This Old Growth Tree Was Never Cut Down - Only A Photo Opportunity - Our Old Growth Timber Is Acquired Only When Mother Nature Makes It Available Through Peril, Storm, Natural Erosion, or Fire.
Scottsdale Art Factory L.L.C. Offers Solid Wood Construction. When you order custom wood furnishings,
doors,
gates,
built in cabinets and other wood products you can expect superior quality and service.
When we say a table top is 3" thick, we mean it is solid wood, 3" thick ( not 3/4" of surface material and a 2 1/4" of boarder trim board to make it appear thicker). This method of solid construction is present in all our items and styles. This allows us to offer the only handmade, custom furniture and decorative accessory line with a "Guaranteed Forever" warranty. A guarantee is backed by nine decades as an experienced national U.S. manufacturer.
Our Materials Are Processed And Finished To Achieve Genuine Authenticity. Each item produced by Scottsdale Art Factory L.L.C. is artistically designed from an original handmade work of art and combined with the craftsmanship of a master craftsman, making it a unique work of usable, collectable art. In order to achieve certain old patina appearances on the first day, the thickness of woods and types of joining required are pre-designed for each piece. In some cases, the material used is specially treated or expanded prior to assembly in order to allow for shrinkage after assembly. This creates an aged planking appearance and irregular natural warping or cracking normally found in old, authentic handcrafted furnishings. This process does not reduce the value of each piece because all we have done is sped up the aging process. Not applied fake or faux finishes to achieve this look.
All Our Timber Is Milled And Naturally Dessert Air Dried And Cured At S.A.F. we have the ability to create solid slab tops and can tightly fit any design into a more conventional modern day style, simply specify when ordering. We can also create solid lumber as thin as 1/8" to as thick as 12 inches thick“ without lamination to fit any special design requirements.
We at Scottsdale Art Factory are precise in our use of spacing, planking, cracked woods, pegging, and hand carving. We never beat up our wood with hammers and chains to achieve the imperfections that create a rustic look. The natural imperfections present in each piece are natural and are intentional. We believe these natural imperfections enhance each item and add artistic appeal while retaining their structural integrity.
All Our Timber Is Naturally Air Dried On The Desert Floor (no forced air kiln drying).
Our exotic woods are naturally air dried on the desert floor for at least 12 months to less than 4% moisture content. Our old growth woods cure and dry sometimes as much as 5 years or more. We never kiln or force dry our wood. Force drying allows pockets of moisture that later can cause warping, bowing and cracking after the product is manufactured. Sometimes kiln dried woods will dry as much as 25% after the product is delivered to your home and climate. The out come of kiln drying is usually never favorable.
Natural Air Dried Northern White Cedar Means Structurally Guarantee
"Forever" No Questions Ask
this simply means if your product warps, bows, splits or cracks when it re-moisturizes in your climate and becomes structurally breeched we will rebuild or replace you product at no charge to you.
Old Saw Mill 1950 - Young Artist H J Nick and his then CEO Mother.
Let's Talk Wood
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 natures most beautiful and versatile wood, naturally impervious to insects and the elements.
If you prefer your furniture or doors etc. truly rustic with the natural divots, soft moisture incursions, additional knots and the distress of the inner core wood, 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. 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. This type of cedar is rot and insect proof naturally in nature.
Northern White Cedar can also be cut from other areas of the natural tree and 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. We can also cut in ares of this tree with little or no distress allowing you to order your desired natural wood appearance.
Northern 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.
Some Family History We Would Like To Share
it is well known within our company and the Marbella Family that the founders were perfectionists. They were never satisfied with good and good enough. When the Marbella brothers first ventured out on their own they were never satisfied with the common woods that were available and accepted by most master wood crafters as the materials used to make fine furniture in their day. Always being unsatisfied they began looking for what everyone in the industry told them was a impossible task.
In fact no one hand found a better or new natural material that could be used to make fine furniture in over 100 years.
"The Impossible Just Takes A Little Longer"
This was the Marbella brothers motto the rest is history. This motto is the heart and operating creed of H.J. Nick and Scottsdale Art Factory on every creative process to this day.
It All Begins When They Hear Woodsmen Tell of Having Seen Stumps and Trunks of Trees Lying On The Ground, Cut With Obsidian (stone) Axes, that carbon date back Nine Hundred Years.
As they searched they began to listen to the stories told by woodsmen and other persons native to the national woodlands. These stories began in Row Mesa, New Mexico an area that has been home to Native Americans for thousands of years. Woodsmen tell of having seen stumps and trunks of trees lying on the ground, cut with obsidian (stone) axes, that carbon date back six to nine hundred years or more. These cedar logs can be milled into usable material after hundreds of years of lying on the ground. Stories about the tall stands of cedar come from as far and wide as the Great North Woods.
They began asking , where is all this timber being used? It turns out it was not being used because the established hardwood furniture craftsman of the day thumbed their noses at it simply because the center core was full of natural holes from the large natural capillary system.
After much trial and error it became apparent that white cedar was the solution - but one problem remained. How do we get a ready supply of this raw material if it is not available cured and ready for milling? They came up with a feasible plan: desert air-drying. This would require locating huge quantities of this material cut at least two years in advance then milling from the two year old end of the supply line.
This would require a large investment and a process would have to be developed to off set this cost. Over many years Scottsdale Art Factory L.L.C. has perfected and protected this eco-friendly process. We acquire what the industry thought was not worthy of top quality craftsmanship to create the finest quality furniture, cabinets, doors, gates, etc. found any were in the world today.
We feel the founders were right "The Impossible Does Take A Little Longer" and many of our customers agree.
