Tag Archives: handcrafted

Handcrafted Cleftwood fence and gate

Handcrafted fence frames and gate

Handcrafted wooden frames and gate

Handcrafted rustic frames and gate made from Sweet Chestnut wood

The design challenge was to create a unique semi open divide between the edge of the driveway into a garden. This particular garden has a South-Westerly aspect, with rolling Devon hills beyond. The customer wanted something specially designed to enhance their garden, be handcrafted and unique.  After considering a few options a design was agreed that involved creating two sculptural wooden frames either side of a central gate. This was to be handcrafted in durable Sweet Chestnut wood. Curved cleft pickets of various lengths were fitted in small groups to the bottom rails. Two pieces of Sweet Chestnut branch wood were stripped of bark and incorporated into each frame.

Bespoke designed gate

Handcrafted Cleft Rustic gate

Bespoke Cleft gate made using Sweet Chestnut wood

A bespoke three foot by six foot lightweight gate was designed to fit with the cleft wood frames. The lower section of the gate followed the theme using curved pickets. For the upper section a piece if mirror cleft Sweet Chestnut branch wood was morticed and tenoned into the gate frame. The gate was hung with galvanised hook and eye hinges.

The finished Design

Bepoke fence and gate decorated with lights

The finished fence frames and gate, decorated with exterior lights

A curved link piece was added to join left side frame to the side of their house. The frames were decorated with exterior lights for the Christmas period. The customer plans on adding wire netting to the back of the frames to deter their Persian cats from escaping to the lane from the enclosed garden. Fortunately their cats aren’t agile climbers.

Designing and installing bespoke handcrafted garden items is what we specialise in. We work with our customers to create something different. Please browse through some of our other projects for examples of our work.

To discuss your design requirements please call on 01409 281549 or email to info@wealdenheartwood.co.uk

Stairs and Fencing in Cleft Sweet Chestnut

Rustic Stairs

This project involved working jointly with another company Quay Carpentry. The brief for their customer was to craft components to meet their outdoor stairs design, which would link a terrace and have fencing along the top of the terrace. The timber suited for the rustic look was Sweet Chestnut. After discussing design options with Quay Carpentry the individual components were crafted for them.

Crafting the Components

We planked the stair strings by cleaving from large rounds of Sweet Chestnut rather than milling. This was important for the stair string turn because cleaving naturally follows the grain, compared to sawing that cuts through the fibres. This helped with the next stage of processing, which involved steam bending and setting on a former to obtain the desired shape. Also, the handrail for the stair turn was steam bent and set on a former after steaming for a couple of hours. This can seen in the preceding photo, which shows the handrail in the former after steaming.

Flickr Tag Error: Call to display photo '9895053835' failed.

Error state follows:

  • type: 8
  • message: Undefined index: photo_limit
  • file: /var/www/vhosts/wealdenheartwood.co.uk/html/woodland-blog/wp-content/plugins/flickr-tag/FlickrTagCommon.php
  • line: 70

We crafted two individual rustic gates. One would be used for the top of the stairs and the other along the fence line. These are shown in the next two photos.

Flickr Tag Error: Call to display photo '9895066104' failed.

Error state follows:

  • type: 8
  • message: Undefined index: photo_limit
  • file: /var/www/vhosts/wealdenheartwood.co.uk/html/woodland-blog/wp-content/plugins/flickr-tag/FlickrTagCommon.php
  • line: 70

Flickr Tag Error: Call to display photo '9895079534' failed.

Error state follows:

  • type: 8
  • message: Undefined index: photo_limit
  • file: /var/www/vhosts/wealdenheartwood.co.uk/html/woodland-blog/wp-content/plugins/flickr-tag/FlickrTagCommon.php
  • line: 70

Each of the stair treads were cleaved from large rounds, similar to how the stair strings were produced. We split the newel posts, fencing posts and rails etc. from smaller rounds of Sweet Chestnut. The hand tools used were axe, froe, splitting wedges, draw knife, spoke shave, bit and brace.

Installed Stairs, Gates and Fencing

After the components were delivered to the customer, Quay Carpentry completed the installation. The result of finished work can be seen in the last photo.

Flickr Tag Error: Call to display photo '11643136435' failed.

Error state follows:

  • type: 8
  • message: Undefined index: photo_limit
  • file: /var/www/vhosts/wealdenheartwood.co.uk/html/woodland-blog/wp-content/plugins/flickr-tag/FlickrTagCommon.php
  • line: 70

Our customer was very pleased with the end result that produced a unique rustic look that is perfect for its function and rural setting.