Materials and Making
Intelligent Craft
Craft quality at Henrybuilt requires mastering more than one category of skill and involves many materials. It requires a team of talented people and a set of shared standards and processes that continuously improve. And it requires creative and thoughtful testing and selection of materials.
We select materials based on what will feel best in your day-to-day experience and what will maximize your long-term investment, not on minimizing cost and not on surface appearance alone. We ask questions like: How will specific combinations of materials feel to live with—over time? How will they age? Will they support our lifetime guarantee against defects? Then, we go source these materials or find companies that will work with us to create them.
We select materials based on what will feel best in your day-to-day experience and what will maximize your long-term investment, not on minimizing cost and not on surface appearance alone. We ask questions like: How will specific combinations of materials feel to live with—over time? How will they age? Will they support our lifetime guarantee against defects? Then, we go source these materials or find companies that will work with us to create them.
What is better done by hand vs. machine?. Answering that question well is very important. Creating a beautiful object that lasts under hard use requires a great deal of handwork, balanced perfectly with the use of machines.
Combining the strength and sustainability of plywood with the precision of CNC milling, we use a premium veneer core panel manufactured by one of the longest standing, family-owned companies in the Pacific Northwest. Calibrated to within 5-7 thousandths of an inch, we get old-school material quality combined with new technology precision.
We design and manufacture our pulls for maximum integration and functionality. Metal pulls are made of solid—not plated—stainless steel or brass. Good to the core.
Our wood finish is 2K Polyurethane, a finish primarily used in special applications and industries like aerospace that require a level of heat and chemical protection that is not normally considered 'necessary' in our industry. It's 100% formaldehyde free and results in a refined surface with minimal buildup, which adds unique beauty and longevity to your home.
Solid Stainless being milled in the first image. A combination of solid brass pulls in the second.
Building a Bake Off Island by hand. One of our Primary Objects
It’s the careful combination of materials and methods that creates a refined outcome. In the kitchen, stainless steel drawers, aluminum for the front, a morticed-in solid stainless D-pull—and a glimpse of our magnetic paperstone drawer division system.
We carefully select veneer from regional mills in different parts of the country—where climate and tree growth allows us to get just the right color and grain type. Each panel is laid up by hand, which requires a skilled and aesthetically tuned eye. Learn More
Hand-stitched leather and walnut veneer. Where these doors come together you can see the 1/8th-inch thick solid wood that is carefully applied to each edge and hand-sanded—for just the right feel and longevity.
We carefully select veneer from regional mills located in different parts of the country—where climate and tree growth allows us to get just the right color and grain type. Each panel is laid up by hand, which requires a skilled and aesthetically tuned eye. Learn more here about how and when we choose to use veneer vs. solid wood.
Handmade leather pulls, fastened through the door. Soft to the touch.
Each light integrated into a component of our system is made to length and wired per unit.
A solid walnut Bar Block and two different textures from our collection demonstrate the engineering of a system that can be seamlessly assembled on site.
Solid stainless and brass pulls are hand-mortised into the reveal between drawers and doors, creating visual flow and demonstrating the strength of our materials and construction.
As good on the inside as it is on the outside…the interior drawer component system is made to the same high standard—using solid wood and paperstone for longevity and feel—and bringing artful tools to everyday tasks.
