Massage Table Factory Tour
For over 30 years, OAKWORKS® has taken great pride in building you the finest portable and stationary massage tables, spa tables, athletic training tables, medical tables and table accessories. In our New Freedom Pennsylvania factory we take only the finest globally sourced materials and craft them into the highest quality tables and accessories available. Check out our factory tour and see how we build the finest massage tables and massage table accessories.
Restoring our environment, one tree at a time…In an effort to stop global warming and reduce our carbon footprint, Oakworks has become a Corporate Sponsor of Trees for the Future, an ambitious non-profit organization established in 1988 to help reforest the earth. Trees for the Future has created programs which restore forests on degraded lands, thereby improving the overall quality of life of indigenous people in developing countries. As part of our sponsorship, Oakworks donates enough money to plant a tree for every table sold, and has committed to 50,000 trees in 2008! Help Trees for the Future by visiting www.treesftf.org for more information.Check out our other sustainability efforts at www.oakworks.com.Oakworks Wins coveted "Best Treatment Table" Award!
Oakworks is proud to announce that we have been chosen as the 2007 Professional Choice Award winner for best Treatment Table Manufacturer by American Spa Magazine readers. We believe our quality craftsmanship and excellent customer service made the difference. We are committed to excellence! Thanks to everyone who voted and for once again proving that OAKWORKS builds some of the finest quality massage tables and massage therapy products.
NEW! Memory Plus Face Rest Crescent - Added comfort for longer treatments! It's what you all have been waiting for! ... Our latest and greatest accessory is our new Memory Plus Face Rest Crescent. The 4" multi-layered memory foam crescent improves comfort and support while still offering the same adjustability as our aero-cel crescent. At only $49 it's a perfect upgrade to any face rest platform. Check out our website for more details.
FREE Access End Panels and Shiatsu Cables - All our portable wooden tables now come standard with our Ultimate Access End Panel and Shiatsu Cables, at no extra charge! Go ahead; get the ultimate access to your clients, and practice your Shiatsu massage with the table flat on the floor. Get the options that fit your needs!
DON'T FORGET TO CHECKOUT OUR WEB SPECIALS! - Go to our specials on www.oakworks.com. Be sure to check out the deal on our Comfort that Cares bolsters! And help in the fight against breast cancer!
Oakworks thanks you for your business and continued interests in our award winning products!
According to the American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15-54 and the second cause of cancer death in women 55-74. “As a leading manufacturer in the wellness industry, we believe this program presents a unique opportunity to support a cause that is truly meaningful to so many,” says CEO Jeffrey M. Riach.
Since its inception 30 years ago, OAKWORKS® has been committed to creating products that promote comfort, relaxation, and healing during various therapeutic treatments. The Comfort that Cares™ campaign is a unique embodiment of the company’s ideals, blending corporate giving with Oakworks’ hallmark product comfort and the opportunity to encourage thousands of hands-on healing practitioners to talk with their clients and raise awareness. 
Oakworks Offers UL Listed Products
March 14, 2007 Shrewsbury, PA - Oakworks, Inc, the premier US manufacturer of spa and massage equipment, announced it has received UL listing for two additional products in its full spa table line. The Celesta Gemini™ and Clodagh Signature Series tables are now UL listed products. UL listing is a safety and performance rating conducted by renowned outside quality testing agency Underwriters’ Laboratories. Oakworks is the only manufacturer in the spa and massage industry to offer comprehensive UL listings, offering a unique level of quality, reliability, and safety. The hospitality and medical sectors in particular are sensitive to UL listing where certificates of occupancy frequently require that all products within the treatment areas are UL listed. In the massage and spa industry, many products offer UL listed electrical components, but Oakworks is the only manufacturer who submits its products for a full, comprehensive evaluation from UL. This ensures that the design and engineering of the total product, including the electrical components as a part of the table design, is safe for its intended use. The quality of individual components, the product’s overall strength and stability, as well as the compatibility of electrical and structural elements, is thoroughly tested in order for an item to be UL listed. “We are committed to developing products with superior engineering capabilities and consistent quality so that they perform safely and function at a higher level over time,” says CEO and Chief Product Designer Jeff Riach.
