Starting with your unique blueprint or our current profile catalog, J. Gibson McIlvain Lumber can handle all your millwork needs in house. We keep our moulding knives razor sharp and carefully insert them into our moulding head to begin your expertly milled order. Whether your need is for custom panels, hardwood flooring, architectural mouldings or millwork, we can create and ship your job to any job site in the U.S.
For custom jobs, we have our own moulders, knife grinders, gang rip saws, straight line saws, trimming saws, and band resaws. Whether your design is for a historical restoration or a contemporary design all your own, we can match any profile you can dream up. After milling, we can provide water-based or oil-based priming or even storage to assist you with inventory control.
Significance of Careful Planning and Inspection
With our abundant inventory of hardwood lumber and experienced and knowledgeable staff, we are well-equipped to assist you in selecting the perfect species for your project and profile. Our quality control process ensures that your millwork product will be accurate and consistent. Once we create the straight steel or carbide knife needed for your job, the knife is continually re-sharpened in order to make sure sizing and quality remain consistent throughout the job, regardless of species sensitivities. Throughout the moulding run, your project will be inspected carefully.
Importance of Quality Machining
Even when you choose the highest quality lumber, a millwork job can be botched by problem machining. Here at J. Gibson McIlvain Lumber, we realize the importance of every detail that contributes to quality cuts. Board support, feed rate, and blade sharpness all contribute to the quality of millwork. Especially since millwork is typically installed in highly visible areas, tool marks can significantly impact the entire design, distracting from wood grain and detracting from the overall effect.
Specific Knife Mark Allowances
It may surprise you to know that the certification standards of the Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI) includes 21-22 knife marks per inch. Here at J. Gibson McIlvain, we find that incidence of markings unacceptable. Even with only 13-15 knife marks per inch, once finish is applied and sunlight hits the surface, the effect is far from ideal. We set up our machines according to manufacturer standards and then make a series of adjustments to the planer in order to completely eliminate any knife marks. The result is a milled board whose surface reflects light with absolutely no interruptions to spoil the effect.
For customers who take great care in designing and installing millwork, we consider our quality control as a way to honor their hard work by providing them with the best materials possible. We hope you’ll consider J. Gibson McIlvain for all your millwork, plywood, and hardwood and softwood lumber needs.
