All Products
Lumber
The best furniture begins with the best lumber. We offer three species of lumber: Western Alder, American Black Walnut, and African Mahogany.
Alder
Western Alder thrives in the low, moist conditions of the Pacific Northwest in Western Oregon, Washington, and Northern California. Western Alder is a close or fine-grained hardwood similar to Cherry, Birch, and Maple. It has a density or hardness comparable to Appalachian Soft Maple.
This wood is extremely uniform in its light tan or honey color, and there is no color difference between heartwood and sapwood. This makes Alder much easier to match and finish because kiln-dried Alder presents no problem with sap, mineral streaks, dark color, or stain.
Walnut
The sapwood of Walnut is creamy white, while the heartwood is light brown to chocolate brown, occasionally with a purple cast and darker streaks.
Walnut can be supplied steamed, to darken the sapwood or left unsteamed. The wood is generally straight-grained, but sometimes with wavy or curly grain that produces an attractive and decorative figure.
Walnut works well with hand and machine tools. It also nails, screws, and glues well. It holds paint and stain very well and can be polished to an exceptional finish. It dries slowly and care is needed to avoid kilning degradation. Walnut has good dimensional stability.
Mahogany
IMPORTANT: Due to the harmful effects the harvesting of mahogany trees has on our environment, Bausman has elected to discontinue our mahogany option. We will only build items from mahogany until our current supply is depleted. For more information on our commitment to environmentally responsible production, visit our protection page or use our contact page for specific questions.
Mahogany is an excellent cabinet and veneer species because of its long trunk form, rapid growth, and attractive pink-red to deep red-brown lustrous wood, often with interlocking grain and ribbon striping.
Oak
Two species of oak are used at Bausman. For the more contemporary pieces and the tops of our 5800 light distress, we use rift-sawn white oak. For the 5800 rustic pieces, we find the grain of flat sawn red oak gives a more authentic look after it has been through our unique distressing process.
Our oak pieces are offered in our collection of oak finishes; however, as always, custom colors and matches are available.
Oak is an extremely heavy, dense species with a very distinctive grain pattern. The different cuts of the log can provide two completely different looks, from very modern to very rustic. Learn more about how the way oak is sawn affects its character (PDF).
Construction
Every piece we manufacture is carefully milled and assembled authentically in keeping with the trends and techniques of the period.
A few modern materials have been incorporated for practical reasons (e.g. to avoid shrinkage and warpage in unstable climate regions). Mortise & tenon and dovetail joints are used where possible. Raised panels and tongue & groove planks are framed freely in dadoes on doors and panels to enable the wood to expand and contract during season changes.
The term "bench made" means each individual piece is assembled from beginning to end at the bench of a skilled craftsman. This creates a sense of pride of craftsmanship and improves consistent workmanship dramatically.
Hardware
Our metal drawer slides are manufactured by Accuride. Accuride has long had a reputation for providing the best quality drawer slides in the industry.
Our decorative hardware, such as hinges, drawer pulls, locks, and escutcheons, are all imported from France, specially for Bausman. We have an exclusive contract with the manufacturer's representative. Thus, we are able to have steel fittings, custom crafted to our specifications, which provides us with quality of service and reliability, rarely found in the furniture industry today.
Distressing
The secret that sets our look apart from our competitors is in distressing. Surprisingly, the training that goes into the distressing is as important and time-consuming as that of the actual furniture construction.
For more information on levels of distress offered at Bausman, please visit our finishing section.
Finishing
We use only the best quality materials in our finishing department. Each finish is created by using a multi-step process.
We go to great pains to give out pieces the appearance and feel of an antique but hold up to the wear and tear of our modern lifestyles. For more information on the finishing options offered at Bausman, please visit our finishing section.