Who are the hardest working members of the team?

We have a fair number of friends in the workshop that help us out with making Highwood Furniture, and those who follow our social media will have on occasion seen them make an appearance - sometimes these might be our four legged friends, but more important for getting the job done are the inanimate, but by no means lacking personality, characters that help us out.

We thought we would use this weeks blog to introduce some of these. From Ernie our trusty dust extractor who keeps our workshop air clear and healthy, to googly eyed Theo the thicknesser who works super hard in processing our timber to the dimensions required for our projects. He is part of the process for almost every piece of wood that comes through the workshop - whether that be for a cheeseboard, a cabinet, or a full on kitchen. Theo works hand in hand with his alter ego Polly planer whose expertise is similar to Theo’s, just on the other side of the same piece of wood.

They don’t all have eyes though, there are many more “affectionately known as” names carefully dotted around the workshop. Pictured you can see good old Minotaur Mitre Saw who steps up when cross cuts and angles are required - especially important for decorative features on cabinet and drawer faces, and in compound features of complex joinery found in some of our chairs, tables, and cabinetry. You can also see Bodger Bandsaw whose speciality is small precise cuts and irregular shapes and patterns. Bodger also takes part in many different projects, but is particularly useful when shaping some of the rough pieces ahead of refining for handles, sgian dubhs, and is also handy for cutting out shapes for inlay features.

Let us know if you would like us to introduce other members of our team, perhaps our latest addition Sandy McPolish, our new random orbital sander will put in an appearance soon?

Who designs better furniture: Artists or wood-workers?

With a few projects in the design stages at the moment in the Highwood furniture workshop there are a lot of ideas bouncing about. And this raises the question of what makes a great design?

Design is in no doubt as individual as the designer, and the approaches taken can be as equally as diverse. Good design enhances our lives, it is beautiful, practical, and hits the balance between the two in just the right way. Functionality and style need to go hand in hand, and it will meet the style and personality of its surrounds and the people invested in it.

To coin a corporate phrase blue-sky thinking should be every bit as important for your next piece of furniture as it is for your boardroom planning. While sometimes a design may focus heavily on the practical requirements, for others it is about really thinking outside the box and introducing something truly unique and special into your environment.

At Highwood furniture we work with carefully selected locally sourced sustainable Scottish timber, and the beauty of the materials we work with often carry the weight of the “beauty” side of a design. This allows us to focus on simplicity and functionality to provide you with a one off piece. High standards of workmanship, detailed cabinetry, and high quality finishing make all the difference in doing justice to the beautiful natural resources we work with.

At other times the vision (and unfortunately also the budget) of the client, and the environment the piece is destined for lend themselves to being able to reach for the sky when it comes to design. Colin’s artistic flair can then come into its own. Where this situation arises Colin likes to throw in some random design ideas off spec as part of the design process. He finds that this demonstrates a different direction which can then bring out new ideas.

It is also important for us, as designers to consider what we are designing, and what skills are important. It is easy to focus in on the functional and practical nature of the project in hand. How many cupboards will fit in a space? What would “normally” be the layout of a wardrobe in these circumstances? What is the build structure of a bed or table in most circumstances? In this way, if a design is created based on how it will be built the creativity can be stumped. When we are designing we like to start with a vision, and build that vision first before building the furniture. Only when this is done is it time to introduce the practicalities and find a way for the vision to be made into reality. Arguably it is easier to design inspired artistic pieces of furniture before having the knowledge of how to build them.

What does this mean for you if you are commissioning a piece of Highwood furniture?

House/site visits are important part of the process, drawings can begin to take shape at an initial visit when you are present. A visit also allows us to get a feel for your style and personality which is so important in making the right piece for you. In this way, the design process starts with rough sketches. We may go away and build on these and come back to you with more detail. Once a direction and ideas have been generated then more detailed plans will come together, possibly, but not always, using computer software. For some pieces there may be multiple design visits, with changes made at each until we get it right - in partnership with you.

So who does design better furniture: An artist or a wood worker? Perhaps the best furniture comes from someone who is both? Someone who can pair artistic vision with functionality using wood.

Do you know a lap joint from a bridle joint?

A recent project that came through the Highwood Furniture workshop prompted the use of a range of different joinery techniques, and therefore invited the opportunity of using this weeks blog to reflect on these and why they are used.

For those who enjoy and appreciate, but perhaps don't make furniture, the difference can sometimes be mystifying. Good joinery is beautiful, and we can all appreciate the feel of a piece of furniture that we have confidence in. Good design brings together aesthetic beauty with strength and longevity.

For this particular project, the brief was for a table to complement the beautiful new kitchen the customer had recently fitted. The key feature was a large oval quartz table top in the same material as the kitchen countertop. Because of the weight and dimensions of this table top it was even more important than ever that balance and strength were at the forefront of the design. Other features selected were clean lines, and the timber of choice was oak to bring classic understated quality into the equation.

When choosing the type of joinery we will use for a piece of furniture, a number of factors are taking into account. Strength and durability and the way that joints will allow the timber to move as it adapts to its environment are key when considering the initial suitability of a type of join. The type of timber used for the piece may have an impact on what will be most suitable, as will the angles and pressures that will be required by the design. Where forces that may impact on structural integrity are minimal, there are times when joins are chosen for their simplicity and therefore cost and efficiency. It might also be that joinery is chosen for and is an integral part of the aesthetics of a piece, for example in a display box that Highwood furniture created for an artists materials hand cut dovetail joints were important to the high-quality intricate detail requested.

Choices made will differ depending on what is being made, table, cabinet, bed, etc. In the table described above the decision was made to use a lap joint where the timber crossed at the base of the structure, a bridle joint for each of the angled joins, and slip joints where the structure for the table top is supported by the main frame. These are illustrated in the picture alongside this blog.

We invite you to take a look at the furniture you come across in your life, it is truly fascinating to look at details and qualities of cabinetry in relation to its quality, structural integrity, and ultimately longevity.