In addition to both domestic and exotic species of hardwood and softwood lumber and decking products, we at J. Gibson McIlvain offer a full line of millwork capabilities right here at our Maryland headquarters. In addition to our thorough millwork catalog, we accept custom orders for unique project designs or restorations. We work with each job from blueprint to delivery with our in-house millwork operation (take a tour!).
The Right Tools
Our expansive arsenal of tools includes custom knife grinders, moulders, gang rip saws, band resaws, straight line saws, and trimming saws. With either water-based or oil-based priming available for mouldings, as well as storage facilities available to help you maintain inventory control, our full-service offerings provide for all your architectural millwork needs. Like any of our products or services, though, we focus on quality, not just quantity.
The Right Resources
We start with an immense stock of premium hardwoods from which our staff can help you select the right species for your moulding profile and project application. With our vast inventory of hardwoods and softwood, we’re uniquely equipped to offer you the best that nature has to offer as well as expert advice from our well-trained staff.
The Right Profile
Our extensive profile catalog can help get you started, but no level of complication or intricate historic restoration order is beyond the scope of our abilities. Hardwood flooring, custom panels, mouldings, and architectural millwork are all within our capabilities. For custom profiles, our grinders make straight steel or carbide knives.
The Right Process
Even the highest quality lumber can be ruined with a terrible cut—or even a good design. Millwork is often placed at focal points where ripples and tool marks will be quite noticeable. As we begin your moulding run, we make sure our knives are razor sharp and carefully inserted into our moulding head. Thoughout the run, we inspect your mouldings and continually sharpen knives to ensure an accurate, consistent product with a high-quality finish throughout, particularly with species that require this kind of extra care.
The Right Control
Quality control throughout the millwork process is integral to producing a positive product. Feed rate, board support, and blades combine to make beautiful cuts that highlight the wood’s natural beauty instead of distracting from it. The Architectural Woodwork Institute’s standards for certification includes 21-22 knife marks per inch; many standard products will have at least 13-15 marks per inch, which looks great—until the wood is finished and exposed to direct sunlight. Then, the knife marks are highlighted, and the beauty of the wood is deemphasized. At J. Gibson McIlvain, we conduct a series of adjustments that result in indistinguishable results of machining—that’s right: no knife marks at all.
The end result is a properly milled board off which light reflects without interruption by unsightly marks from poor workmanship. Carefully stored, packaged, and shipped to your job site, the finished product won’t compromise your fine design or professional installation work; instead, it will accentuate the kind of work of which you can be proud.
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