Our Story
A Better Standard, Rediscovered
Most paint sticks today are made to a price.
Rough edges. Inconsistent sizing. Wood that sheds, splinters, or leaves residue behind. For many applications that's tolerated. For others — industrial processes, automotive finishing, laboratory work, facilities maintenance — it creates problems that shouldn't be there in the first place.
Henry Bukke's Best® exists for the people who notice the difference.
Where It Started
Henry Bukke immigrated from Denmark and settled in Schenectady, New York, where he built a painting and decorating business that lasted decades. He was a craftsman who valued tools that did their job well — without compromise.
I am Henrietta Bukke Nielsen, his great-granddaughter and namesake. After college I worked in the trades and eventually went into business for myself, carrying on Henry's name with Henry Bukke Painting & Decorating.
Going through family belongings, I came across a handful of Henry's old paint sticks. They were noticeably better than anything I could source today — smoother, stronger, more consistent. That raised a simple question: why aren't they still made this way?
Bringing the Standard Forward
It turned out they still are.
I traced those sticks back to the original mill in Maine — still in operation, still producing paint sticks the same way they did in the 1930s. One of the few American mills left that still makes them.
That's the only source we use.
Henry Bukke's Best® was built around a single principle: if the tool matters, the details matter. Not nostalgia for its own sake — but a genuine commitment to restoring a standard that had quietly disappeared from a very basic tool.
What We Make — And Who It's For
Our premium birch sticks are where we hold the highest standard: smooth sanded surfaces, minimal dust, burrs or fuzz, and consistent dimensions in every order. They're chosen by customers in industrial processes, automotive finishing, laboratory work, facilities maintenance, MRO, research and development, and professional finishing work where surface quality and process consistency matter.
We also offer basswood and radiata pine options — solid, dependable sticks suited for general use where premium finish is not the priority.
Volume discounts are available.
A Straightforward Approach
We're not trying to be everything to everyone.
We focus on making a better version of a simple tool and making it available to the people who actually care about the difference. That's been the approach from the beginning — and it still is.