As we make decisions about the construction of our hope chests, the over riding concern is always that the chest will stand the test of time. To that end we use numerous traditional joinery techniques such as half and full over lapping, mortise and tenons and a host of others. We also employ modern techniques such as the abundant use of biscuit joinery. In fact, the average hope chest will have over 100 biscuits to add additional strength to even the most ordinary of joints. By the way, a biscuit is a small wood wafer that fits into a specially cut slot in two adjoining pieces of wood. They have been compressed to allow them to swell back up when they have glue applied to them, creating an especially tight bond.
Aside from these explanations, I invite you to carefully inspect the pictures of the chests themselves. Those beautiful images will give a far clearer and more concise description than I can possible do in words. Because we have no production line of hope chests, any chest we make is unique. The pictures we post here are of the exact chest that you would receive. Look them over carefully. We want you to be happy and we go to great lengths to achieve that. We are always designing and building new chests and if you reach out to us, we can let you know what is on the horizon.
We will do custom hope chests with these conditions. We absolutely do our very best to create what you want, but we will not guarantee a perfect match to anything. Each chest is done with an artistic eye and as such no two are ever exactly alike. So we will custom build and finish, but of necessity we must be the final judge of how close we can come to the ideas you have in mind.
Cedar Chests
Each and every hope chest is manufactured right here in America, in the magnificent mountains of Utah. Simply put, we are custom cabinet and furniture makers. We want to create beautiful woodwork for those who yearn for such things in their homes and lives. Each one of our chests is hand build by true master craftsmen that have decades of experience behind them. There is no production line work involved in these chests. Nor will there ever be. That would change the entire nature of them. Each chest is built with the idea that they are to outlive the first owner and become an heirloom that may be passed down through the generations.
Unique & Unforgettable
An especially unique feature of our chests is the application of genuine gold leaf to not only decorate and add dimension but to beautifully highlight different aspects of the design. The gold we apply to each chest, whether it be white gold or 24 karat gold, is always genuine gold, never imitation. It is applied using age old gilding techniques. Depending on the particular finish, some gilding is left in its natural state and some is glazed to achieve a particular look. As a final protective process, every chest has a minimum of two full coats of a special water white, water based polycrylic clear finish that will protect the underlying finishes for years to come. In fact, all of our paints and clear coats are water based to avoid emitting unnecessary pollutants into the air.