Outdoor furniture

Coming from an art and design background, the largely one-off furniture I create gives me free rein to express my artistic side. As well as making my own speculative pieces, I am equally happy to accept commissions for handmade furniture.

Garden thrones to tables

Although each piece of unique furniture I make tends to be quite large and sculptural, at the end of the day they are working pieces of furniture – be they garden thrones, chairs, benches or tables – and as such have to fulfill their primary role. I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who express total surprise at how comfortable the large garden thrones are!

In the process of constructing my furniture I try to use the strongest, most appropriate methods of jointing, be they traditional pegged mortice and tenon joints to more industrial stainless steel coach screws and bolts.

Sustainable durable hardwoods

Wherever possible I try to use locally grown timber, quite often wind damaged trees from local farms, trees that aren’t of interest to the large commercial mills or larger maidens (single stemmed trees) from within a coup (area of coppice to be cut) that I am coppicing. The latter represents the ultimate sustainable source of home grown, long lasting timber.

For the majority of my outdoor furniture I use air-dried or fresh sawn, locally sourced English oak or sweet chestnut. If the piece is intended for use indoors, especially in centrally heated properties, I will use kiln-dried timber, which is more appropriate (if not essential) for the challenges that an artificial environment presents.

Oak and sweet chestnut furniture

Both oak and sweet chestnut are very high in tanin, which makes the wood extremely durable in our climate without the need for regular treatment with oil or preservative. However, on occasions I will advocate the use of oils or preservatives for specific purposes, especially where burr wood is used, as it will help maintain the stunning grain patterns that are a part of its nature.

Furniture commissions

No piece I make can ever be duplicated (although I can make something similar, or in the style of), as each one is hand-made and quite often the final form of the piece is dictated by the material available. Wherever possible I try to work with the material rather than force it into the shape I want it to be. Quite often this means cutting the logs into plank/boards myself on my own mobile saw bench or getting a local sawyer to cut it for me.

Although slower than using sawn timber from a commercial mill, this method gives me the ultimate control over the way the log is cut up and also allows me to see the possibilities that manifest themselves as the individual trees are cut. It is a more time-consuming process but, at the same time, it is also a considerably less wasteful and as such a much more environmentally friendly way of working.

Please feel free to contact me regarding commissions. Or if you prefer a speculative piece of hand made furniture, please look in the Gallery to see what furniture is available.