Wood and Finish Characteristics
Kent Moore Cabinets uses only the best grades of hardwood from some of the most reputable mills in the nation. Beautiful wood grain is not manufactured. As a product of many years of natural growth, variations in color and graining showcase the priceless handy work of nature. You will be more satisfied with your purchase if you can make educated decisions to get the best performance from your product. Please read over the following information. It describes factors which Kent Moore Cabinets cannot control and for which Kent Moore Cabinets cannot be held responsible.
Wood Characteristics:
Color, Grain, and Markings
Finishes are used to enhance and protect wood surfaces. A common misconception is that applying finish to wood will hide inherent inconsistencies. Actually, the opposite is true; the finish will accentuate any variations. If a completely consistent look is desired, painted rather than stained cabinets should be considered.
Wood is not a manufactured material. It is a product of nature. Therefore, its appearance can be influenced by many factors uncontrolled by man (or cabinet company):
The tree's sapwood (outer, living part) is often distinctly different in color from its heartwood (inner, dormant part).
Small pin knots and some larger knots can form during the tree's natural pruning process of eliminating adventitious buds and limbs.
Most woods have a uniform texture and are generally strait grained, but can also have "curly", "fiddle-back", "tiger-stripe", and or "birds-eye" patterns.
Certain soil factors can cause variation in wood color.
Other natural circumstances, including weather conditions or the intrusion of living things such as insects or vines can cause discolorations and wounds. The tree over time will heal itself and incorporate these features into the wood.
Since natural events such as these are responsible for most of the inherent features or imprints found in wood, no tree will be completely free of them.
Color Changes with Age
All finishing products used by Kent Moore Cabinets contain UV screens to diminish the results of ultraviolet radiation. Even though the most chemically advanced screening products are used, exposing the cabinets to light, particularly sunlight, will cause the finish to yellow to some degree. Because this effect increases with time Kent Moore Cabinets cannot guarantee exact color matching for replacement parts ordered long after the original job was installed.
Rustic Wood Characteristics
Rustic lumber is composed of assorted grades of materials, which are hand selected for a variety of natural features. Cracks, large knots, and mineral deposits are some of the natural features inherent in the lumber that give the cabinets a more authentic frontier appeal. Its distinctively unique design entertains both beauty and functionalism while enhancing the warmth and rustic style found in nature. Each cabinet will have its own unique character.
Signature Finishes
Kent Moore Cabinets Ltd. wants you to know how much we appreciate your consideration to use our products and services for your cabinet needs. One of our primary responsibilities is to keep you, our customer, as informed as possible. This allows you to evaluate the information and make informed decisions regarding your purchases. Kent Moore Cabinets is proud to offer the latest cabinet finishes that will enhance your decorating theme. The demand for innovative finishes on cabinetry is constantly evolving. Many of these “new techniques” are attempts to duplicate a vintage look on cabinetry. By applying one or more of these finishing techniques we can create unique looking cabinet pieces. At Kent Moore Cabinets we call these finishing techniques…Signature Finishes.
Kent Moore Cabinets makes every effort to produce a consistent looking product. However, some of these latest techniques are designed to be hand-worked by skilled artisans, making each piece look “one of a kind”. When joining together many of these similar but “one of a kind pieces” to make up an entire kitchen, the intelligible variances of each component may be clear. This is what will make your Signature Finished custom cabinets from Kent Moore Cabinets uniquely yours.
Glazing
Expect the glaze application over the base finish to provide for uneven retention of the glaze on the details and profiles on the front of your cabinet doors and drawers. This is referred to as “glaze hang-up”, and the degree of variation is based on the hardness and grain of the wood and is not intentional. Face frames will be glazed if the cabinets are designated “full wipe”. The molding accessories will have glazing applied to them; this includes flat panel ends and raised panel ends
Edge Wear
This technique is utilized to simulate significant wear by use over time. The doors and drawer fronts are randomly sanded in random areas. A final topcoat is applied after the edge wear sanding to maintain the integrity of the finish. No edge wear sanding is applied to the backs of doors, the face frame of the cabinet, skins or moldings. Edge wear sanding is applied to flat panel ends and raised panel ends.
Hand Rubbed Stains
Hand-rubbed staining is a traditional stain technique. Every twist and turn in the wood is enhanced, bringing out the lush beauty of each piece. Hand-rubbed staining has many of the same characteristics as a hand-glazed product with uneven amounts of retention in the profiles and tight corners. This increase in stain intensity can in some areas result in a mottling effect on the surface of the wood. The degree of mottling and or stain retention will vary due to the direction and density of the wood grain.
Distressed
The distressing process is an added touch to give your cabinets a look of age-worn dignity that is normally only achieved through time. The slight irregularities inherent in the hand-made process combined with some additional distressing give the cabinets a more authentic period appeal. The distressing process is an art and not a science. Pieces cannot not be distressed to look identical to other pieces within the same collection. Each piece will have its own unique character.
Inking
The inking procedure creates a dark or light profile outline of the various dimensions of the cabinet box, doors, and drawers. This attention to detail lends a mystic and striking decorative element to a finely crafted set of cabinets. The inking process is hand-created and is not stamped out by a machine, therefore, expect less than perfect uniformity of thickness of the profile.
Painted Elegance
The painted product is a full coverage pigmented high solids catalyzed varnish, systematically applied with highly specialized wood finishing equipment. Paint on wood surfaces has the potential to develop visible cracking around the jointed area of five piece doors and face frames due to wood expansion and contraction. An open joint line is not considered a defect and is considered a natural occurrence in the kitchen cabinet industry. Sunlight, smoke, moisture, household cleaners and other environmental conditions may cause materials to vary from their original color and/or to warp, split or crack.
CNC Routed Doors
CNC doors are routed from high quality medium density fiber board. MDF requires special attention for painting to obtain optimum finish results. A suggested method of how this may be achieved is outlined as follows:
Sand all cut edges, both at the door panel and at the door edge with a 150 grit sandpaper
Seal the doors with a good grade of sandable water or solvent based primer.
Lightly sand the sealer/primer with 320 grit sandpaper.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 if necessary.
Apply high quality alkyd or water based enamel.
Tips for Best Performance
If the cabinets are at the jobsite for a prolonged length of time or if high humidity levels are present, swelling of the door fibers at the cut edges may occur. A good method of treating this condition is to lightly sand the cut surfaces as described in Step 1 above, then “spackling” them at the cut edges with a thinned down clay base spackling compound. This mixture should be the consistency of plaster of Paris and is best applied by rubbing into the cut edges with the painter’s fingers. It dries quickly and sands easily. Proceed with steps 2-5 after applying and sanding this mixture. Most painters are already aware of this procedure.
Attributes of this Door Type
Much more dimensionally stable than composite or all wood doors given temperature and humidity fluctuation.
Much less prone to warping.
No joints to show ugly paint cracks.
Painters do not need to and should not sand the flat uncut surfaces.
Much more resistant to “dents and dings” associated with typical construction process. This also means this door type will look good for many more years compared to typical constructed doors.