out your front door and as you do switch hats. Become a guest seeing your home for the first time. Approach the door with new eyes what do you see? How does what you see make you feel? What can you do today to improve the view and the experience? It was Theodore Roosevelt who said, “Do what you can…with what you have…where you are.”

This is my suggestion for you today. On a note pad, jot down two small projects that will enhance the experience of approaching your front door. They may be as basic as sweeping the porch, touching up the paint or putting up the new house numbers that have been collecting dust in the trunk of your car.

The point is to do something! Set goals for yourself that you are sure to achieve and then proceed. You will feel great and take the first step towards creating a more beautiful home.

If you feel you could use a little help, let me recommend a wonderful custom manufacture that offers free interior or exterior design help.Scottsdale Art Factory H.J.Nick is a world class artist, designer with credits extended to interior designing some of the worlds finest homes. H.J.Nick's design team will provide design ideas at no cost to you. Simply order your items to be built by Scottsdale Art Factory. This company has been designing and manufacturing furniture, doors, gates, lighting and hardware for some of the worlds finest interior designers for over nine decades. All handmade in America to family heirloom investment quality standards at what I find to be very reasonable prices.

Become A High End Interior Designer

Scottsdale Art Factory promotes and contributes to the education of new persons interested in interior design. We also promote the further education of currant interior designers.

American handmade furniture and the art of master wood workers, master craftsman, master blacksmiths, and what their skills contribute to architecture and engineering elements that make top designers excel. Regarding such design elements as grand entrance doors, hand carved windows and doors, interior furnishings,iron elements, stair railing, fencing, door hardware,chandeliers and other structural and decorator design elements of American and the worlds architecture.

The tradition of fine art, master craftsmanship and design will live on for future generations to enjoy. These master craftsman and their skills provide the very elements of design that make the difference in how designer's are regarded by their clients. This difference translates to the clients perception as to what level of design services you are capable of providing.

The basic stock and trade of a interior designer is perception of quality and the ability to know the difference. Scottsdale Art Factory feels the better educated each designer becomes the better suited he or she is in genuinely providing each client with the environment of their dreams.

Scottsdale Art Factory feels that it is of utmost importance that each interior designer should be informed in the difference between genuine materials such as: stone, marble, granite, master hand crafted solid wood furnishings, hand forged and master crafted iron gates, fencing, stair rails,chandeliers, lighting, hardware, fine leathers, and fabrics and the many other materials that make up fine quality design.

Contrasting with the fake, faux materials, and mass produced furnishings, doors, lighting and wrought iron products of inferior quality mostly from cheap labor force countries flooding the marketplace as of this publication 2007.

Every high end designer must understand investment quality verses production grade furnishings that are build with intended obsolescence. ( future yard sale items). It is also important the each interior designer should understand that hand made high quality design elements are cost effective as well as a good investment. Further design elements and furnishings handmade in America to world antiquity standards allows each client not only a return on investment but through family heirlooms enriches life style and family memories and cohesiveness. Most mass produced products as described above will not yield a return on investment and will never become family heirlooms or valuable antiques, thus resulting in great lose to your client. Not only will your client loose investment value the greater loss is the family heirlooms and the memories associated with these design elements. 
It is Imperative these design elements such as furniture, doors, lighting, and hardware stand the test of time.

See details on how to become a world class interior designer

Cedar Door Built By Viking Craftsman cir 1185

This church entrance for Stillingfleet Church in Yorkshire dates from 1185. The solid wood door is famous for its Viking ironwork and representations of a viking ship and other signs meant to act as charms. The exterior door is 4" thick solid cedar and is "still" being used today.

Scottsdale Art Factory builds entrance doors today in the very same way they did in the 12th. century. We harvest from the North wood's tall stands of Northern cedar. We air dry all of our timber naturally on the dessert floor for a year or more prior to the final milling of your exterior or interior door project. Once you have placed your order, we mill again to final dimensions required by your custom door order. After this final milling we let it cure dry again. This is to insure that when we join and press these solid wood planks together they never warp, bow or split after the door has been joined together to make a solid wood door slab or blade.

