Cleft Benches

A good oak butt might harbour some of these shapes and this is about the longest bench length I have attempted. The slight twist is natural, permanent and characteristic sometimes of home grown oak, released by splitting out with wedge and mallet. Slightly different seating postures are offered with a forward tilt favoured by the Alexander Technique. This seat is ‘sun-mellowed’ for a few days and wax treated.

I’ve tried both gentle curves and more wavy shapes on legs. The strength is consistent whatever shape as the grain follows inner tree growth, but each bench will have a new selection and therefore the larger the cleft-wood stock the greater the choice to make. Front legs could be different to rear legs.

These benches are refined to be very strong without excess weight. It’s a balance of intuition and experience to get this right.

Price range £700-£1,500

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