Ask the Artisans: Find Answers in Our Craftsmen-Curated FAQs

Is Custom Furniture expensive?

If a timeless style is chosen for your piece the extra cost of custom is likely a much better value than mass manufactured furniture. If you ever feel your style has changed a well built piece of furniture can likely be refinished several times throughout its life. Often times it can be redone completely by you giving you a brand new piece that is as stable and structurally sound as the day it was delivered to your home. 

Yes, While we do not ship our custom made furniture yet we are able to deliver them ourselves as long as it is not to far from our shop. There will be a fee for this service and often times we will need some help from someone at the clients property. 

Which Wood Should I Choose?

Selecting the right wood for your kitchen utensils or furniture from Clines Crafted Woodworking is akin to savoring the diverse flavors of world cuisine – there’s simply no wrong choice! For kitchen products, our hardest option is Walnut, renowned not just for its robustness but also for its distinctive appearance, setting it apart from commonly used woods like beech and cherry. While Walnut can absorb colors from strongly pigmented foods such as beets or berries, this characteristic is temporary, with any staining fading after a few uses. For those intrigued by aesthetics, each wood species we offer, including Walnut, Maple, Cherry, and Oak, presents a unique look and feel, allowing you to choose based on personal preference.

Beyond kitchen items, our selection of wood also perfectly complements furniture pieces, ensuring durability and style. Whether you're drawn to the elegant grain patterns of Cherry for a classic look or the strength and rustic appeal of Oak, our guide on choosing your wood species here dives into the specifics of each option, including their origins, Janka hardness ratings, and more, to help you make an informed decision. Ultimately, your choice should reflect your personal style and the functional needs of your home.

What do you stain your woods with? 

At Clines Crafted Woodworking, we're dedicated to preserving the inherent beauty of wood in every product we create. For our kitchen utensils and items, we embrace the wood's natural colors without the use of stains, ensuring the depth and vibrancy of each piece is entirely natural. This commitment means that, over time, your kitchen products will maintain their rich hues and character, as long as they're cared for properly.

To ensure the longevity and beauty of your wooden kitchen tools, occasional re-oiling is necessary. This simple maintenance step helps to protect the wood, keeping it hydrated and preventing it from drying out or cracking. We've crafted a comprehensive guide, "6 Steps to Keep Your Wood Surfaces Looking Great for Years to Come," available here. This guide not only walks you through the re-oiling process but also shares valuable insights on how to care for your wood products to preserve their appearance and functionality over the years.

For our furniture pieces, while we avoid altering the wood's natural color with stains, we do apply food-safe finishes that contain natural color tints. This subtle enhancement process respects the wood's original beauty while providing an additional layer of protection, especially suitable for items that come into contact with food.

Embrace the elegance and sustainability of natural wood in your kitchen and home with Clines Crafted Woodworking. Our commitment to quality and the environment ensures that each piece not only adds beauty to your space but also does so responsibly and safely.

 

How long will it take to get my order? 

At Clines Crafted Woodworking, we take great pride in offering a wide range of handcrafted wood products, from kitchen utensils and rolling pins that are typically ready to ship the next day, to personalized items and bespoke furniture pieces that require more time and attention to detail.

For those in search of our popular kitchen utensils or standard rolling pins, we're delighted to share that these items are usually on hand and ready to be dispatched the following day. This quick turnaround ensures that you can enjoy our quality craftsmanship in your home without delay.

When it comes to personalized items, the crafting process demands a bit more of our time. These custom pieces, tailored to your specifications, require up to 7 days for processing. This allows us to ensure that every detail is perfected to meet our high standards and your unique requests.

For our bespoke furniture, the creation process is guided by our current build-to-order list, which can be viewed at any time here. Our furniture pieces are crafted in the order that requests are received, with lead times varying throughout the year based on our workload. This transparent system allows you to monitor the progress of your order and see when your piece will begin its journey to creation.

By offering this range of products and services, from readily available kitchen essentials to made-to-order furniture, we aim to cater to your immediate needs while also providing the option for customization and personalization. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we craft each piece with the care, quality, and attention to detail that Clines Crafted Woodworking is known for.

Thank you for choosing our family-owned business for your woodworking needs. Whether it's a rolling pin you'll use tonight or a piece of furniture that will become a future heirloom, we're honored to be a part of your home.

Why do you use mineral oil for your rolling pins and kitchen utensils? 

At Clines Crafted Woodworking, our choice to use mineral oil for finishing our rolling pins and kitchen utensils is grounded in our commitment to both safety and quality. Mineral oil stands out for several key reasons, making it the ideal choice for maintaining the natural beauty and functionality of our wood products. Here's why we prefer mineral oil:

• 100% Food Safe: Ensuring the safety of your family and your food is our top priority. Mineral oil is completely food-safe, making it perfect for use on kitchen utensils and rolling pins.
• Excellent Penetration: It absorbs deeply into the wood, providing long-lasting protection and conditioning without compromising the wood's integrity.
• Resistant to Rancidity: Unlike edible oils such as olive or walnut oil, mineral oil does not spoil or go rancid, ensuring your wood products remain safe and odor-free for years to come.
• Odorless: Its odorless nature means it won’t impart any unwanted scents to your food or kitchen.
• Longevity: Mineral oil remains stable over time, maintaining its effectiveness without degrading in appearance, safety, or performance.
• Non-Drying: It won’t leave a sticky residue or dry out, avoiding the buildup of a tacky surface with repeated applications.
• No Chipping: Mineral oil doesn’t form a brittle surface layer, so there’s no risk of it chipping into your food.
• Enhances Natural Wood Beauty: It enriches the wood's natural color without altering it, showcasing the wood’s inherent beauty.
• Non-Toxic and Safe for Direct Application: Completely non-toxic, it can be applied safely with bare hands, doubling as a moisturizer for your skin.

At Clines Crafted Woodworking, we meticulously select materials and finishes that elevate the quality and safety of our products. By choosing mineral oil, we ensure that each piece not only serves its functional purpose beautifully but also does so in the safest manner possible. For more insights into the care and craftsmanship that goes into our products, visit our detailed care instructions here.

Why are my rolling pins and other utensils fuzzy? 

If you've noticed a slight fuzziness on your Clines Crafted Woodworking rolling pins and kitchen utensils after their initial uses, this is a natural response of wood to moisture, known as raised grain. This phenomenon is typical and occurs as the wood adjusts to water exposure, revealing the inherent quality and natural behavior of the material.

To effectively smooth away this raised grain and restore the silky feel of your wood products, a simple home remedy will suffice. We recommend using a fine-grit sandpaper or a soft, non-abrasive cloth for this purpose. Gently rub the affected areas in the direction of the grain; this should only be necessary once. After this initial care, your utensils and rolling pins are expected to remain smooth and free of fuzziness, ready to be enjoyed for many uses to come.

For further details on how to care for your wood products to maintain their beauty and functionality, including how to manage any raised grain, please visit our comprehensive care guide, "6 Steps to Keep Your Wood Surfaces Looking Great for Years to Come," available here. Our guide provides essential tips and instructions to ensure your Clines Crafted Woodworking items continue to be a valuable part of your culinary toolkit.

 

If we didn't just answer your question, e-mail us at: dclines@ClinesCraftedWoodworking.com