Mission Oak Designs uses the best possible quartersawn oak solid cherry and solid maple for each piece of mission furniture we build. All our mission furniture take approximately 8 weeks to build and finish to your particular order. We will not rush through any piece of mission style furniture due to the fact we feel mass producing eliminates the quality of the hand crafted piece. We want your mission furniture to last a life time. Now here is a little about of wood:

Wood types for computer desk or mission bookcases are shown below.

Quarter Sawn: Gustav Stickley and other quality woodworkers of the past have relied on quartersawn oak for strength, durability, and beauty. Furniture made from quartersawn oak has lasted for centuries. Quartersawn Oak , a material little used today, is one of the hallmarks of the Arts & Crafts. Quartersawn is cut for figure. It is expensive to produce because the log is cut using the heart as the edge rather than the center, as in flatsawn oak.

At the sawmill, the log is first split into four quarters ('quartersawn'), then cut on the diagonal from the center of the tree out toward the edges. Look closely at the end of a sawn oak board or branch and you can easily pick out the rays. They look like fine, straight lines spreading out from the center of the tree, perpendicular to the grain of the wood.

 

The Quartersawing Method places these designs on the face of the board, revealing the distinctive stripe or 'flack' running across the grain that is the signature of quartersawn oak mission furniture. According to Gustav Stickley "The quartersawing method of cutting makes quartersawn oak structurally stronger, also finer in grain, and, as shown before, less liable to warp and check than when sawn in any other way."

 

Quartersawing fell out of favor in the first half of this century because it yields less lumber per tree and takes more labor than plainsawing. Because almost all oak furniture today is flatsawn or plainsawn, we associate the quartersawn figure with the period of the pieces. Therefore, this unique figure is an important ingredient in accurately recreating the look of turn-of-the-century furniture.

Quartersawn is as beautiful in either red or white oak, and well worth the extra expense. After all, woodworkers of today are making the antiques of the future. Therefore we use the best wood we can get.

We at Mission Oak Designs use all quatersawn in all our mission style furniture. We also offer all the hardwoods such as cherry mission furniture, maple mission furniture and walnut furniture. Each computer desk as with all our oak furniture can be ordered either way. If you have any questions about our oak furniture, please feel free to contact us, we are always here to answer any questions you may have.

Mission Oak designs specializes in the custom size bar stool. We are thrilled to offer many of our own unique bar stools designed for each customer. All the bar stools you see in this store can be ordered in just about any size with any alteration you might want. If your looking for a tall bar stools, we have them, looking for a counter height bar stool, we have them, kitchen bar stools, we have them. If you don't see the bar stools listed, simply ASK US!

 

Care Of Your Piece of mission furniture:
How Does Natural Light and Humidity
Effect My Solid Wood Furniture?

Unique Charm of Solid oak Mission Furniture

In both the manufacturing and finishing of handcrafted oak furniture, cherry maple and walnut furniture we try to bring forth the character and beauty of the wood. All hardwood lumber has variations in the color and grain; this is part of its natural beauty. But these variations will make it impossible to guarantee an exact match in finish between two pieces of furniture, even though identical finishing processes are applied. These characteristic qualities give solid oak furniture its unique charm.

A Natural Fiber of Solid Oak Mission Furniture

Hardwoods are a natural fiber. Because most solid wood are open grained, your solid wood furniture will breath, expand and contract with temperature and humidity changes even after protective finishes have been applied. These minor cracks are part of the natural beauty of the wood. Care in controlling the furniture's environment can help minimize cracking and warping.

Control Environment of Solid Oak Furniture

Keep the indoor humidity in the 35 to 45 percent range to minimize these effects. Ultraviolet light from the sun and fluorescent fixtures can cause chemical changes in the wood and or furniture finish, so avoid placing you furniture in an area where the sun will shine directly on it. Keep furniture away from directs sources of heating and cooling. Avoid storing furniture in an attic or cellar type environment.

Potential Changes of Solid Oak Furniture

If the humidity move out of the ideal range, solid wood table tops could expand or contract, causing a gap in the center or at the ends where the two halves meet. It can also cause splits or cracks in the grain pattern and joints of the wood panels. These are not abnormal - the furniture is not considered defective