From beech to bench

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Your EMIR bench started about 100 years ago when beech mast (nuts) were planted for a landowner or dropped from a mature tree in an ancient forest. Perhaps one was buried by a squirrel, sprouted and escaped the browsing deer. If approved for its vigour it may have been assisted by the visiting forester who thinned out its weedier neighbours letting it grow straight up to the light. Surviving occasional drought and storm it grew to maturity about 30 metres high and girth 2 metres at the butt when it was ready for harvesting. It could have survived for another 100 years but rot developing in the heart would finally bring it down.

Beech (Fagus Sylvatica)

The beech tree belongs to the angiosperm group of flowering plants, a broad leaf deciduous tree which loses its leaves in the autumn. It is categorised as a temperate hardwood ranging from Southern Scandinavia to Central Spain and eastward to Western Russia and the Crimea. It flourishes in sandy well drained soils over chalk growing faster in the south and denser in the north. The bark is thin and smooth. The wood is whitish/pale brown and in older trees develops a brown stain called kern around the heart (this does not affect the quality of the timber). It is our practice to use beech which has been steamed – a process which inhibits rot and changes the colour to a pink or light red. The timber has a close grained even texture which finishes well and is splinter resistant. This makes it ideal for furniture making as well as for our own workbenches and tools which require the hardwearing qualities.

Forest management

Timber extraction in Germany, for example, is well below the rate of forest growth thus catering for increasing demand in the future. Forest management throughout Europe is legally controlled and strictly enforced. Unfortunately from our point of view the Forestry Commission has since 1920 favoured the faster growing softwoods and little commercial hardwood is available in England. There are 2 certification systems:

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation which supports environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests. Its main activity is to accredit organisations which certify the supply chain from forest extraction through sawmill and distributor to manufacturers. The products derived from such material are allowed the carry the FSC registered trademark.

PEFC (Pan-European Forest Certification) is a voluntary, private sector initiative which independently inspects and certifies woodlands that are well and sustainably managed. Products made from these materials may carry the PEFC logo assuring customers they are making a positive choice for sustainable forest management.

Central to both schemes is a policy of replanting and regeneration of the forests making timber a renewable resource.

How & when is Beech selected for harvest

The owner whether private or state will judge when the wood is ready for market. In mixed forests selected trees are measured and marked for sale by auction. Plantations may be offered for clear felling. The trees are felled in the cool of autumn when the leaves and sap are down and before winter makes access difficult. This both reduces the weight to be handled and the onset of fungal decay within the logs. Beech logs in lengths of 2.5 up to 4 metre long are dragged out and regraded for transport to the millers. Branches are collected for charcoaling or chipboard manufacture.

Grade A – cylindrical logs, straight grown, branch free and sound heart – highly valued for veneer peeling. Grade B - good quality but allowing oval cross-section, small branches and scars etc. for sawmilling to the furniture trade. Grade C – the remainder, misshapen and damaged logs for fencing, pallets etc. and chipboard manufacture.

What happens at the sawmill

A modern sawmill is equipped to convert logs, which may weigh several tons, into plank and to sort, cut and re-cut to the quality and sizes required by the trade. Cutting sizes are increased to allow for the shrinkage which occurs in seasoning. Planks of one thickness are stacked onto a trolley with spacer sticks between layers for ventilation.

The beech that we buy goes first to a steaming chamber where the high temperature kills off fungal spores and (though it seems unlikely) removes nearly half of the water which is present in green (freshly sawn) timber. The trolley is then moved to a kiln for final seasoning.

Seasoning is a slow process which has to be very carefully controlled to avoid cracking, distortion and other defects which would devalue or make the material unsaleable. Beech is rather difficult to season because of its structure and relatively high shrinkage rate. It takes about 2 weeks for 25mm and 2 months to dry 80mm thick. The old open-air drying system took years to complete and although the wind is free it is not controllable and degrade losses were very high.

Seasoning is measured by the moisture content expressed as a percentage of dry weight. Solid wood products have to be about 10% mc to equilibrate with the atmosphere in the average centrally heated building.

It is to this level that we or our importer purchases from the sawmill. Inspections (called receptioning) are made at their premises while the boards are finally sorted and measured from the kiln trolley. The grading rules allow tolerances, for example small knots may be allowed on 10% of the parcel, a large knot in an otherwise clear board may be measured out rather than cut out.

There is a long list of other defects to consider. Some are difficult to see on the sawn board but suspicious areas can be gouged to reveal the wood surface under the dusty surface.

What happens when the timber arrives at our factory

When timber is delivered to our Ashford factory only the top boards and ends of bundles are visible for a pieces count.

The first procedure is to check the quality (for warp, splits and knots) of the timber and measure the delivery board by board. Sample boards through the consignment are tested for moisture content with a probe meter. Also knowing what will have to be made from the planks they can be sorted accordingly.

Our beech is ordered, delivered and invoiced by measure in cubic metres. The cost of 1m3 is about £500 so that any shortage in delivery can be very costly. We enter the individual board length and average width into a calculator, which works out the total volume of the delivery.

The factory works to a production plan so that we make what our customers want. The requirements are analysed down to component level and cutting lists are produced for the beech blanks from which the components of the quality required can be made.

It is the job of the conversion department to thoughtfully maximise the yield and minimise the waste when cutting at the crosscut and ripsaws. The workers require X-ray eyes and a jigsaw mind to accomplish this. The blanks are then planed square and straight or moulded to the cross section required. The large volume of chippings and offcuts produced is used for factory heating.

Making the beech components

Accuracy is important to ensure that component fit together, particularly the length of rails for frames. To achieve this we use double end saws/tenoners so that each piece in a batch is exactly the same. Gauges ensure dimensions are maintained for interchangeability between stock components.

Some buried defects in the wood only become apparent as the surfaces of the blank are machined off. Inspection at each stage is essential because rejects become increasingly expensive the further they go down the line – in the worst case a faulty component can prevent the completion of a particular bench until a replacement part is made.

While many operations are mechanically simple, the wood machinists skill is to 'work with the grain', responding to feel and sound to avoid tool chatter and maintain a good quality finish.

Making the Bench

The customer’s order may require benches of different sizes and a variety of fitments. The components, subassemblies, vices and hardware are issued to the cabinetmaker’s work station where they are finally brought together. The equipment includes hand and portable power tools and is combined with the skills of using them to assemble, fit out and finish the product to the high EMIR standard.

The completed order is trolleyed to the spray shop. Benches are given a sealing coat for basic protection of the wood surfaces and can be given extra finishing coats if ordered. The consignment is then inspected, hammer stamped for identification and labelled for delivery to the customer. Job done!