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January 2023 by Lee V.
I was looking for a replacement part for a piece that Shaker Workshop no longer made. I was expecting a "sorry" note. To my surprise they actually looked and found the replacement part and sent it at no cost. I would highly recommend this business.
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July 2021 by Laura T.
Very impressed with both the quality of the stool I purchased and the customer service. I did not read the order confirmation email clearly so missed the notification that it would be 2-3 weeks until delivery so it would arrive at the wrong location. The owner responded to my email immediately, changed the shipping address and got the stool shipped out that day.
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July 2021 by Bill S.
Adam: Thank you so much for such great customer service sending us a different color chair tape for my Weavers chairs after I ordered the wrong color. The new grey 1-inch tape you sent us is perfect for the colors in our renovated kitchen. Re-weaving each chair was easy too, taking only about 35 mins. each. But the most amazing thing is, after 15-20 years of use of these Shaker Workshops chairs, not only are the chairs still in great shape, but the old black tape (still on the chairs) and the old green tape I removed, are still in excellent shape as well and the green tape could be easily re-used for other chairs!!! The Weavers chairs that I built from Shaker Workshops kits work perfectly at our new kitchen island and now look just right. We have always loved Shaker Workshop's products and have other numerous pieces in our house. Keep up the good work. Bill Fairfax, VA
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April 2021 by Barbara Sutcliffe
Recently completed this Shaker rocking chair from a kit and it is wonderful. Beautiful maple, great quality and most importantly, we had excellent advice and customer service from Shaker Workshops all along the way. Thanks for making these kits available and preserving the original, timeless Shaker designs. This was fun!
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March 2020 by Duke
I recently purchased a Shaker Candle Stand table from Shaker Workshop. It is difficult to find authentic colonial furniture as most business have turned to Asia/China for cheap knockoffs. I am a woodworker and know quality furniture. First thing I look for is the joinery and my piece replicated the joinery invented by the shakers. Furthermore, I'm not just buying a piece of furniture, I'm looking to by a an heirloom, a piece of heritage I will hand down to my children. It has to be organically made by New England Craftsman in the same spirit the original piece was made. When I find that show piece, I'm more than willing to pay a premium. I will be looking forward to Shaker workshop offerings as I understand they are striving for this very culture. Id highly recommend giving Shaker Workshop consideration
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March 2020 by James P.
I recently purchased a Shaker Candle Stand table from Shaker Workshop. It is difficult to find authentic colonial furniture as most business have turned to Asia/China for cheap knockoffs. I am a woodworker and know quality furniture. First thing I look for is the joinery and my piece replicated the joinery invented by the shakers. Furthermore, I'm not just buying a piece of furniture, I'm looking to by a an heirloom, a piece heritage I will hand down to my children. It has to be organically made by New England Craftsman in the same spirit the original piece was made. When I find that show piece, I'm more than willing to pay a premium. I will be looking forward to Shaker workshop offerings as I understand they are striving for this very culture. Id highly recommend giving Shaker Workshop consideration James Papa Rochester NY
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February 2020 by Harris S.
Normally I don't write reviews, but with negative postings I saw for the last couple of years on Yelp, is contrary to the superb after-sales support I just received recently of a shaker dining chair I purchased during the transition of ownership. As a long term customer of Shaker Workshops, I have no hesitation in recommending giving the new owners a consideration for your future business. Excellent workmanship and honest dealings in my case. You may have to wait a bit longer for delivery of assembled furniture, but it is worth it.
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September 2019 by William A.