Most materials used today are fast kiln dried. This is performed by force drying the material to a percentage of humidity level then joining. The rest of the drying time occurs after the product is delivered to your home. Usually warping and bowing and always shrinking all in the name of production speed and profit.

We at Scottsdale Art Factory (also known as scottsdaledoorfactory.com) do not rush anything we produce in the name of profit. We have the attitude that our reputation is on the line with each product produced so we simply build the old fashioned way, much like this door that was built in the 12Th century. By using the finest materials, the best master craftsman, along with methods and technology not much different from when the Vikings built this entrance door has stood in working order for some 800 or so years. Proving as we always say, "if you build it right with pride of craftsmanship it will never need a warranty and will stand the test of time."

We at Scottsdale Art Factory "guarantee all of our products forever"no questions asked. All backed by our over nine decades of fine craftsmanship. We also have on staff some of the worlds best blacksmiths. Using these same techniques as the Vikings did on this door hardware. We still hand make fine hardware in any style. All finishes are patinas not faux or paint. See hundreds of door examples and our blacksmiths at work using hammer,anvil and forge at http://www.artfactory.com/prodIndex.aspx?category=2 all built to these specifications.

Moroccan Entrance Door History

Morocco wooden doors, Moorish double doors, wood Morocco gateways and Moorish carved doors! Moroccan doors are the best sign that a Moroccan house is about. Moroccans say a beautiful house is known by its beautiful door. We offer a wide range of Moroccan style doors, an unique art of Moroccan living, which makes it possible to recreate the warmth of hospitality and the cultural elegance of Mediterranean design right for your own home or office!

Scottsdale Art Factory: Offers Anglo Indian style doors with large bases in unique original design. Indian carving with European influence. Antique style door from the once French enclave in India, Pandacheri. Perfect for wine cellar or to give character to any house. Fine flower carvings on frame sides and over and under lintel. South India. Gujarat temple style doors, carved in solid cedar, inset with iron or copper plaques are avaliable. We can make you a pair of doors with massive carved frame ideal for your wine cellar. Spectacularly deep carved framed door. You may order huge hand forged iron hinges. Install these on your guest house and "Shahrazad" will come.

Berbers The early Berbers were unmoved by the colonizing Phoenicians, and even the Romans did little to upset the Berber way of life after the sack of Carthage in 146 BC. All the same, the Romans ushered in a long period of peace during which many cities were founded, and the Berbers of the coastal plains became city dwellers. Christianity turned up in the 3rd century AD, and again the Berbers asserted their traditional dislike of centralized authority by following Donatus (a Christian sect leader who claimed that the Donatists alone constituted the true church).

Morocco officially Kingdom of Morocco, Arabic Al-Maghrib, or Al-Mamlakah al-MaghribYyah country of northwestern North Africa that lies directly across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain. It borders Algeria to the east and southeast, Western Sahara to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. It is the only African country with coastal exposure to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With the Western Sahara's 97,344 square miles (252,120 square km), Morocco occupies a total area of 274,461 square miles (710,850 square km). Casablanca is the largest city, primary seaport, and commercial and industrial hub. Rabat is the capital and the country's second largest city.

Because of its lack of natural harbors, its rugged mountainous interior, and its distance throughout its history from imperial centers in the east, Morocco remained relatively free from foreign invasion until the early 20th century. This enabled it to preserve a proud traditional character, which is a rich blend of Berber, Arab-Islamic, Iberian, and African cultural influences. Those traits were joined by an infusion of European cultural elements during the colonial period (1912–56) when Morocco was a protectorate of both France and Spain.

Brief History:

Unlike other North African nations, Morocco has been largely occupied by one group of people for as long as recorded history can recall. The Berbers, or Imazighen (men of the land), settled in the area thousands of years ago and at one time controlled all of the land between Morocco and Egypt. Divided into clans and tribes, they have always jealously guarded their independence. It's this fierce spirit that has helped preserve one of Africa's most fascinating cultures.

