Indroduction - Thanks for an informative forum!

[fairy8i8]

Just introducing myself.

I found this forum trying to find out information about Amish furniture and the variations in quality (I figured that it varied and wanted to know some more specifics). My husband and I found a dining set we really liked made by an Amish manufacturer at a home show. The chairs were the most comfortable hardwood chairs in which I have ever sat. However, the price tag was more than previous purchases (we have been in the Ikea/Costco market), and I wanted to see what went into making good quality furniture and what to expect at different price points. I didn't want to pay a lot for a dining set just to find out that I did not get a fair price for the quality.

We are now at the point of looking for some longer term furniture. Ikea chairs last 2 years in our house if we are lucky. I have loved Thos. Moser furniture for years, and I like the American Bungalow style for bedrooms, but I would like to learn a little more before beginning purchasing. I also like more traditional styles. I have considered Ashley Home Furniture as an interim just to have things rounded out while we save for nicer furniture, but after reading reviews online, I feel like maybe I should just use what I have and save for the furniture I really want that will last me the rest of my life, and then some. I have also read a few places on the forum that sometimes buying antiques can be more cost effective than purchasing new. This could also be an option for us. I definitely saw that when I was looking at marble inlaid table tops. New ones from India cost $10,000 plus without the base included. I found an antique in the states that was larger and came with a solid foundation for $4,000. I had always assumed antiques were more expensive than modern furniture.

[drcollie]

You can find lots of information here on "Amish" pieces as well as what makes a quality chair. Just do a search using the window at the upper right for your topics. In a nutshell:

* Don't get caught up in the romance of buying 'Amish'. There's some junk out there and some that are decent as well. But Amish do not make 'collectible' quality pieces as a rule, they do more of a utility grade kind of piece that will give good service duty but is not close to best-in-class. Look at their product without giving the term 'Amish' any weight in your decision-making. I don't carry anything Amish in my store as I find their pieces to be too machine-made for my tastes and they tend to be very difficult to do business with unless you are Amish yourself.

* Antiques should be avoided as daily use 'stress' items. By that I mean pieces that people sit upon or sleep upon. You put weight on a stress item, and that causes joints to move and be pressured. Old joints are not tight joints. For chairs and beds, stay with new. Antiques are great for small tables, chests of drawers, consoles, sideboards and the like because they don't have that stress put upon them.

* Real Antiques are far more costly than new furniture. There is a difference between an "Antique" and just old furniture. Just because pieces have age on them does not make them an antique (as the trade uses the term). You can buy old furniture very inexpensively that will last and give you decent service but it will have no collectible value.
*

[fairy8i8]

Thanks for the information and taking the time to reply. I am curious as to what makes a piece "collectible."

We don't have any romantic notions about Amish furniture. As my husband put it, "It was the most comfortable wooden chair I have ever sat in." It was a dining chair, and that's why we are considering it. I having been reading old posts and learning more about construction. Unfortunately, the company doesn't have a website, so I would have to go to their showroom in Ohio (hour or two away) in order to inspect the pieces and really decide if they are good quality.

Also, thanks for the advice on old furniture. I was looking at Harp Furniture that was suggested by someone in a post here. I liked a hand carved French bed from there, and at under $2000, I couldn't get something that ornate that cheap at Ashley Furniture. However, because it is an odd size queen, they replace the sideboards with screwed in metal rails and then add simple wooden slats on top that stick past the rails slightly in order to accommodate a modern queen mattress. I wasn't sure if this construction would hold up long, and from your comment, it sounds like that is true.

I also want to learn what comparison price points are for high end furniture. I think there is a Stickley Audi here in Pittsburgh that supposedly carries H&M. Because retailers cannot give prices out online, it's hard for me to even know if high end would be reasonable for me to consider. We have plenty of cheap furniture, but we want to replace it with more quality pieces and actually plan and save for them over the next few years. We need a new dining table, as our glass one was shattered 2 weeks ago. We have a borrowed replacement for now so we have time to decide what we really want.

[drcollie]

"Collectible Pieces". That could take a small book to define, and I can't probably type it all out but its a fair question. Very briefly a collectible piece has to have these parameters: 1) Proper Construction 2) High grade woods (Solids and Veneers) 3) Artistic Merit 4) Rarity. Age alone doesn't do it - they built junk 200 years ago just as they did fine furniture!

You definitely don't want any bed where a metal frame is screwed to a wooden post. The screws will work loose over time and loose their hold power, and the bed will rock and squeak the neventually just fall apart . Beds and chairs are by far, the largest stress items in the house. On a bed, you have (typically) two people with combined weight from say 250 lb (lightweights) to 450 lb on a structure for 8 hours at a time. That weight is moving around and really puts a stress on the joints. A properly made wood bed uses Mortise and Tenon construction to hold the weight / stress and then then through bolts (not screws) to keep the mortise and tenon joint together. Those beds will never deteriorate o rattle and squeak as long as the bolts are kept tight. However, they are the most costly to build as well. Every bed should have (8) joints and (8) though bolts. You never want glue joints in a bed as the glue will fail over time and the bed will squeak and rattle. Bedmakers know how to make them correctly, but are under constant and unrelenting pressure from consumers for cheaper prices to they do shortcuts like have the footboard and headboard sections glued up or substitute dowel joints for Mortise and Tenon. I do not carry beds in my store with shortcuts because I know they won't be satisfactory in the long run. I'm having trouble attaching photos to the thread right now but you can go to these links to see:

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/re...nery101/Parts/

http://woodgears.ca/mortise/strong.html

You can't rely on a 'brand name' for quality construction in this industry, because specs are always changing in the trade as makes try to keep the costs down. But this is a double-edged sword! I get customers every day that say "I want top quality that will last" and then I show them a mortise and tenon made bed and they say 'I'm not spending $ 3,000 on a bed, what do you have for half that price?" And so it goes....

Try to learn about quality and use you eyes to look over a piece with you new-found knowledge. Chances are you will know more about proper bed construction than the person trying to sell it to you.