Oakworks, Inc., is the largest US manufacturer of treatment tables with global distribution in the spa, massage, physical therapy/athletic training, and medical diagnostic markets. Since its inception in 1978, the Company has been owned and operated continuously by its founders, Linda and Jeff Riach.
February 26th, 2007
Shrewsbury, PA –
Oakworks, Inc, the premier US manufacturer of spa, massage, and medical equipment announced its ability to produce treatment tables that comply with one of the industry’s most stringent fire codes, CA 133. “Oakworks’ attention to regulatory issues is unprecedented in our industry and this is another great example,” explains Oakworks’ CEO and industry veteran Jeff Riach.
CA 133 is becoming an industry standard for high risk public spaces, such as hotels, hospitals, nursing facilities, etc... It has become law in several states and cities across the country with the intent to prevent fire associated fatalities in these venues. The standard requires that a fully upholstered seating unit, not just its components, pass a full scale open flame burn test and is by far the most difficult and comprehensive flammability test.
Crista Stark, Oakworks’ Director of Spa Development, explains, “The addition of this enhanced fire protection standard to our overall offering helps us serve a broader variety of customers, particularly in the hospitality and medical sectors.” Coupled with the UL listing that accompanies many of our tables, Oakworks is poised to offer spa tables, massage tables, and treatment tables with superior reliability, durability, and safety.
Oakworks, Inc., is the largest US manufacturer of treatment tables with global distribution in the spa, massage, physical therapy/athletic training, and medical diagnostic markets. Since its inception in 1977, the Company has been owned and operated continuously by its founders, Linda and Jeff Riach.
Why Seated Massage?
Seated Massage, which is often called “Chair Massage”, includes techniques that provide fully-clothed seated massage and bodywork therapies to clients. The greatest benefit of seated massage is the ability to provide massage therapy services virtually anywhere. Seated massage is being used in places like airports, malls and workplaces to provide stress relief and invigorate clients. The OAKWORKS® Portal Pro™ is ideally suited for massage therapists wanting to take their practice to the client. The lightweight yet rugged frame is ideal for travel. The off set wheels fold neatly out of the way while the chair is in use and engage instantly when moving the Portal Pro™. Another advantage to seated massage is that most sessions do not make use of massage oils and creams. This makes seated massage ideal for people on the go. With no prep time or cleanup time, you can begin the therapy session immediately and the client can be on their way in no time at all. Less time spent with each client will enable you to treat more clients.
What massage techniques are used with seated massage? The most common techniques used with seated massage are shiatsu, amma and/or other Swedish massage techniques. Swedish massage is a vigorous system of treatment designed to energize the body by stimulating circulation. There are usually five basic strokes, all flowing toward the heart, which are used to manipulate the soft tissues of the body. What’s the most important aspect of seated massage? Outside of the obvious importance of proper massage technique, the key element to seated massage is the positioning of the client. Massage chairs that lack positioning adjustments will leave you client feeling worse. It’s imperative that each client be positioned properly to obtain the full benefits from the session. The ergonomic design of the Portal Pro™ makes it perfectly suited for accommodating clients of all sizes. Adjustments can be made quickly to the Portal Pro™ for body frames from tall to short and everything in between. OAKWORKS® patented Quick Lock™ face rest enables precise positioning of the head, neck and shoulders. Seat height adjustments allow you to position the client at the perfect height. The rigid frame design of the Portal Pro™ will ensure that when you’ve adjusted the chair to the desired settings, it will hold its position without flex or wobble.
What's the advantage of the Desktop Portal over the Portal Pro™? The Desktop Portal offers the massage therapist an even lighter portable seated massage option. In places where it may not be practical or even possible to use the Portal Pro™ such as for clients who are bed-ridden, desk-bound or simply to busy, the Desktop Portal allows the massage therapist to provide services wherever a table or desk and a chair or seat are present. The Desktop Portal uses the same patented Quick Lock™ face rest used in the Portal Pro™ to ensure optimal client positioning.
Now that I have purchased a Portal Pro™, where do I begin? You should spend some time getting to know your seated massage chair and practice adjusting it to different body types. You may want to ask friends and family to help you so that you can practice adjusting the chair to various settings. Thanks to the superior engineering and design of the Portal Pro™, it doesn’t take long to master making adjustments to the chair. Sizing up each client and learning how to position your seated massage chair will ensure an enjoyable experience for your clients and keep them coming back.