Hand Made Custom Hardware Can Make A Difference

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from iron or steel by "forging" the metal; i.e., by using hand tools to hammer, bend, cut, and otherwise shape it in its non-liquid form. Usually the metal is heated until it glows red or orange as part of the forging process. Blacksmiths create such products as wrought iron gates, grills, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils, and weapons. A skilled blacksmith can, with minimal effort, make a sophisticated product that looks good and demonstrates ingenuity.

A blacksmith who works primarily with horses, especially making and fitting horseshoes, is called a farrier. 

Prior to the industrial revolution, a "village smithy" was a staple of every town. Mass production techniques have reduced the marketplace for blacksmith work except in Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and South America where large numbers of artisans continue to do traditional work. In more industrialized regions, an increasing demand for custom metalwork has given rise to a new breed of smiths commonly known as Artist-Blacksmiths.

In recent years the forging of stainless steel has given rise to a fresh approach to architectural blacksmithing.

Hephaestus (Latin: Vulcan) was the blacksmith of the gods in Greek and Roman mythology. A supremely skilled artisan whose forge was a volcano, he constructed most of the weapons of the gods, and was himself the god of fire and metalworking.

In America the largest producer of products made in this age old tradition is Scottsdale Art Factory. Scottsdale Art Factory offers a apprentice program that offers to train individuals in the age old art of true blacksmithing. Scottsdale Art Factory has been producing products such as iron gates, furniture, door hardware, custom lighting and much more for over nine decades in the United States of America. They can also trace their roots to Italy were the founding of their company began.

How To Measure & Install Your New Exterior Door

Installing door casing: casing, as the trim around doors (and windows) is called, has a strong impact on the overall style, appearance, and proportion of an opening as well as the overall style of your home's interior. On the practical side, it conceals the gap between the door frame (called a jamb) and the rough opening and helps to hold the frame in the opening. Casing can be relatively plain, such as the popular clamshell design or square-edge design, or detailed, such as colonial-style molding. By far the most popular casing joint design is the mitered picture-frame casing. Our structural casing/ jamb will fit any wall 4" thick or better and does not require double two by' or a header thus allowing for a taller and wider entry door.

1. Remove existing casing: if you are re-trimming an existing door, pry off the existing casing carefully so you won't damage the wall or the doorjamb.

Tip: If a film of paint or bead of caulk bridges the joint between the casing and the wall, cut the seal with the point of a utility knife before attempting to pry the trim. This makes prying easier and eliminates the chance that you will pull off some of the wall finish or surface paper when you pry the casing.

2. Mark the reveals: the inside edge of the casing is typically placed back from the inside edge of the jamb by about 3/16 inch. To mark this reveal, set the blade position in a combination square so it protrudes 3/16 inch and mark jambs at the top corners, the midpoint of the head jamb, and several points along the side jamb. To make the mark, position the body of the square against the face of the jamb with the blade extending over the edge and mark at the end of the blade.

3. Cut all miters: measure the distance between your marks on the side jambs at the upper corners (frame opening plus 2 times the reveal) and miter-cut your head casing at 45 degrees on both ends so the short dimension equals your measurement. Cut miters on one end of each piece of side casing. Remember that one will be left-handed and one right handed.

4. Prime or stain: before you install the casing: if you intend to paint, apply a primer, or if you plan a natural finish, apply a stain and first topcoat. Cover the sides and both faces to seal the wood and prevent warping. Pre-finishing is also easier than painting in place, especially if you don't intend to paint the walls when the installation is complete. If you stain before assembly, you also avoid the problem of stain not taking over any glue spots at the joints. Or order your pre-hung door completely pre finished.

5. Tack head casing: lightly tack the head casing into the jamb so it just covers your pencil marks. If the casing is being installed on the exterior you must use weather-resistant fasteners, such as hot-dipped galvanized nails.

6. Cut and test-fit side casings: stand the left side casing upside down next to the left jamb with its long side against the point of the head casing, and mark its desired length directly. Alternatively, measure from the floor to the top left-hand edge of the head casing and transfer that measurement to the casing. Square-cut at your mark and test the fit.

