Completing a piece of furniture from the tree to the finished product,
teaches a sensitivity to the material and opens up unlimited possibilities for creative artistry.
SUSTAINABLE SOURCING
Making furniture from locally sourced urban trees, is a very green and environmental process.
The logs milled for furniture and woodturning are all wind blown, damaged or trees from new developments.
Each tree utilized would otherwise be burned, or dumped.
As a piece of furniture all that carbon (and wood is almost all carbon) is locked away from the atmosphere for many years.
This local material replaces wood that would come from far away through a wasteful commercial stream. In addition, local milling contributes to the local community by creating more jobs and work.
MILLING
I love big logs (I like them even better as huge living trees),
they make the best most interesting slabs.
Hidden inside every tree is the story of how and where it grew.
With every cut this new wood that has been growing for so many years is revealed. The grain, knots and colors are like opening a treasure trove, and there are almost always surprises. I mostly mill live edge slabs out of logs. This traditional method produces the widest most interesting material,and also makes available all kinds of cuts from the log (quarter / plain sawn). I’ve found that a chainsaw mill is the best suited tool for my work, and have years of experience sharpening, maintaining and running these mills.
DRYING
The milled slabs are carefully put on stickers to air-dry in a sun and rain protected drying shed.
Drying time depends on the type and thickness of the boards. It can take a few months for thin cypress, and years in the case of thick (3″-4″) Eucalyptus.
Wood moves and changes as it dries. Some degrade is common and depends again on the type of wood.
There are usually about 25m³ (10,000 bf) drying in this shed and stored at other locations.
