Stanfield Shutter has been producing shutters for over 66 years. For almost half that time natural hardwood, especially Cedar, was the staple of shutter construction. Cedar was light, durable, and cost effective. Other products, such as MDF, HDF, vinyl, and composites didn’t even exist or had not been perfected enough to be used in the shutter industry.
In the early 1960’s lumber mills began to reinvent themselves to combat increasing foreign competition and to compensate for increased Federal regulation. Lumber mills began to research new products that were superior to the traditional natural hardwoods. In 1966 the prototypes for today’s MDF (medium density fiberboard) were developed. As time passed and technology improved HDF (high density fiberboard), a more refined a durable version of MDF, was developed.
HDF is a highly advanced, technologically refined natural wood product. The wood is first refined into long fibrous strands. These strands are then cleaned to remove any imperfections, damaging natural resins, pitch, and sap. After the fibrous strands have been cleaned they are refined to remove any physical imperfections or defects which could lower the performance of the product. Following this the fibrous strands are rebound under intense heat and pressure with high grade industrial adhesives and bonding agents.
The product is then quality controlled with precise laser instruments to ensure strength, durability, smoothness, and quality. Once this process has been completed the final product is deemed worthy to carry the name HDF and is then sent out to be used by the finest craftsmen who accept nothing less then perfection in their products.
Fine craftsmen use HDF when the inconsistencies and uncertainty of natural hardwood could undermine the integrity of the final product. Fine shutter manufacturers use HDF because it preserves the strength and durability of wood while providing the added benefit of a warp-free material. In addition, HDF does not have a natural grain which can hinder the painting process and reduce the overall quality of the final painted product.
Because HDF is warp-free, has a superior finishing surface, and is less expensive than either the natural hardwoods or the solid vinyl products most of our customers choose to have their shutters built with HDF.
