Wood products shops making accessories for electronics have to hustle as new technology releases arrive. The release of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus - Apple's most popular phone ever - requires a slew of new wood case design. Each phone model provides unique challenges - changes in dimensions, positions of ports, etc. Because Apple is secretive about its new phone models, wood case makers don't have a chance to engineer their products prior to introduction.
www.Grovemade.com in Portland, OR,which has been selling iPhone wood cases since 2009, is still developing its iPhone 6S/Plus models.An early arrival on the iPhone case scene, Grovemade originated phone cases in bamboo, then diversified into fine hardwoods like walnut. Grovemade precision cuts cases on Haas CNCs, and hand finishes each one.

Grovemade customers are clamoring for new model cases to fit the latest iPhones. "We understand you're eager to get the new case and we're just as eager to make these available. However, we also want to make sure that when we release a case it fits perfectly and has been thoroughly tested...we definitely know that the case itself and the timeline may not work for everyone but we're really grateful for all the patience and support from our loyal customers," the company said recently at Facebook.
Another example of a business centered on iPhones is KERF, founded in 2013 by Ben Saks, and "rooted in a passion for craft and an exacting attention to fine details" exactly like the phone. Saks, a designer, says he was unsatisfied with existing wood iPhone cases.

While working at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Architecture, he spent an evening in the wood shop and created the first KERF case. Over the course of six months, the KERF design was revised, tested, and revised again. In 2014 Dan Lynch, a Pittsburgh native and avid woodworker, joined the Kerf Team, become a partner. He makes use of cutting edge parametric design to implement continuous improvements to the Kerf product line. Perhaps for this reason Kerf has its cases on the market.


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