The truth about Amish furniture making

Amish furniture stands apart in today's world of mass produced, low-quality imported furniture. Amish furniture is made one piece at a time, from solid hardwoods, to a standard of quality not often seen anymore. However I have read many articles about Amish furniture and how it is made, and the truth if often blurred in these articles.

Amish furniture is like any other industry in the world. Some of the craftsman have small shops on the same land as their homes, and only have 5 employees or less, usually family members. However some Amish craftsmen are more aggressive business owners and grow their shops tremendously. These shops can have 20-30 employees or more and are in huge workshops that have to be apart from the home.

Now for the truth part I was telling you about. While the Amish will not use electricity, they will use large and powerful generators for their shops. And though the Amish will shun modern day conveniences for general life, when it comes to economics they have a lot more freedoms. This means they are using more power tools than most other articles will tell you about.

The smaller shops will not use as much, but on a recent trip to Ohio for a furniture expo I stopped into some of the larger shops and was amazed at their systems in place. They were using some of the most modern woodworking tools you can find. Each employee had a specific skill, such as leg making, staining, chair making, ect which makes the shop as efficient as it can be. This also allows the craftsman to get the furniture made in usually just 4 weeks as opposed to the normal 6-8 weeks for the smaller shops.

Now keep in mind this does not mean the larger shops make a better product, the larger shops usually have a larger line, and the smaller shops are more specific to their craft. For example a larger shop with have 10-20 different lines, with a total of 100-150 pieces that they manufacture. While a small shop will stick to making a specialized type of furniture such as mission bedroom furniture consisting of only 40-50 pieces total.

Both craftsmen make top notch solid wood furniture, and both types of builders use the tried and true techniques of high quality furniture construction like english dovetailed drawer boxes, mortise and tenon joints, very tight tolerances etc. If you choose to showcase this in your home you will have an heirloom to pass down. Just keep in mind it is not the tools used to make it that matters, it is the quality of the materials that will set it apart, and the Amish use only the best woods and materials they can find.




Kristina Galvan has a deep appreciation of Amish furniture and is the CEO of www.edenhillhome.com where you can explore a wide range of Amish furniture including hutches, dining tables, dining chairs, kitchen islands and much more. You can contact www.edenhillhome.com by email: sales@edenhillhome.com