General Woodcraft Blog

Lots of my friends and people we meet ask where I work and when I say, “General Woodcraft”, they often swoon and tell me about a wonderful experience they had, or their friends had, or their parents had, or their cousins had or friends of their parents and cousins had.

At first I was amazed that General Woodcraft had such a consistently strong reputation. I frequently hear comments like, “General Woodcraft designed a kitchen for us and it is so beautiful! We had it installed a few years ago and we love it as much as today as we did when it was first installed.”  People who bought Ipe hardwood decking from us fifteen years ago often call us up to thank us for such a beautiful and long lasting deck. The list of satisfied customers goes on and on and it continues. I was and continue to be overwhelmed by the positive feedback that we consistently hear from past and present clients.

This customer loyalty did not happen by accident. Satisfying our customers above and beyond their expectations is not the exception to the rule – it is the standard. We call it The General Woodcraft Experience and you just can’t get the same thing anywhere else. When I first joined General Woodcraft in 2008 I was surprised to hear the philosophy of Steven Crook (president, owner and CEO of General Woodcraft). I asked Steve point blank, “Steve, why on earth would you take the time and spend the money to send a craftsman from our woodshop out to make repairs on a job we supplied eight years ago? Clearly we are not expected to or obliged to do this work?” Steve’s response to me, and I’ll never forget it was, “It’s a marketing expense.”  From my perplexed expression Steve could see that I needed further explanation.

Steve went on to explain that General Woodcraft has always gone to great lengths to satisfy its clients - even if it hurts. Word of mouth advertising from satisfied customers has been the hallmark of our marketing philosophy and is the biggest reason people continue to come back and do business with us. Any company can write a fancy advertisement or radio spot or TV commercial, but there is no better advertising in the world than lots and lots of satisfied clients. Although it takes years to develop a strong and loyal clientele, Steve’s consistent efforts over many, many years continue to pay dividends.

Satisfying our clients for the short term and long term are a core value of our company. We look forward to the opportunity to share The General Woodcraft Experience with you or your friends - or your parents or your cousins or friends of your parents and cousins.  Come on in and let us design the kitchen of your dreams or the deck of a lifetime.

Please visit our websites for additional information about kitchens, Mataverde decking, wood siding, hardwoods, custom woodworking and more:

www.generalwoodcraftinc.com

www.mataverdedecking.com

South American Genuine Mahogany Clock

Fred Serluca, a highly skilled woodworker and craftsman has his latest project coming deep from the ocean depths.  This beautiful brass clock is mounted in a South American Mahogany. The clock itself was originally used on the nuclear powered submarine USS ALEXANDRIA, which was commissioned in 1991 and is based in Groton CT.

Fred had to work very hard to clean up the clock to restore it to its original beauty. Fred also fixed the inner workings which is why the clock was replaced by the Navy. The propeller is also the key which winds up the clock.

The part of the story which really stands out to me is that Fred is dedicating the clock to his longtime friend Brendan McGuirk who is battling a serious illness. Fred has done some wonderful projects using many of beautiful hardwoods and continues to show that his skill as a craftsman of fine hardwoods is only matched by his integrity as a human being.

Please visit our website to learn more about genuine american mahogany, other exotic and figured hardwoods, woodworking projects and custom woodworking:

Genuine Mahogany

Exotic and Figured hardwoods

Custom Woodworking

Bill Rivero is a well known local wood lover and wood carver. Like many members of the Mystic Carver’s Club, Bill has a real talent and great love of wood carving. Bill often dares to use hardwood species that many other carvers find extremely difficult to work with. That doesn't stop Bill; if he sees a piece of wood that is beautiful and has attractive graining or figuring, he will hand carve it to the delight of friends and family.  This beautiful handcrafted incense box is made from teak with basket weave carving and abstract design for the top with a stainless steel handle.  This hand carved teak incense box shows that teak is not just for boats but can be enjoyed by everyone on land or on the sea.

Bill carves a wide range of items from hardwood tikis, hardwood boxes, framed relief pictures, candle holders, canes, walking sticks, signs, kubotans and many more unique hand carved treasures. While Bill's woodcarving style is very diversified, his basket weave handcarvings are easily recognizable due to their richness, depth, complexity and beauty.

For additional information about teak or other wood options please visit our website or click the links below:

Teak Wood

Common and Domestic Hardwoods

Exotic and Figured hardwoods

Custom Woodworking

General Woodcraft is proud to announce our new Woodworkers Blog. If you are a woodworking professional or woodworking hobbyist, we want to hear from you! We have been supplying hardwood lumber and fine veneers to the woodworking community for over sixty years. We meet all sorts of wonderful people who turn their skills and passion for fine woodworking into remarkable projects.

Whether you are a cabinet maker, wood carver, furniture maker, boatbuilder, clockmaker, finish carpenter or woodworker of any type, we want to hear from you! If the smell of freshly cut wood and the buzzing of power tools gets your heart racing just a little, you're in the right place. Send us pictures of your woodworking projects! Tell us stories about your woodworking projects! We would love to hear your woodworking success stories and any woodworking tips or techniques that you find useful.

General Woodcraft specializes in all sorts of native hardwood species such as; Ash,Basswood, Birch, Red Birch, Native Cherry, Red Oak, White Oak, Poplar, Maple, Walnut and lots more. Additionally we offer a variety of exotic hardwood and softwood species such as Teak, Bamboo, Phillipine Mahogany, Spanish Cedar, Honduran Mahogany, Purpleheart, Lacewood, Lyptus, Wenge, Cocobolo, Ebony, Leopardwood, Rosewood, Padauk, Zebrawood and lots more!

Wood is one of the only natural resources in the world that will regenerate itself in our lifetime. Whatever your woodworking project, whatever your favorite wood species are to work with, please, feel free to go ahead and make a little sawdust!

Learn more about native and common wood species here

Check out exotic and figured wood species here