How do we make flags for you?
The handmade production of each flag involves several necessary steps as well as the use of several tools and machines. In order to achieve the desired rustic style of finish as well as the overall high quality of the flag, it is necessary to follow a proven process in its production, which is described below.
It all starts with obtaining the material, which is not always easy to obtain. It must be old and soft wood (e.g. spruce, pine, birch, etc.), but of sufficient quality in terms of strength and sufficiently dried. The boards must be of a certain thickness and length. The wood must be free from rot, minimal infestation by wood-destroying insects and the overall strength of the material must not be compromised. Nails or various metal objects in the wood do not matter, on the contrary they make the flag more interesting. The wood most often comes from barns or various buildings, but also occasionally from pallets or used to be just stored for former use.
After the material has been brought to the workshop, the cleaning phase begins, which consists of two steps. The first is to strip the wood of any metal objects such as nails, screws or various staples and hinges. Sometimes the wood is so old that it even contains hand-forged nails. The second part is to clean the wood itself of surface contaminants. Sometimes the planks are covered in things like settled dust or dirt from construction. Cleaning is important because of the subsequent processing, where metal objects and dirt would damage or dull the tools and machines used. Cleaning is carried out with a brush sander with a steel brush.
The next step is to sort the wood by width and length. If the boards are too narrow, it is necessary to plane the edges and then glue them to the desired width. Boards that are wide enough or already glued together are cut to the required width and then length for the specific parts of the flag. This is followed by planing on both sides to remove large unevenness and rough surfaces that would make it difficult to burn with fire. Finally, the individual parts are stretched on a planer with a stretch, which makes all the parts the same thickness, and then all the edges are bevelled. This produces parts with the desired dimensions of width, length and thickness.
The next step is to burn the wood using the Shou-sugi-ban method, which causes the individual layers to be pulled together, thus strengthening the surface of the wood. For each piece of the flag, all edges and one face are tanned. Each piece of the flag therefore needs to be inspected and a choice made as to which side is more suitable and has a nicer texture for the final look. The tanning is done with a propane-butane torch. The tanning of the wood must be to a level where the wood turns black and starts to almost burn with flame.
After the wood has cooled down from the tanning, the wood is brushed. The brushing is done with a brush sander with a nylon brush. Brushing removes the charred layer of wood, leaving the harder layers of wood black and raised, and the softer layers light and sunken. This process brings out the beautiful and original texture of the wood. The back of the piece is sanded so that it does not show signs of tanning. Each piece is also treated with an anti-wood fungus and insect treatment to ensure that the wood is safe.
Now we need to make the connecting strips that are used to join the flag together. The strips are made of spruce and are all the same thickness and width. After the strips have been cut from the dried plywood, they are cut to the desired length and sanded with a vibratory sander. Holes and recesses for screws are drilled into each strip.
The individual parts of the flags are ready to be painted, which is done on all sides of the parts with high-quality Adler toy-certified paint. The paint does not yellow, does not degrade and is resistant to direct sunlight. The paint is also designed for outdoors, but due to the rustic style of the flags (pinholes and cracks), it is inappropriate to place them where they would come into contact with water. The paint shades are listed in the RAL standard.
In all previous production steps, some parts of the flags may be discarded, mainly due to failure to meet our standard for quality and appearance. Discarded parts may be modified for smaller parts if the defective part is removed during the downsizing process, but in most cases the parts are discarded completely.
The final step is to assemble the flag. The individual flag parts are compared and selected for the specific flag so that they fit together. The flag parts are joined together with the already mentioned rails and with screws. The part that has the hook mount on it for the wall is also glued to the rails with glue. Since theoretically the flag could dry out over time and thus create small gaps between the parts, the other parts are not glued to the rails. The owner of the flag can therefore remove the gaps by unscrewing the unglued parts, knocking the parts together and screwing them back on. There should be no major drying (especially indoors), the parts are properly dried, but it depends on the temperature and humidity of the environment in which the flag is placed and also on its fluctuations. Wood is, after all, a natural material that can work based on the properties of the environment. So in order to keep the flag looking great, there is an option to remove any gaps.
The final step is to burn the Woodflag logo onto the back using a branding iron. Each flag comes with a dowel and staple to hang the flag on the wall.
This is how we produce original and high quality flags for you. This is not a massive production, it is mainly a piece production using hand tools. We place great emphasis on aesthetics and also the quality of the final product.