Our Workshop

All of our products, whether they be our stock folios or our custom made presentation boxes, are 100% handmade in the USA. Our Portfolioboxes are made from only the finest materials, and we take great pride knowing that your life’s work is housed in them.

Tools

For cutting of the graphic board, book cloths and papers, we use hand table shears. These are large and can cut pieces up to 40 inches long. This is all done one piece at a time. Precise rulers and tape measures are always readily available and used in all departments to make correct measurements. For larger orders we can use the Polar guillotine or CAD plotter-cutter available at Taylor Box Company. The light weight albus wood we use in wood sided boxes is cut on a StopSaw(r) table saw. Once assembled, the trays or ‘shells’ are sanded on a large table belt sander that can sand a case up to a 38 inches in length. Assembling wood trays is done with a power hand stapler and wood glue. Hot-melt glue guns are also used in assembly for box inserts and components.

Constructions

The real craft and art of hand box making occurs at the tables where the boxes, covers, folios, etc. are all wrapped by hand. The cloth/paper piece is hand fed into a glue machine that coats the bottom of the material with a thin layer of animal hide glue (another old world heat-activated adhesive that has been used in bookbinding since before the Middle Ages). The person wrapping attaches this material, cuts all the corner folds, and miters by hand with high-quality hand shears and knives. The cloth or paper is then folded into place using a bone folder — an old-world bookbinding hand tool that has a hard fine surface to rub glued materials onto other surfaces while avoiding scratching and eliminating bubbles. Traditionally made of animal bone, we also use a modern adaptation made of Teflon which is very smooth. This hand wrapping process is the hardest to master.

Hot stamping (or debossing) of text or artwork onto the cover surface of a box is done with a hand fed Kensol stamping press. Each piece is stamped individually by hand to ensure proper foil coverage and placement.

Finally, after each piece is completed, we offer fulfillment options and hand pack all pieces for shipment in protective bubble pack to assure they arrive in your hands undamaged.