Ransom Holding Co.

Continuing our trend of off-beat collaborations with trailblazers and honestly made, unique products we present a handcrafted sunglass frame we developed with Shwood. Shwood uniquely crafts all its glasses using selects woods out of its manufacturing operation in Oregon. The product is created almost entirely by hand, with the assistance of a few speciality tools.  The mix of timeless woodworking techniques and precision technology guarantees a 100% unique piece.

Ransom chose to work with a unique Canadian Oak that we sourced at The Century Mill, located outside the metro Toronto area. We chose the Canby frame for this project and each pair is individually numbered and limited to 50. Details include the Ransom Swords emblem laser etched into the arm of the frame, polarized lenses and special edition packaging.

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Ransom did a quick Q&A with the folks at Century Mill, a family operation just outside of Toronto, in Stouffville, Ontario.

Ransom: How long has the mill been around?
CM: Land was purchased in 1848 and the mill itself was established in 1851.

RNSM: How important is keeping the business family-run?
CM: Good for the next in line in the family!!! (Nobody else cares that much.) It is good to maintain the family run operation, we stand behind our products and work, and take pride in running our business with old fashioned values.

RNSM: Describe the family history and how the mill has remained a constant.
CM: Established by William & Sarah Ratcliff from Essex, England. They started as a farm operation and set up a milling operation (both lumber and grist to start) on the present location using the power from the headwaters of the Rouge River which runs through the property. The business has changed names throughout the generations but has been passed down and is now run by the fifth generation, under the watchful eye of 90 year old Howard Ratcliff (4’th generation). Howard keeps us honest and has passed down a strong work ethic to not only the family but all of our employees.

RNSM: Run us through a typical day on the mill.
CM: In 1982 the water powered mill was destroyed by lightning. Fortunately the saws, pulleys and other equipment had been removed and donated to the Markham Museum the year before. They can still be viewed there and are still operational on occasion throughout events in the summer.

We still mill alot of lumber here at Century Mill but we are more of a re-saw, remanufacturing and milling operation now. Equipment has obviously been upgraded (though we still have some old machines and employees that work great!) and we now spend more time as a retail and wholesale yard in both domestic and foreign woods.

RNSM: A Canadian Oak was used for this this project, any unique attributes about this wood? Where did it originate from? More common used of the Canadian Oak?
CM: Oak from the northern and northeastern region of North America is well known for its consistency in colour, stability in movement and availability of good quality, kiln dried material. Northern Red Oak is a slower growing tree than its southern cousin and therefore is a harder, heavier timber. Red Oak can be milled, stained and polished to an excellent finish. Most (but not all) of our oak comes from Ontario, Quebec and NY State.

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