Hand-Finished
Hardwood
iPod Stands!

Here's How We Make Our iPod Stands

Curious as to how we make our iPod accessories - here's the scoop. . .

THE WOOD Each iDockCover™ begins with hand selected hardwoods. We don’t buy lumber in bulk bundles. Every piece is personally selected and chosen for its character and integrity. Also, we only purchase lumber from reputable U.S. suppliers who practice ethical environmental standards.

THE SHAPING The iDockCover™ shape is cut with a CNC router. The pocket that holds the Dock must be very precisely shaped. Our new G-Stands are cut to shape using a scroll saw (a 1958 Rockwell to be precise!) Then, the roughed out shape takes a trip to the router table, where we radius the top edge.

THE SANDING Next begins the sanding processing, carefully paying attention to the grain direction, which varies from piece to piece. If you sand against the grain, you scratch the wood, damaging the finish.

While the shape of our products is great, it does present a challenge when it comes to sanding - all those curves! But this is a decorative piece and we're committed to doing a high-quality job. Most of our time is spent sanding and sanding and sanding . . .

Once the sanding is complete, we seal the units, top and bottom, with a wax-free shellac sealer. After the shellac dries, we sand again before proceeding to the final finishing.

THE FINISHING Finally, the iDockCover™ is ready for finishing. Like a quality electric guitar or fine piano, most of our products are finished with lacquer. We use Becker Acroma products which we acquire from the Seattle branch of Insulmastic. These products are manufactured to European environmental standards, which are more strict than U.S. standards. They're much easier on the environment and more user friendly than the nitrocellulose lacquers which are typically used. We like that part, and you'll like the finish that they provide.

THE SATIN-SHEEN FINISHES For our natural finishes we use four to six coats of the #15 Bernyl Facett lacquer. This provides a rich satin finish, which accentuates the grain and color of the wood.

THE COLOR For color we use color-fast dyes from Stewart-MacDonald. This company provides products for "luthiers" - the makers of stringed instruments, like guitars. These dyes are very expensive at $14.90 for a 2-once bottle, but again, we're commited to excellence.

THE HIGH-GLOSS FINISHES Our high-gloss finishes are obtained with four to six coats of the #90 Bernyl Facett clear lacquer. When needed, we sand with an ultra-fine paper and buff with polish for a high gloss finish.

OIL FINISHES A few of our products have an oil finish. We hand rub several coats of Danish oil into the wood, allowing each coat to penetrate and dry. This gives a flat finish that enhances the richness of the wood. The individual product descriptions will inform you which finish has been used on that particular model.

INSPECTION Finally, we check each unit for quality before they're packaged for shipment.

As you can see, our products are not cranked out on an assembly line-- they’re made with dignity and skill by people, for people. And, as you've learned, they're more work than perhaps they look like!

These are hand-crafted, custom quality iPod accessories.
You won't be disappointed!

*PLEASE NOTE: We're in the middle of switching our method of purchasing, so all products are temporarily unavailable. Thanks for your patience!