Inside of Thos. Moser workshop

Inside the Thos. Moser Workshop

 

The Thos. Moser workshop is a playground to the makers who call it home. Every piece of furniture starts its journey in this 80,000-square-foot facility in Auburn, Maine. We rely on sustainable North American hardwoods, traditional joinery executed by hand, and individual workmanship to make furniture that will last a lifetime. Join us for a peek inside.
inside the grange hall workshop

Tom and Mary Moser founded Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers in 1972. Their first official shop was located in the old grange on Cobb’s Bridge Road in New Gloucester, Maine. After they cleared out what had been left behind, they transformed the space into a functioning workshop. The stage where the band placed on Saturday nights became the finishing room, the box office became the shop office, and workbenches and machinery replaced the risers that had previously lined either side of the dance floor.

Inside the grange hall workshop and Tom Moser

The grange hall was home to Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers for eight years. As the company grew, we moved into an abandoned meat packing plant on Riverside Drive in Auburn. With the company’s success, we soon outgrew this new space, and in 1987, we laid plans to construct the shop we call home today.

Stacks of lumber with Rough Mill title

The rough mill is where every piece of furniture begins its story. Every few months, we receive sustainably sourced cherry from the Alleghany plateau, walnut from the Missouri river banks, and ash from northern New England to replenish the stock. Once the lumber is unloaded, our craftspeople in the rough mill comb through stacks of rough lumber, selecting boards for each project. On average, we go through 264,000 board feet of cherry a year. That’s the equivalent of the rough mill being emptied out and refilled every 2.5 months.

inside the rough mill with stacks of lumber

Every board is carefully hand-selected for grain and color match – a process that requires the craftsmen to visualize how the piece will come to life from only a pile of boards. This ensures that the tabletop, drawer fronts, or headboard look like they came from the same tree. Once the boards have been selected, the craftsman cuts the boards to size, runs them through the joiner, and glues up any panels that may be needed for the job.

man cutting cedar on a joiner

The Taylor panel press

 

Known as “The Taylor,” the panel press is responsible for gluing up every tabletop, chair seat, headboard, and more. Once the panels have been glued up, they will cure for 2 hours. Built in the 1960s, “The Taylor” is one of the oldest machines in the shop.

 

dried glue on metal bar

glue up of a chair back in the panel press

 

side view of cnc controller
The CNC is where the art of furniture making blends modern technology with traditional woodworking skills. In our Auburn, Maine workshop, we have embraced modern machinery, including CNC, ‘Computer Numerical Control’ technology. Our shop has one 5-axis CNC machine and a 3-axis CNC.

back of chair on cnc

head of the cnc machine

stacked chair parts

These tools have enabled us to enhance our craft by allowing for exact precision, increased quality, and expansion of our design capabilities, creating a union of traditional craftsmanship and modern technology. Once the intricate parts have been created on the CNC, they are then in the hands of our skilled craftspeople.

workbench in late afternoon light

As we move into the cases department, we are stepping into the original part of the building. In 1990, we added 20,000 square feet to the shop to create space for the rough mill, CNC work center, and, as you’ll see later, the finishing, upholstery, and shipping departments.

 

vita side tables in progress with clamps

craftspeople working at the shop

 

Every craftsperson is skilled in making beds, dressers, credenzas, and more.

 

time saver sander

moser shop tour cases 1

 

Many of the craftspeople in the building are cross-trained to work in any discipline. Casework is one of the most demanding work areas in the building. It requires a keen eye and sharp attention to detail. The craftspeople in this area can choose which project they want to build. One week it might be a bed; the next, a sideboard or Dr. White’s Chest.

 

 

The glue-up of a Dr. White’s Chest utilizes 53 clamps.

 

shell of drawers on cart

woman cutting drawer on joiner in workshop

Pencil and clipboard on desk

wishbone legs

 

Our tables department crafts the largest and the smallest pieces of furniture in the building. From  Minimus Tables to custom 40-foot conference tables and everywhere in between. Throughout the department, the walls are lined with jigs, essential for creating precise cuts and parts for every table in our lineup. At last count, there were over 150 jigs that lined these walls.

 

 

craftsman in tables department
laminated curves

Many of our signature curves are created through the process of lamination- a process that requires multiple layers of veneer, glue, pressure, and time. We improve the strength, stability, and endurance of many vital pieces within our furniture through bent lamination.

 

 

The veneer is kept in a self-contained humidification room to prevent warping and cracks.

 

 

Many of our signature curves are created with bent lamination. Bent lamination is a process that requires multiple layers of veneer, glue, pressure, and time. This technique improves the strength, stability, and endurance of many vital structural elements found throughout our designs while adding complex and graceful dimensions.