7. Make adjustments: If the miter does not meet without a gap, which can happen if the jamb is not square or if it sits slightly below or above the plane of the wall, the casing miter may need re-cutting.

8. Secure casing: apply glue to the end of the side casing and position it so it fits tightly with the head casing. (and not too worry about lining it up with the reveal marks on the rest of the jamb yet.) Secure it to the jamb. Position the nail about 1 inch from the end and near the outside edge of the casing. Then secure the inside edge of the casing to the jamb. Once the miter is tight, continue nailing the rest of the casing. Work your way from the top down, nailing at five equally spaced positions. Repeat for the opposite side and then complete nailing the head casing at the two ends and midpoint.

9. Cross-nail miters: to prevent miters from opening, drive a 4d finishing nail through the edge of the head and side casings about 3/4 inch from the outside corner. This will lock them together.

10. Finishing touches: wipe off any excess glue immediately with a damp cloth, drive all nail heads slightly below the surface with a nail set and hammer, and hand-sand as needed to make casings flush with each other and to eliminate any splinters. If you plan to paint, fill nail holes with wood putty or acrylic caulk first; if you will stain, fill them with colored wax putty sticks after you complete finishing.

When Installing a Scottsdale Art Factory Pre hung Door you may skip steps 2 through 10. When you order a Scottsdale Art Factory door, every item orderd comes installed by our factory master craftsman. If you order locks, hinges door pulls or any other hardware it will already be installed on your new door. Also your door will come completely custom finished to your specifications. The finish will be hand rubbed to heirloom furniture standards.

Hand Built Furniture Built To Investment Quality Become Priceless

Family Heirloom Becomes Priceless

Many of these furnishings are still found all over the world – now in museums, classical estates, or in your very own home as a family heirloom. Some pieces are hundreds of years old, and as they have aged have become more beautiful from natural aging. The oxidation of natural patinas, regular wear, use, and time can age a fine furnishing and transform these furnishings into unique pieces of artwork. Examples of this quality and history are everywhere. They range from George Washington’s handmade desk to the Besançon cabinet shown top of this page or your grandma’s or grandpa’s old furnishings etc. that has been passed through the generations of your family.

This French Renaissance Cabinet Was Rediscovered November 22,2005-August5,2007 At The Getty Center. This Cabinet, French, built about 1580 with late-19th-century additions. As recently as five years ago, most people believed this cabinet was a 19th-century piece purporting to be a 16th-century cabinet—in other words,a Fake.

When scholars reexamined it in 2001, they came to a very different conclusion. They now believe that the cabinet was made in 1580 and is one of the rarest and most valuable cabinets from the French Renaissance in the United States.

This exhibition tells the story of this discovery, offering a case study in how we learn about art. Renaissance Revival cabinet,1800s. Paul F. Miller, curator, Preservation Society of Newport County, discusses the cabinet's changing fortunes at the Getty Center.

Is It a Fake?
The cabinet was in suspiciously pristine condition and the surface was coated with colored wax, suggesting that someone had tried to make it look older than it really was. Experts concluded that the cabinet was a product of the Renaissance Revival of the 19th century, when American industrial magnates snapped up Renaissance-style furniture, including many fakes, from cash-strapped European aristocrats.

Getty paid $1,700 for the cabinet shown at the top of this page, a far cry from the asking price of $46,640 some 50 years before. The dubious cabinet was never displayed in the Getty Museum—until now. Preparators move the Getty cabinet out of storage, time to reconsider.
In 2001, curators in France organized an exhibition on 16th-century cabinetmaker Hugues Sambin. After a Getty curator visited Écouen to meet with scholars there, she decided to launch a thorough reexamination of the Museum's cabinet. Curators, conservators, and scientists teamed up to conduct research and scientific analysis. Science can help authenticate an object by dating the materials from which it was made.

The team's first scientific tool was dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating. Using this method, they discovered that the oak tree used to make the cabinet's structural panels was harvested in late 1574 or early 1575 in Burgundy, a region in southeastern France.

The rough marks on the back of the cabinet, for example, were made by a hand-held saw and a type of plane used in the 16th century.

