Patrick Turk comes from a long line of well-respected
London Master Tradesmen. He can trace his ancestry back to 1706. In each generation there have been either Chair Makers, French Polishers or Cabinet
Makers.
Many
of the hand tools Patrick uses today are the same ones used by his
great grandfather who was a chair maker in Bethnal Green, London in the late 1800's.
Above photo shows Patrick using a spokeshave to shape the edge of an end panel for a Monk's seat.
Established as a Cabinet Maker and Furniture Restorer for over 24 years following a 4
year apprenticeship in furniture restoration and wood turning, Patrick
has gained a wealth of experience and knowledge in the design and
construction of furniture through the ages. It is this knowledge that he
draws on when creating the pieces for the Forest2Furniture
collection.
Although the company he served his apprenticeship
with
were not cabinet makers this was not a problem for him, as Patrick has
always had a
natural ability to look at a piece of furniture and know how to make
it. He says "I can't explain how or why but I just know how to make
it. It must be something in my genes passed down through the
generations".
He says "It would be nice to say that the furniture
starts as a
sketch on a drawing pad; from there a working drawing is made so that a
cutting list can be prepared. However, sometimes there are no
sketches or
drawings; sometimes I just have a picture in my head of the piece I want
to make and need to go
with the flow allowing my hands and mind to work in unison."
As
with all artisans and their art, it is the medium in which they work
that dictates how the final piece will turn out. In Patrick's case it is
the
characteristics of the timber - the grain pattern, the colours, the
knots, etc - that determine the final design.
Being able to see the tree
in its natural environment in the forest, controlling the cutting, milling and drying phases through to the finale of the finished piece
is a tremendous buzz that few artisans ever enjoy.
He who works with his hands is a labourer He who works with his hands and his head is an artist He who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artisan (St Francis of Assisi)
Making The Furniture
We use traditional techniques and methods in the construction and finishing of our furniture.
Each piece is hand finished using a pure beeswax polish the recipe for which has been passed down from generation to generation.
The photo below shows Yew squares being set out for an inlayed chess board before cutting in begins.
Settle in the 'white' (this is the term used for furniture before any finish is added) waiting for the first coat of stain prior to being polished.
Child's Monk's Seat before staining and polishing process begins.
The wood finish should not be to smooth otherwise the stain will be unable to find it's own level when soaking into the wood.
The picture below shows how we secure boards together for a table top by cutting a mortice into the edge and then fitting a lose tenon into it. Once the boards are fitted together these tenons will be pegged in the same way as any other mortice and tenon would be which will result in the boards being held firm together.
Once the timber leaves the woodland and arrives at our premises for drying it doesn’t leave until it is made into furniture.This gives us complete control of the drying process and ensures that our carbon footprint is as low as possible.
We use off-cuts for firing the cooking range and the shavings are either formed into bricks for burning or are sent to a local butcher who uses them for smoking meat.
The photo above shows the first stages in the assembly of a dining table top in Sweet Chestnut. The boards are jointed together using loose tenons of old Oak in mortises in the board edge and secured with dowels.
Now that you've seen how we transform fallen trees into furniture please feel free to view the collection.