 

Radio frequency press

 

At Thos. Moser, we use two different processes for creating a bent laminated curve. One press uses radio frequency, which works similar to microwave and is extremely powerful.

 

Laminating techniques and presses

 

The Radio Frequency Press is used to create smaller heat-cured curves such as chair knees, dresser drawer fronts, and table skirts in 30 seconds.

 

press for vita footboard

 

Larger jigs are used for cold-press lamination. This technique is used for our Vita Bed, Boat Top Table apron, and Chaise Lounge. Once the pieces have been glued and clamped, they cure overnight.

newport chair tops on a bench

Our chairs department is home to some of our most iconic furniture.

 

newport chair in progress with a pair of glasses

 

Chairs is the largest department in our shop, spanning nearly 12,000sq feet. The craftspeople here are responsible for chairs, stools, benches, lounge pieces, and rockers. This department makes nearly 50 pieces of furniture by hand in a week.

 

sanding booth in chairs department

 

It is in chairs where we find most of the sculptural elements of furniture making. From hand-sculpting a seat, rasping the curve on our Continuous Arm, or creating the fluid motion of a Pasadena Rocker or a Wing Sofa, these craftspeople have a delicate touch and keen eye for crafting seamless and comfortable forms.

 

jig for creating the continuous arm

 

There are only three of these machines in the world, and they live within our shop. This jig creates the signature arm of our Continuous Arm Chair. Tom knew he wanted to create a crest with a fluidity that transitioned into the arms of the chair. He began by experimenting with lamination and bending techniques, which led him to design a jig from a copper plumbing pipe resting upon a scrap wood brace. The design of the first jig was then taken to a machine shop. The two jigs that were constructed in the late 1970s, minus a few shims, Bondo, and the addition of hydraulic cylinders that pull the arm into shape, are the exact ones we continue to use today.

 

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spindles on divider

 

Many of our benches, chairs, and stools are known for their signature ash spindles and legs.

 

eastward bench in progress

chair legs in cart

 

 

Welcome to Tom’s personal workshop in the building. This small prototype shop is used to explore new designs, and custom projects, and on occasion, you can find our Founder, Tom working on his signature flag.

 

 

 

After we leave the prototype area, we’re headed to finishing and upholstery.

 

hallway to finishing department

brick facade inside a workshop

reams of leather hanging

 

upholstery closet with spools of thread and trim

 

Upholstery makes a piece of solid hardwood furniture cozy, elegant, playful, or sophisticated. When the final stitch is sewn and the cushion is placed into the frame, the customer’s vision is realized. Just as the boards are selected in the rough mill for grain and color match, our craftspeople in upholstery select the fabric or leather, ensuring the patterns are aligned, the material lays in the right direction, and the leather is free from blemishes. Built from the inside out, every element of the cushion is made in-house.

 

cutting leather on sofa cushion

grinding down a seat frame

 

Built from the inside out, every element of the cushion is made in-house. This includes creating a custom frame that will fit within the seat, constructing the cushion, sewing the covers, making buttons, and installing the seat. Every element in this softer side of furniture needs to be every bit as durable and pleasing to the eye as its hand-crafted wooden frame.

 

stapling upholstery to the framereams of fabric

 

Once the cushion is installed, it receives a final check and moves on to shipping.

buffing bristle brush

 

finishing booth with chair frame on right

moser shop tour finishing 6 2100x1500 a86458f0 b7af 4e28 bb32 4236107aa8a7

 

It’s here that some say the furniture comes to life. After each piece of furniture is carefully hand sanded, it receives a coat of Rev Oil. Our “Revised Oil” is a proprietary blend that contains a percentage of linseed oil with the addition of driers and resins. This new oil treatment allows for an overnight dry time and creates additional protection that is close to the surface, similar to a top coat. A day’s drying time is allowed, and then the piece is lightly sanded and ready for the final finish if either wax or catalyzed lacquer.

 

oiling a crescent stool by hand

chairs in oil booth

 

A final sanding and quality control check before it’s on to shipping.

man loading back of truck

Before being loaded onto our trucks, every piece of furniture receives a final quality control check before it is hand wrapped in blankets.

 

 

The use of moving blankets allows this process to maintain a higher level of sustainability while protecting the furniture from scratches during shipping.

From every hand-selected board, sculpted seat, chiseled piece of joinery, tufted seat cushion, and hand-finished piece of furniture wrapped with care –we are a family of craftspeople who genuinely love what we do, day in and day out. And we’re proud to leave our mark.

 

If you are local or visiting Maine and are interested in an in-person shop tour, make a reservation here.

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