| Q. |
Is the polished brass still done by hand? |
| A. |
Yes, we have a fully trained team of skilled metal polishers who work the brass up into a highly polished finish, which is then lacquered to retain the high lustre of the polishing. |
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| Q. |
How durable and long lasting is the lacquer you use? |
| A. |
We only use the best quality stoving lacquer. That means that the lacquer is baked onto the brass in large ovens to a temperature of 150 degrees Centrigrade.
This gives us a very hard and durable coasting that has been tested to 100 hours of sea-salt spray conditions.
This makes it almost certainly one of the best lacquer finishes available today. |
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| Q. |
Your ‘Antique’ finish is so different from any other I have seen, how is it done? |
| A. |
The fact that it is so different is the reason why I can’t tell you I’m afraid.
It is a very old process known only to a few people here at Armac, and it is a secret we guard well.
Suffice to say that there is nothing in the process that is considered environmentally unsafe.
It is very much a water-based process that gives us such an individual looking finish on the brass.
the vagaries of the process give each product its own unique patina so that no two pieces are ever exactly the same unlike many of the ’production-line’ antiques you might see available. |
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| Q. |
Are all of your products original designs? |
| A. |
Absolutely! Whilst our company has only been going since 1931 many of the patterns and dies we now possess are from business acquisitions we made back in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.
Some of those companies had been around since the early 1800’s! So the patterns we use today are the exact same designs as those we acquired all those years ago. |
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| Q. |
Where does the name ‘Armac’ come from? |
| A. |
This is a question that we get asked a lot.
The original founders of the company where Harold McGrail and George Armstrong. An amalgam of the two surnames gave us ARM and MAC, so we got ARMAC.
however, the founder was known as ’Mac’ so it could also be a nice play on a fondly remembered Grandfather " Our Mac"? |
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| Q. |
Are your handles made to original designs? |
| A. |
Absolutely!
our business is based on service to the reproduction antique manufacturers and the restoration trade as a whole.
we could not pass off ’modernisation’ of fittings to merely suit our needs, we have to remain authentic.
However, we can produce any form of adaptation or specification if requested to do so.
any such product would not affect our pledge to the original tooling we maintain but we do accept that many modern furniture designs are looking for something different and we hope to be able to provide exactly what is wanted. |
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| Q. |
How do you cope with all the new finishes? |
| A. |
Well, we manage many of the finishes in-house and control others at outside plating facilities.
the antique finish and brass versions are all in-house finishing and we just have to keep on top of all the requirements from our customers.
as is always the case the case no matter how many finishes you can offer people will always want something else!
we offer bright and satin nickel but we get asked for dull nickel!
we do 3 shades of antique, a matt antique, and a NBA (near black angtique) but still we get asked for ’highlighted matt antique’?
or even ordinary antique but with a matt lacquer applied!
there is no end to the variety of finish we have to deal with.
i’m still waiting for someone to ask for brass to look like steel, or even plastic!
but more and more today we have to offer choice!
choice is what the consumer wants and it is what we strive to offer. |
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| Q. |
Why do you not sell direct to the public? |
| A. |
A popular choice this one.
we as manufacturers need to produce in volume and have quite lengthy production run times.
it is not just the public we do not supply.
we do not sell to furniture manufacturers or to retailers.
our sole source of supply is through stockist/distributors.
it is there job to ensure that the stock is always available from their shelves and they have to be set-up to deal in the range of requirements from 1 to 1000!
and i should say here that they do an EXCELLENT job in this regard. |
