White Sycamore Doorman’s chair This chair, made from sycamore was ‘spalted’ by fungus – this gives an effect that makes the wood look rippled with chocolate, particularly beautiful in such a light coloured wood. Honey fungus begins to rot the wood, the dead layer is removed in the making process and when polished this wonderful marking is revealed. (SOLD)

Totally unique hand carved chairs from Colin Ford.

The making process After roughly cutting the log with a chainsaw, the wood inside the hollow log is carefully cut away. The wood is then left to season, giving me time to consider the design of the chair. The shape is then carved using an arbortech saw; this is a disc cutter with a blade similar to that of a chainsaw. At this stage the shape of the chair can also be altered using steam bending. The final process is to sand, going down the grain sizes to eradicate scratches while maintaining the tactile nature of the original tree. The wood is then finished using either oil or wax. As you'd expect from an entirely natural, recyled material, there are often faults in the wood that manifest themselves during this process. The picture on the right shows one very elegant remedy - the use of custom-designed wrought iron braces to strengthen the chair.SOLD

Totally unique hand carved chairs from Colin Ford.

The yew chair.The second picture shows the back of this colourful yew chair. It retains the bark which is stabilised and polished with melted wax. This allows a contrast between the highly polished interior and rough scaly texture of the outer bark (£P.O.A)

Totally unique hand carved chairs from Colin Ford.

The yew Bench.Probably the most colourful of all the chairs, this yew bench shows the contrast between the creamy sap wood and the orange and pink of the heartwood. The colour seems to be constantly improving with age and shine intensifying due to people wanting to touch and stroke it when it is seen at our shows. (£ P.O.A )

Totally unique hand carved chairs from Colin Ford.

Small Elm Chair This elm chair, has intricate carving detail and is ideal for a smaller space. The elm grain is always a delight, but sadly shows us what we have lost to Dutch Elm Disease. It is wonderful to preserve a piece of this timber for future generations to appreciate. (SOLD)

Totally unique hand carved chairs from Colin Ford.

White horse Chestnut Doormans chair This chair, made from horse chestnut was spalted by fungus; this gives an effect that makes the wood look rippled with chocolate, particularly beautiful in such a light coloured wood. Honey fungus begins to rot the wood, the dead layer is removed in the making process and when polished this wonderful marking is revealed. (SOLD)

Totally unique hand carved chairs from Colin Ford.

Fine old English Oak.
Oak twined chair This intimate chair seats two. It has an amazing patina with brown oak swirls. It is an upended fork in a hollow tree, the wood movement has been stabilised with intricate, hand carved butterfly ties which gives an added detail, showing the craft by which it was made. (£P.O.A)

Totally unique hand carved chairs from Colin Ford.