Green and Earth Friendly

  • Wood Classics is committed to doing our part to being green and earth friendly.  We’ve made significant changes in multiple areas to ensure that we are doing our part to help the environment.

Shop

  • Natural lighting: We have installed skylights to make use of natural lighting, reducing our dependence on electricity.
  • We installed an energy efficient lighting system in 2008 with automatic shut-off to further reduce misuse of an energy source.
  • Insulation in the walls and ceilings has been installed to reduce energy usage and costs.
  • We also have 2 dust collection units that are energy efficient because the new controller allows the system to run only when needed.  The shop is divided into 2 zones for added efficiency.
  • Our heating system is operated by zones so that we can limit when and where we are heating the shop.

Finish Equipment

  • Our spray booth, which has all of the proper permits approved by the Bay Area Air Quality Control.
  • Air-assisted airless spray systems fill a need that resulted from escalated material costs and newly enacted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations in the 1970’s. Under ideal conditions, air-assisted airless combines the best features of air spray along with the best of airless.
  • Air-assisted airless spray guns first partially atomize the fluid with a special fluid nozzle tip similar to a standard airless tip. Second, they complete the atomization with small amounts of compressed air from the face and/or the horns of the air nozzle that they use. The result is a finely atomized spray pattern closely resembling that of a compressed air system. We have a low-pressure, air-assisted airless system that restricts the atomizing air pressure to comply with various EPA guidelines.
  • The primary advantage of air-assisted airless is its “soft” spray atomization. Atomization air pressures are usually low, under 20 psi, and as a result this system provides a fine finish with most coatings approaching that of compressed-air atomization. With air-assisted airless we can see an approximate 30% improvement in transfer efficiency over compressed air. This system allows us to increase flow rates, while also spraying into recesses and cavities, without excessive bounce-back of material. This means less booth maintenance and cleanup time. We also can expect a reduction in compressed-air supply requirements. Since fluid pressures generally range from 200-800 psi, less wear on the pump and tip is to be expected.

Finish Types

  • Wood Classics offers Sher-Wood Kem Aqua Plus which is a high quality, water reducible, self-seal clear for finishing furniture, cabinets and a wide variety of wood items. It meets the test requirements of the KCMA as a self-seal system.
  • This product contains a UV absorber to reduce discoloration of natural wood from exposure to sunlight.
  • It has excellent film clarity
  • The low VOC is less than 2.3 lbs/gal, 275 g/L.
  • There is no added urea formaldehyde.
  • It meets test requirements of the KCMA over T65F520 and self-sealed.
  • It can be reduced with water.
  • The VOC emissions are 0.93 lbs/gal, 111 g/L.
  • It meets the federal HAPS rule for wood finishes.
  • It contains no HAPS solvents.

Recycling

  • Wood Classics recycles over 75% of its waste.  Small hardwood scraps are donated to art and school programs.  All paper, plastics, and metal are recycled weekly through West Valley Recycling.  We are always looking for additional areas to recycle wood waste.

Materials

  • We purchase 90% of our wood products from sources that promote sustainable and environmentally healthy wood products.