Handcrafted In The Beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The UP Shop was built in 1997. It started out as a place to work on home projects and the base for other building projects in the Bloch Compound. Many unique projects were built here and installed in other buildings. After many requests by visitors to the Compound, Rob Bloch, the designer and craftsman of the projects, decided to design and build small items such as wine racks, book shelves, cutting boards and other wood works for members of the family and some friends.
Throughout the next few years the requests for wood products kept increasing along with the degree of complexity. Pretty soon Rob was building furniture, complete custom kitchen cabinetry, whole bar and entertainment centers and repairs of wooden components for boats. Local craftsmen and finish carpenters would stop by and lend a hand from time to time and show Rob plenty of useful techniques and tips of the trade that have been invaluable tools that are implemented every day.
Every project is designed here and most products are one of a kind. All the wood products are hand made and hand finished in the UP Shop. Particular care is witnessed in each and every wood product. There are not any short cuts taken or inferior materials used in any project. Pride is instilled and evident in each piece. When ever possible, the raw wood materials are harvested from the surrounding areas like; Drummond Island, DeTour, Raber and Cedarville all located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The local mills machine the wood, after it is kiln dried, to its’ rough form. The UP Shop then sizes the wood to dimensional sizes by running it through the planer and jointer. From that point all shaping; molding cutting, sanding, hand finishing is performed. Then the product is put into the spray booth for one of many coats of finishes that need to be done. The product is hand sanded between each spray finish and inspected by eye for any blemishes that may show up. A careful eye checks and double-checks every square inch of the project. Pictures are taken throughout the complete process to add to the UP Shop’s work book and a copy of the pictures can be given to the new owner too, if requested.
The UP Shop is not a production shop. All of the products are made by hand by people that love and care for them as much as the person that buys them. Compromise in the quality and craftsmanship is not wanted or accepted in the UP Shop. This is a beautiful and tranquil piece of the world here and it is injected into every project that we take on for the ultimate end owner.
UP Shop “Sequence of Events” When Making New Wood Products
- Select the wood in the forest
- Harvest the wood
- Bring to the lumber mill for cutting and rough sizing
- Send to the kiln dryer
- Bring raw wood to the UP Shop
- Let wood acclimate to the shop environment (1-4 months)
- Receive customer’s order
- Design the new project
- Hand select each piece of wood for that project
- Start the build process