The Soul of a Piece
A Cabinetmaker’s Notes - Introductory Article 2
“When trees mature, it is fair and moral that they are cut for man's use, as they would soon decay and return to the earth. Trees have a yearning to live again, perhaps to provide the beauty, strength and utility to serve man, even to become an object of great artistic worth” George Nakashima, The Soul of a Tree, 2012
Hello,
Thank you for continuing to enjoy this introductory series. Today, we turn to look at making furniture.
At the heart of everything I make is a celebration of three aspects:
Luxurious hardwood
Contemporary design
Heirloom-quality craftsmanship
It is in drawing these together, in balancing these three elements, that a piece of my furniture is born.
Working with Wood
What is luxurious?
Well, you can keep your diamonds. Shagreen is obscene. Your gold leaves me cold.
Wood, for me, is the most luxurious of all materials.
Trees are an intimate part of our world. An essential part of the eco-system that sustains us. Trees provide beauty, shelter and food. They give homes to animals, insects and birdlife. They capture our carbon and in return offer us fruit and shade and oxygen.
~ Take a moment. Take a deep breath. Be thankful. ~
Once they mature, cutting down a tree is part of the cycle of life.
Sustainable felling makes way for fresh growth.
And the most honourable thing to do with the timber is to celebrate its life through well-considered use.
Of course, not every tree can or indeed should be made into furniture. We need trees for all sorts of other uses - like paper and pencils and constructional timber. But the finest boards should be used in a considered way; preserved and celebrated as furniture in our homes.
Local wood, local piece, local story
“There are people for whom wood and working with wood is not simply a profession but a very intimate thing: the relationship between the person and the material, and how they are doing it. The relationship between wood and the tools that they use, between their feelings, their intuitions, and their dreams. Wood, considered that way, is to me alive.” James Krenov, A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook, 1976
I am currently working with some fantastic English Walnut. This tree grew just a few miles away in North Moreton, and was cut down by our on-site forester here at the Wood Centre. Walnut is an excellent cabinetmaking timber.
Some sections are straight grain - great for the more structural parts of the furniture.
Others express swirls and waves, to be celebrated as table tops or panels in cabinet doors.
The wood polishes to a silken sheen with ease.
And the best part - it is totally unique.
Of course, every tree is unique. But this one in particular has deep contrast between the dark and light stripes of the grain, and the patterns and swirls and figuring of the crown cut sections are beyond anything I’ve ever seen.
I have no idea how or why it is like this - I’m no arborist.
But what I do know is that it is totally unique.
A unique tree, from a unique location, to make thoroughly unique pieces of furniture.
Wildly figured and idiosyncratic, these boards are so full of character, so beautiful, that they should never be let near an industrial process.
But there’s no fear of that.
The industrialists would have no idea what to do with them.
Working with the wood
When starting to work with a piece of timber like this, I initially employ machines to do most of the heavy lifting. Machines cut perfect squares and angles, and take stock to size in no time at all. Following on from that, hand-held power tools cut joinery and add detailing with ease.
But there is a point in most projects at which I turn off the power and pick up a hand-tool.
Because for me, nothing will give the boards a final finish like a well-honed edge.
Razor sharp carbon steel.
You pick up a hand-plane and feel the quality of the wood - is it hard or soft, brittle or yielding? What does your chisel tell you about the structure and density of the grain? How does the finished surface feel under your fingertips?
Working in this way, you not only get a high-quality finished result, but you really get to know the piece of wood you are working with. Which means you know how to treat it, and thus what do do with it.
So when I talk about using hand-tools, it is not an affectation.
What I am really trying to get across is that when the process of making a piece is slower and more considered, it brings a depth and a dynamic that wouldn’t exist were I to just put them through a few machines.
Which results in giving you a totally unique piece of furniture.
Straight from the craftsman’s bench.
Appreciating luxury
So fundamentally, my offer to you is work that someone has cared about.
A care that, I hope, comes through in the finished piece.
A care that others will notice.
Imagine a ‘statement’ coffee table, sitting in the centre of a room, celebrating one of these beautiful boards of Walnut.
It sits there without vanity or ostentation,
But with integrity and presence.
It doesn’t try to be noticed.
It just is noticed.
A celebration of luxurious hardwood, contemporary design and heirloom-quality craftsmanship.
An unapologetic display of natural beauty.
It’s not cheap, but it is a piece that you know is superior to anything made in a factory. Superior, in fact, to most of the furniture that is made in the world.
And how can anyone NOT notice that?
And so until next time, here’s to gathering together with good food and good company around a well-made coffee table, feeling slightly superior to everyone else.
Only slightly, mind ;-)
~sh
Stephen Hickman
Studio Cabinetmaker
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As I make new pieces for sale, I will feature them in the newsletter - so keep a look out. If you want to discuss a bespoke project, then click the contact button above.