How is Willow Creek's Teak Furniture Made?

1. Sourcing teakwood

All of our teakwood is sourced in Jepara, Indonesia located in central Java. Jepara is world renowned for its artisans that specialize in furniture manufacturing. The 2 main materials used to produce furniture in the region are mahogany (indoor) and teak (outdoor). All teakwood is shipped from all over Indonesia to Jepara as a central raw material hub for furniture manufacturing. Erin visits Jepara once a month to QC raw material purchased. Teakwood is purchased 4 months prior in log form before it is used in construction. This is the start of the journey in which your teak outdoor patio furniture is made.

Erin picking the choice cuts

We start with the tree to control quality of material. Grade A

2. Lumbering

After the raw materials are purchased, the trees will be processed in a saw mill to pre-spec slab length and thickness. The machine you see pictured is a giant saw affectionately known as "The Terminator". The cutting of the teak wood into more manageable slab wood allows for easier handling, quicker and more efficient drying and most important quality of wood inspection...show me the grain! Grade is compiled of a number of aspects but size and age of tree is a important part.

Don't want to get a hand stuck in The Terminator

3. Kiln Drying

The kiln is essentially a massive oven used to dry the teak slabs. As we'll learn in the next section, proper drying is instrumental in preventing structural issues down the line. Here you can see Erin standing in front of some teak currently engaged in the kiln drying process.

Processed teak tree slab wood. All snuggled top in the drying chamber

4. Testing for Moisture

Drying of the wood is the most important stage of the teak manufacturing process. Moisture in the wood causes cracking and other detrimental issues that can effect the teak. Willow Creek pays particular attention to the moisture content of the wood. All wood needs to be test to below 25% of moisture before the manufacturing process can starts.

Willow Creek operates it's own drying facility in Jepara, Indonesia

Hand checking wood moisture content

5. Manufacturing

Now that the wood is cut and dry, it is time to make teak outdoor patio furniture. The manufacturing of teak is still mostly labor intensive and reliant mainly on one's hands, eyes and experience.