Forge Creative - Work Experience
Forge Creative is a bespoke furniture makers situated in south east England. They combine traditional craftsmanship to contemporary design to create stylish furniture and products. They mainly specialise in wood but do explore in other materials such as metals, glass and concrete. they're in a show on BBC 2 called money for nothing where they transform items people are about to throw out into luxurious objects to them be sold at a profit. Their attention to detail and eye for design can be seen in all their creations.
On the first day they showed me round their workshop and talked me through the commissions they are doing at the moment. They rent out a little room at the back of a larger workshop where they have enough space to bring their designs to life.
First they got me to make some shelves and drawers under their workbench to save space and to keep organised. I sanded and drilled them all into place.
Then they showed me how to make some of their wood trees. These trees were the most popular product they sell and although they looked simple, they were very difficult to get them to the correct standard. At first I tried the most simple one and then moving onto the more difficult shapes, then sanding and varnishing them at the end.
I also got to see where they source their wood from during my time there. It was a big warehouse with big machinery to cut trees into thinner strips or planks to then be sold. I leant how to order and check good and bad pieces of wood. To see this side of the making process was a great experience to see as its not one you learn about often.
I also helped make some of their chopping boards, by first using templets to draw around to get the right consistent shape. I had to try and fit as many onto one piece of wood as possible to save material. I then used a jig saw to cut around the shapes leaving some space for the router, I then finished up by sanding and oiling after. It was very useful to learn this process of hand making batches of the same product, learning how to consistently create lots of high quality finishes.
They also use this same process to create their handmade cruisers.
During my experience I also got to make some cruiser skateboard, the process to make these was basically the same as the chopping boards but with a different template. I used London plane wood as I liked the look of the grain. I started by cutting out with the jigsaw and then routing the edges to a curve. I then sanded it down and used oil to vanish it and applied the grip tape once it had dried.
My experience at Forge Creative was very valuable as I learn lots to do with the making process and the standards something has to be before it is sold. I learnt about batch products and how you can save time and material by using templates to base final ones off. I also got to see how they source their materials and how to tell the different between good and bad pieces of wood. Learning about attention to detail was also very helpful to know, making the products look and feel smooth and professionally finish for the customer is very important.