As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases from amazon.com

Ash and ice – FineWoodworking

[ad_1]

Synopsis: Start with some big blocks of ice. Watch them melt. Then create your furniture design. A look at the work of Mette Bentzen and Lasse Kristensen.


If you intend to build furniture inspired by the forms and features of melting ice, one way to proceed is to obtain huge blocks of ice from a nearby fish warehouse, put them in an iron basin you build in your woodshop, and watch them turn to water. Mette Bentzen and Lasse Kristensen, life and work partners in Elsinore, Denmark, who met building Hans Wegner chairs at the storied PP Mobler shop in Copenhagen, did just that. They watched, drew, and photographed, learning all they could as the blocks shrank, and then began building a series of stack-laminated tables and stools in Danish ash, selecting stock that had been steamed to give it a ghostly whiteness. Depending on the size and shape, some of their pieces are monolithic, others hollow. All are shaped first with angle grinders and power sanders, chisels, rasps, and files, before being extensively hand-sanded using an array of customized sanding blocks. The hand-sanding, Kristensen says, absorbs 70% of the time in each piece, and is essential to attain the silky surfaces and clarified contours they seek in these homages to Nordic winter in a warming world.

furniture inspired by ash and ice

Mette Bentzen and Lasse Kristensen

—Jonathan Binzen

From Fine Woodworking #296

Sign up for eletters today and get the latest techniques and how-to from Fine Woodworking, plus special offers.

Get woodworking tips, expert advice and special offers in your inbox

×




[ad_2]

We will be happy to hear your thoughts

Leave a reply

Cartizzle
Logo
Enable registration in settings - general
Compare items
  • Total (0)
Compare
0
Shopping cart