As cost conscious consumers, we're always looking for the best deals. For most of us, that simply means buying what we need at the lowest price available. Where the trouble begins is when we reverse that and try to find the lowest price available for what we need. This may sound like the same thing, but read on and you understand the difference.
I must confess to misusing the word cheap myself. My father-in-law is quick to correct me whenever I misuse the term, so lets begin by identifying the difference between the two words. The Free Dictionary defines the word cheap as "Relatively low in cost; inexpensive or comparatively inexpensive". The word inexpensive is defined as "Not high in price; cheap". Since each word uses the other in its definition, we tend to think of them as interchangeable. But if you look at the alternate definitions of the word cheap, you'll understand why the two words shouldn't be considered one and the same. Cheap is also defined as "Of or considered of small value", "Of poor quality; inferior", "Worthy of no respect; vulgar or contemptible" and "Stingy; miserly". So in shopping terms, lets use "Of poor quality; inferior" to define cheap and "Not high in price" to define inexpensive.
My children help reinforce the concept of cheap and inexpensive for me whenever we visit our local thrift store where everything in the place costs one dollar. The store is filled with items that most of us would call cheap (my kids love the stuff). The store also has plenty of inexpensive things (not much in the toy isle), but my children's' "cheap" radar tends to zero in on the junk. The whole way through the store, I'm reminding them that they're saving their money to buy stuff at the "not so thrifty store". Unfortunately, my words fall on deaf ears as they go into their dollar induced comas. The "Dollar coma" must also be affecting their hearing as I have to keep repeating "you can get one item". It's not the price mind you, it's just that I already know the outcome of this dollar feeding frenzy. Sure enough, when we get home the lesson of cheap and inexpensive begins. My son gets about six pulls of the handle on his cheap suction dart gun and "snap!"; no more dart gun. Not to mention the fact that none of the darts will stick unless he primes them with water (he uses saliva when he thinks I'm not looking). My daughter smears on the war paint (she hasn't quite mastered the art of makeup application) from her cheap 32 piece makeup kit and breaks out in a rash almost immediately. So now I'm left with two bored kids, some broken plastic and a lesson I can teach them on why poppy always corrects me whenever I get the words cheap and inexpensive confused.
In general, cheap products are made with inferior materials, using inferior manufacturing processes and therefore producing inferior products. This allows cheap products to be offered to the consumer at what appears to be inexpensive prices. We see a low price and start shopping from there; forgetting all about the purpose for our purchase. Inexpensive products are made with quality materials using quality manufacturing processes to produce quality products that are offered at low prices. Inexpensive products may not be as low priced as cheap products but here's where the math come in. When you talk cheap verses inexpensive, the word value is the deciding factor. You can determine the value of something by comparing the cost times the quality.
Low Cost * Low Quality = cheap = a poor value
Low Cost * Good Quality = inexpensive = a good value
Low Cost * High Quality = inexpensive = a great value
When it comes to buying a massage table and massage accessories, I recommend you steer clear of cheap. Cheap reeks of lawsuits and litigation. Cheap tables lack the quality and craftsmanship you'll find in OAKWORKS products. I've heard and read horror stories on web sites and Blogs about tables collapsing and dumping the client to the floor. I've seen the affects of inferior craftsmanship and am amazed that people are surprised when their cheap purchase lets them down (so to speak).
There's an old adage that says" you're only as strong as your weakest link". You buy cheap; you get cheap. You buy quality; you get quality. That couldn't be more true when it comes to massage tables. And that's why OAKWORKS spends the time to make sure that every product we sell is made from only the highest quality materials; Right down to the bolts and knobs we use. Little details like thicker cables where the stresses are higher and higher density padding that offers better support and longevity at the same thickness as others are what makes OAKWORKS the best at offering you the highest quality products at inexpensive prices. We backup that commitment to quality with our warranty. You can ask yourself "How long will the table I'm buying last?" to help realize the value of OAKWORKS products. Our products are built to last and our warranty is your assurance of that!
If you're looking for a great value for your money, you'll want to look for OAKWORKS products. OAKWORKS takes great pride in offering you the highest quality products. If you're looking for cheap stuff, you'll not find it here. We're not interested in broken promises, broken products or war paint rashes. We'll leave that to the other guys! You can find Oakworks on-line at www.oakworks.com
