Northern Michigan Rustic Furniture

Northern Michigan rustic furniture uses whatever raw materials nature provides free for the taking. The craftsmen use hand or hand power tools and designs straight out of their imagination to create unusual but functional furniture that is as at home in a backwoods cabin but can also be an interesting conversation piece in a contemporary home or office.

Using recycled barn wood and standing dead trees or twisted juniper roots and willow weavings the makers of rustic furniture seen to be trying to make a personal connection with nature. These folks have borrowed the philosophy of the great grandparents. Back in the past people had to build their furniture from whatever nature supplied to serve their needs. A distressed appearance, you know the rough finish with obvious signs of hand working found on some of the rustic pieces adds a character and an individuality not found in other furniture styles. Rustic furniture is warm, creative, and practical and it speaks to our appreciation of human genius and resourcefulness.

The first step in creating northern Michigan rustic furniture is decided how to peel the wood. Peeling is the process of removing the3 pouter bark. A peeled log has had all the outer and inner bark removed. What remains is a cleanly shaved piece with traces of the drawknife's flat trail. A perfectly round log indicates that the piece was machined on a lathe. Hand peeling leaves traces of the inner bark producing a mottled (more rustic looking) effect.

Wood choices are usually influenced by geography because the furniture makers tend to use the woods that are native to their area. Most of the furniture is made form members of the pine the family but you will find rustic furniture made from hickory, oak and other woods. Cracks or other imperfections that appear in dry wood are a natural occurrence and do not impact the strength or durability of the furniture piece. Oftentimes these "imperfections", along with diseased areas and burl are used to create uniqueness for the piece.

Most northern Michigan rustic furniture makers pride themselves on using old-world methods of joinery. They use dowels and biscuits embedded in the boards to add strength to the glue joint and help keep the boards aligned. Some of the more painstaking have even used tongue and groove for table tops. If done properly, a glued joint is usually stronger than the rest of the board.

The most common visible joint in furniture is the mortise and tenon, basically an opening (mortise) that accommodates a shaft (tenon). The joint needs to be a snug fit, if it is too tight, it can split the wood and if too loose the joint will be weak and wear over time. We have all sat on wobbly chairs with weakening joints.