What Makes Us Different – How We Assemble our Furniture

 

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810 CabinetFurniture makers agree on this – spend the extra effort to do things right the first time and you won’t have to go back to fix or repair later.  Glued and doweled joints instead of staples or screws is an example.  A wood dowel joint is well suited to the panel products used in the sewing cabinet industry as it adds significant structural strength to our Sylvia Sewing Furniture cabinets.

Let me explain it like this: when two pieces of wood are crafted to be secured at their ends, the craftsman can choose to secure these joints in a number of ways.  One of the very best ways to do this is by glue and dowels.  We first drill a hole in the end of the wood.  Drilling provides a smooth hole that is just a smidge smaller than the diameter of the dowel to be used.  This ensures a tight fit for the dowel.  The dowel is a wooden pin that is also textured and it’s this texture that allows it to hold more of the glue needed to secure the seam.  The dowel then fits into the hole drilled in the wood.  Dowels used in the construction of Sylvia furniture are made from quality hardwood.
Dowels
Why does Sylvia glue?  Since ancient times, glue has been used to assemble furniture and it's not difficult to see glued pieces that are hundreds of years old.  When applying the glue to two porous surfaces and placing together, it creates a sealed, solid and secure bond.  When using a dowel as I described previously, you have the advantage of surface area and strength.  Basically, joints that will not fail. 

A significant advantage of using dowels as opposed to screws is that once the cabinet is assembled, the dowels are invisible at the end of the process. The end result is very clean and unblemished cabinet panels.   When done properly (as by Sylvia), a wood dowel joint also helps to ensure that the cabinet pieces are aligned in the correct position when assembled.

Staples can literally work loose and result in wobbly furniture.  Screws placed in the end of the wood such as particle board, movement of the furniture or cabinet will make cause movement in the screw holes making the screwed joint less secure.  Stripped holes and loose joints can be the result.  Because both of these methods are fast and cheap to use, these are found in furniture of lesser quality than Sylvia. 

We use modern CNC (Computer Numerical Control) technology to machine our cabinet parts, ensuring accuracy throughout the entire process and consistency over the long run.

At Sylvia, we’ve taken care to determine where stresses will be put on the cabinet during regular use. Using this information we’ve designed the cabinet parts to fit together in such a manner that once Sylvia Cabinets logothe cabinet is glued together it is remarkably solid and resistant to these stresses. This makes for a structurally sound cabinet that will hold up for many years.  As you can see, Sylvia is committed to quality construction for a quality product.

Until next time,
Horst

 

Special Offer - For free shipping within the contiguous United States and Canada, click here to view these cabinets in our online store.

Comments (4) -

I have purchased other furniture items that did not have the glue and dowel configuration and frankly, after a short time, drawers and doors don't close and soon you have a work area that doesn't work.


Thank you for the information!


Pat


gatortail32730 12/1/2008 11:44:35 AM

no model number for cabinet shown


Gatortail32730 - Good point. The cabinet shown is the 810 Sewing Cabinet, found at www.annthegran.com/Product.aspx?t=1&i=25630">www.annthegran.com/Product.aspx


Actually, the cabinet shown is the 810Q Sewing/Quilting cabinet found www.annthegran.com/Product.aspx?t=1&i=25624">here.  This cabinet is similiar to the 810 with the exception of the back leaf extension for support of the larger sewing/quilting projects.

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