Beautiful products. I purchased, assembled, and finished two dining chairs and the trestle dining table around late 2014, early 2015 (not much free time). Everything they sent was of high quality stock and craftsmanship; square, level, plumb, and true (and remaining so to this day); and thankfully undamaged. The boards for the table were well matched and joined. Most people would never notice the tabletop wasn't a single piece of stock; even I had to look closely. (Pro tip: it becomes noticeable if you botch the staining ;) The bottles of stain accompanying each item were consistent in color and application. The lengths of chair tape were more than sufficient, though one chair had two smaller rolls that required splicing. As an amateur finisher the final results aren't going to win any contests, but this is the closest you can get to building your own first-class furniture without going pro, and I'm very happy with the results. You're never going to flatten such a tabletop, for example, without a large and expensive jointer, nor would you ever be able to select, arrange, and join the stock as well as they do without years of experience. You can't really buy such pieces commercially, either, except directly from Shaker Workshops or similar professional shops. In fact, I couldn't find pieces of such authentically Shaker dimensions anywhere, either of whole wood stock or even using cheaper factory-built methods. And in general I've never seen pieces as slender and well-proportioned without the use of metal hardware for strengthening. Most trestle tables of similar design use cross ties to prevent racking, but our table has remained rigid and square. The instructions state that the dining chairs are only meant for 200lbs or less, but to date they've held up without a whimper for much larger guests. I think this is a testament to Shaker Workshops' high quality stock and careful joinery, as the design of Shaker furniture doesn't leave much room for error. The instructions, particularly for finishing, often only suggest options and general advice. This can feel confusing and a cop-out, but if you get into woodworking you realize that it's because there are no simple answers. Finishing is an art, and preferences vary widely. Anybody giving you simple answers is holding back. But whatever you choose, it'll be fine. For example, whatever type of finish you choose, it'll be better than the spray-on lacquers used in high-volume professional shops--those lacquers are why restaurant tables often feel sticky as they don't hold up well to detergents. Some of the more more elegant finishing options like wax can be high maintenance, but conversely they're much more forgiving and their application and reapplication. That said, if I had to do another table I would buy a high-quality orbital sander. I mostly sanded everything by hand, using a large sanding block on the larger pieces, and only using a small electric finishing sander for a few passes. I would also choose to use a sanding sealer. If I remember correctly, both of these suggestions were mentioned in the instructions. My staining turned out uneven and a little splotchy (to my eyes, at least), both on the tabletop and especially the outer curves of the trestle feet. In retrospect, more machine sanding and especially a sanding sealer would have helped to compensate for my lack of skill. Also be very careful of glue seepage. After staining it, I spent one very long and sweaty evening sanding the first chair down to the bare wood once it became clear that uneven sanding and, more importantly, glue seepage resulted in the stain very noticeably not penetrating around the joints. Some woodworkers are adamant about sanding and staining before the glue-up for precisely this reason. I can see why. Such debates are why the instructions don't categorically tell you to do things one way or another. There are tradeoffs that depend on your strengths and weaknesses.
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May 2018 by Richard Y.
Beautiful products. I was so happy to have found a source for the simple but elegant Shaker beds and headboards that I had been looking for. But then I had to deal with their customer service department and it all went downhill. I asked a few questions about the precise dimensions of and the placement of brackets on their queen-sized bed and headboard so that I could coordinate with an existing mattress and foundation. They said that they would get back to me after speaking briefly with their "shop." I waited several days, then called back. The person I reached didn't know anything and thought I should talk to "Carolyn," who must have been the person I talked to before. I left a callback number. No call back. I waited a few more days and called again. "Carolyn" was at a meeting. No call back. A couple of more days, I called again and reached the answering service. She didn't know why Carolyn hadn't called me back, but took down my information again. She then told me that she thought Shaker Workshops had discontinued making beds, but Carolyn would call back and let me know. Carolyn didn't call back. So, a few days later, I called again. Carolyn wasn't available, but, indeed, the beds and headboards have been discontinued -- even though they are still in the online catalog. What a waste of time. It is a sad day when the answering service has better information than customer service. They could have saved me a couple of weeks and many phone calls if they had simply known about their own inventory or gotten the information during my first call. Based upon the couple of other comments I see here, this company is not ready to be online.
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February 2017 by Annie S.
I'm concerned that my husband and I placed an order two months ago, and have heard nothing about the status of our purchase: our emails are not being returned and no one answers the phone. Scam?
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June 2013 by Louise C.
Two things I came across. I have never used water based stains and finishes before. At one point you say to use steel wool as the last treatment before the the poly- urathane coat, Of course you would try to get it all off but steel wool would rust with water based coat. The second trouble spot I ran into on my drop leaf table was the the hinges put into the mortised spots in the leaves did not fit . Everything else fit so beautifully I couldn't understand why they weren't wide enough for the hinge like the ones for the table top. I did not get them painted with stain or finish to swell. Louise Coleman
