Two Tulsa Guys Make Wooden Bow Ties

Looking for that unique gift for a guy? We may have found it. A local company has come up with something truly original: a wooden bow tie.

Tim Paslay and Adam Teague are the two guys of Two Guys Bow Ties. At some point last year Tim said to Adam, "We need to sell wooden bow ties."

Pretty random. 

Adam's a marketing guy so he researched it. Nobody's doing it.

"Can we do this and be unique, and individual in the marketplace," said Adam Teague. "I came back saying, 'yes, we can.'"

They started prototyping ties using different kinds of wood. Trial and error - and eventually success.

"We've cut a lot of ties; we've sold a lot of ties."

They've gotten some international press, including coverage from the French version of GQ Magazine.

A wooden bow tie says a lot. It's a way of dressing down your dress up, or as Tim put it "de-flamboyantize" your look.

Canary wood is their most popular. It's a South American wood with lots of color.

"We like the color and the striations," Tim Paslay said.

That's very important to the finish because they use no stains or dyes.

Here's how it works: they use a computer-controlled cutter to cut out the basic shape, then they use a bandsaw to slice the blanks like you'd slice bread. The blanks are then sanded and finished.

They oil the wood to hi-lite the grain and add a piece of cloth where the knot would be. An adjustable elastic band finishes it off. Some part timers put them together.

 "They've got the process down pretty good so it only takes a few minutes to get the piece and put them together," Tim said.

They box 'em up and they're ready for market. Very nice. I feel so de-flamboyantized.