The walnut and oak parts of the cabinet also have identical marks from a "bench dog," a toothed iron clip used to secure wood to a workbench. This suggests that both woods were worked on the same bench at roughly the same time.

Under a layer of red velvet fabric in the cabinet, the team found old nail holes from an earlier lining. These holes held traces of the original 16th-century fabric that still lines the drawer. Analysis of the tacks and tack holes on the door of the cabinet provided further proof of authenticity.

The exhibition is located at the Getty Center, Museum, South Pavilion.

What Does The French Reniance Have To Do With American Furniture ?.

A lot more than one might think. Every creative enterprise is always built on a foundation that was laid down by its predecessors. People who themselves were in turn dependent on the groundwork laid down by those who came before. This rule of mans art and enterprise is never more applicable than it is to hand made furniture. Furniture has been hand made for hundreds of years. In times past the same as today men,women and their families were known for their good reputation and their craftsmanship. In fact in the not to distant past the quality of your craft and product allowed you certain privileges. These privileges depended upon a mans word or promise and the true quality of his work. The better these were the higher one could rise. In the case of furnishing, If they were built right they would stand the test of time and become antiquities. It also meant these artisens would be remenbered far past their life times and become imortal in the harts and minds of the true collector and others. This French cabinet and other items like it set the bar for most american furniture makers

An Example Of How Furnishings Hand Built With Pride Of Craftsmanship Stand The Test Of Time. This example also applies to the hand made furnishing you purchase today

Every creative enterprise is always built on a foundation that was laid down by its predecessors. People who themselves were in turn dependent on the groundwork laid down by those who came before. Gustave Stickley's impact was felt far and wide at the time, he became a major factor in American furniture design. Gustave Stickly and the Greene's and Halls were the greatest early influence on the Marbella brothers concepts. These pioneers had laid down the foundation that the Marbella brothers would build upon in America.

Still building upon this foundation,is a direct decedent of the Marbella brothers. World renown artist, master craftsman in his own right and designer H.J.Nick carries on to this day the same ideals, methods and master craftsmanship.

Today known as Scottsdale Art Factory located in Scottsdale Arizona this factory is currently building some of the worlds finest handmade entrance doors, hand carved theme doors, custom investment quality furniture, hand-forged lighting chandeliers and hardware. All built to world class standards set down by these predecessors.

H.J.Nick's Scottsdale Art Factory is one of the largest handmade in America manufacturers. Featuring a state of the art design department headed by H.J.Nick himself. Designs built today are a joint collaboration between the customer and their design department. Using high tech and low tech these investment quality designs are limited only by the customers imagination.

Let Us Talk about WOOD

We want to tell you a few things about WOOD. Most people nowadays don't even think about this but the type of wood that you use is very important in furniture! The name of the game here is CEDAR!

Exotic Northern White Cedar is rarely used by most manufacturers because of its cost versus the much lower cost of pine (barn wood), oak, alder or worm wood. Cedar is mother nature’s most beautiful and versatile wood, naturally impervious to insects and the elements. (Say Goodbye to Termites!) If you prefer your furniture or doors with the natural holes or distress, we will cut from the oldest part of the tree or “core”. This natural capillary system (where the tree stores water as it ages) when exposed, possesses a character unmatched by any man made material (must be seen to believed!). Since the holes and distress are natural in the core wood of the tree, they are structural - unlike worm wood, where the worms have destroyed the natural structure by eating the tree. Cedar can be kept outdoors in any climate without treatment and will outlast any other type of wood. (This is called NO MAINTENANCE on your hand made American manufactured furniture!)

Cedar can also be stained to look like pine (barn wood), oak, alder or worm wood. It can be sand blasted, grain raised or rough sawn to create almost any style of distress desired. White cedar should not be confused with red aromatic cedar. Even though all cedar has the same basic natural qualities, the white cedar used in our hand crafted furnishings and doors is virtually odorless. Exotic Northern White Cedar is the main reason we can offer our “Guaranteed Forever” warranty. (We've got over 90 years of experience! Can your local furniture store with foreign made materials and foreign laborers make this claim!?!)