Bucolic Products

Striving for a cleaner world

During the vast majority of furniture recycling, the materials are broken down or burned. The time, work and resources that went into creating that initial piece of furniture are lost. Now don't get me wrong, there is definitely a place for recycling, however, it should not be the first resort.

We salvage skip-bound materials and pieces of furniture in any condition to revamp, reclaim and reuse as much as possible before finally recycling what is left.

We repair, modernise, reclaim and we reuse all that we can.

Big Ambition

By mending, maintaining and modernising existing furniture, fewer resources are needed to continually produce new pieces. Waste production decreases and forests across the world begin to replenish. Bucolic Products and Design aims to be at the forefront of this on a national scale; helping to minimise excess waste, decrease deforestation and prevent unnecessary material production. All of our products incorporate reclaimed materials and are built with longevity and quality as a priority.

Pictured above is a two part reclamation process focusing on an offcut of old English oak.

The vast majority of my slate tables are built with reclaimed timber. In this case a large offcut of oak was firstly cut to length, two sides were made flat and square, then the other sides were matched to them. Next the angles were measured and cut before morticing the square hole for the crossmember.

The slate used is an example of good materials left over from a larger job. Luckily reclamation yards are becoming more popular and my local yard were able to intercept it before it went to the tip.

This slate received a thorough sanding and a clear lacquer coat to enhance the natural wet colours and provide an added layer of protection.

Reclaiming in action

Huge amounts of spare materials are skipped and sometimes illegally dumped after construction jobs. large companies with no space to store the extra materials, well, it's cheaper just to skip it than rent a place large enough to store and categorise produce. So incredibly often brand new materials are sent from production to landfill. I do my best to intercept such acts of wastage and give that material a more meaningful existence.

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Once dry the timber can be worked. This starts by cutting the timber to size the flattening it either with a planer or on large slabs with my homemade flattening sled to level the top and clear any chainsaw marks. However, both of these processes leave a rough finish so they need to be sanded through a large range of sandpaper grits till the timber is smooth and scratch free. Any cracks are filled and butterfly/bowtie joints are added to stop the cracks opening further. Finally a finish is applied to seal and protect the timber for years to come.

The furthest my timber travels happens after it has been worked, If only my clients could move a little closer!

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Responsible
Sourcing

I actively seek-out local independent wood mills for my timber and I am lucky to be surrounded by a lot of enthusiasts who just love to mill logs!

My locally milled timber has either naturally fallen, needed to be felled due to safety concerns or disease. This hugely reduces the mileage as the majority of the UK's timber is imported from overseas. Mine is 30miles at most!

The timber needs to be dried before work can start. in most cases the timber has been airdrying outside for a year or so before I bring it into the kiln.

The kiln slowly reduces the moisture content of the timber. This is to prevent the timber shrinking quickly once it goes into a hot house and dries quickly in the sudden heat causing cracks and movement.