The Amish craftsmen begin by buying lumber from a local logger. They take the logs to an Amish mill, where they are sawn into boards. The wood is then kiln-dried in a special room of the shop for about 2 months, until the moisture content in the wood is 6% to 8%.

Once the boards are dried, they are selected for a piece of furniture and cut to length by a crosscut saw, then cut lengthwise by a rip saw.

The next step is gluing, followed by rough sanding. Corner fittings (tongue & groove) are done at this point.

Now that the boards are fitted and in one piece, a final (exact dimension) cut can be done, as well as edge and corner cuts. Skirts are screwed on and inlays drilled and fitted at this point, if needed.

The furniture is sanded again, before being stained. It takes about a day for the stain to dry.

A low sheen lacquer is applied next. Two or three coats are applied (one coat per day) and the piece is hand buffed between coats.

The final step is assembling the different parts of the furniture. For dressers and drawers, drawer rails are installed. Hutches have doors installed, and the two parts of the hutch are put together. For tables, the tabletop is attached to the base, and the leaves are put in place. This step is often done when the furniture is set up in your home.