Hazel

[marcros]

Is anybody using hazel for projects? I am interested in seeing some inspiration particularly for where it is being used for its qualities, not being used for the sake of it.

We have a ready supply of coppiced wood, at least for my small number of projects. It ranges up to a couple of inches in diameter, although it could be left to grow bigger. It is currently growing, but could be cut now for use in a couple of years.

I like the idea that it is sustainable and in theory I could plant enough in my own garden to harvest in my own lifetime. In the meantime, I can grab some from my parents place.

I have seen this from Sebastian Cox which is a starting point for discussion. Traditional Hewn Trestle Table with Table Top | Sebastian Cox

 

[MusicMan]

I don't use it for projects, but do have one tree that I coppice. I use the sticks in the garden for supporting plants, which makes it look nicely rural.

 

[Suffolkboy]

Probably not what you are after but I have used it to make charcoal. It's good for that.

 

[NickWelford]

£145 for a trestle made from some sticks? Wow!

 

[Andrewf]

I have a Hazel in the garden. Some of the shoots are being trained for making walking sticks. People always seem to like them as gifts.

 

[marcros]

I have a Hazel in the garden. Some of the shoots are being trained for making walking sticks. People always seem to like them as gifts.

how long will a stick length take to grow- 3-4 years? do you twist anything around the sticks as they grow, I remember watching something on YouTube about stick making.

 

[MikeG.]

£145 for a trestle made from some sticks? Wow!

It says £540.

 

[Droogs]

@marcros hazel copicing is usually a 7 year cycle and they are a good 10' and an inch thick at least by then

 

[NickWelford]

It says £540.

Isn’t that two with a table top?

 

[marcros]

Isn’t that two with a table top?

I went to an art gallery a few months back. they had a painting there which used about a tenners worth of paint and a canvas that I could have got from The Works for another tenner. They wanted to charge hundreds for it, ridiculous.

whilst it may not be to everybody's taste and isnt necessarily to mine, Sen Cox is an up and coming designer and some of his items are (in my opinion) excellent. We shouldn't be reducing the value of any woodwork to the cost of materials within it, whether that be somebody on the forum or a business. The items are worth what somebody will pay for them. Woodworkers with the skills and means to make similar items are not the target market!

 

[Trainee neophyte]

It's a good job we aren't all the same: nice table, shame about the legs.

Unfortunately, it's not working for me, but I know I am a heathen who doesn't understand art. I was expecting something more like this:

https://coppice-products.co.uk/product-type/rustic-furniture/

 

[Andrewf]

how long will a stick length take to grow- 3-4 years? do you twist anything around the sticks as they grow, I remember watching something on YouTube about stick making.

A couple of years is good for them to be the right size.
I have twisted a couple of shoots together to get an interesting shape.
Also prune them to get a lump on one end for a handle.

 

[Mead Camans]

Ahh now, allow me to step up to the podium! The last six years of my professional life were spent at Sebastian Cox Ltd, so I can tell you a few things about hazel!

First, it's a pig to work with if you treat it like a normal timber wood, i.e. if you want to say, machine it in any way! It'll chip out on the planer no matter what way you pass it over, and explode in the thicknesser if you so much as dare to breath at the wrong moment.

Now the positives. It's a very attractive creamy pale wood with a very close grain (although some might call that dull!) It steam-bends well and is very strong for it's weight.

That leads me on to mention Seb's Suent Chair that he did back in 2011 and won an award for. If you want an example of why hazel is an awesome and underappreciated wood then look no further!

https://woodawards.com/portfolio/suent-superlight-chair/
And yes, the prices they ask for the products on their website might seem a little excessive, but believe me, the folk they sell to normally would see such things as cheap!

 

[Cabinetman]

Hi Mead, the piece of his that I really liked is his Bayleaf dining table, couldn’t see how he joined the angle struts to the long length that went from leg to leg. Also I noticed that like mine his ebonnising is deep dark blue and not black. How does he make his mixture? Are you allowed to give any secrets away?

 

[Cabinetman]

I can see how he won an award for that chair. Super light and clean looking.

 

[Mead Camans]

Hi Mead, the piece of his that I really liked is his Bayleaf dining table, couldn’t see how he joined the angle struts to the long length that went from leg to leg. Also I noticed that like mine his ebonnising is deep dark blue and not black. How does he make his mixture? Are you allowed to give any secrets away?
View attachment 94953

Aye, the Bayleaf stuff is the flagship range! The angled rails are lapped into the long top rails and into the legs as well. Half-lap into the legs and a full rail's worth into the top rails (the top rails are wider than the angled rails by maybe 15mm if memory serves). The top rails get bridled into the top of the legs. It's a great piece of structural design. Solid as a rock and weighs next to nothing. That joinery was a faff though! Lots of templates and router jigs.

The ebonnising was done with wire wool soaking in a solution of vinegar with a dash of salt, topped up with water if need be. That usually got made and then added to as and when, because you needed a good few days for the oxidisation to take a good hold with a new batch.

We'd coat the frame - oak if we were ebonnising - with the solution, let it dry, denib, and then put an Osmo Polyx oil over it which darkened it down further.

George

 

[Cabinetman]

Thank you so much for that George, priceless information there. Really appreciate it. Ian