When you consider having a special piece made for you, you need to know that you are getting a high quality product. So what makes Tragen Design’s commissioned furniture stand out from pieces that you can buy off the shelf?

Personalised element
Firstly the work we carry out is tailored to your specific needs. The dimensions match your specifications, the materials suit your colour scheme, and the style of the piece fits with your existing décor. 

Original designs
As a designer, David gets great satisfaction from the challenge of coming up with a different piece every time. No two identical pieces are ever commissioned by different clients. He aims to push his designs to the limit; where form always follows function, yet the aesthetic beauty overshadows what the piece was designed for.

Selection and use of materials
This starts at the timber yard where extra attention is given to choosing boards of similar colours (within each species) and with minimum natural defects. When boards require jointing side by side, every effort is made to match the grain pattern from one board to another and to make the joint line almost invisible. Where the figuring of the timber is particularly special, it’s location within the finished piece is carefully studied to ensure that its beauty stands out.

Craftsmanship and attention to detail
Quality craftsmanship has a lot to do with accuracy and we work to a tolerance of one tenth of a millimetre. When jointing wood, anything more than that shows up as a big, black glue line. This means using a scalpel to mark out joints rather than a fine pencil. Ultra flat planes and razor sharp chisels ensure this accuracy.

Finishing
No matter how well the finish is applied, if the preparation isn’t adequate, the imperfections will show though. This means ensuring that all tear out* and scratches are removed in the scraping and sanding processes.

Whether using an oil, wax, French polish or lacquer finish, they are applied in such a way to ensure a balance between showing the natural beauty of the wood and offering maximum protection. The finished piece should therefore be not only a visual treat but also a tactile pleasure.

Once an understanding is gained of what fine furniture means in terms of quality, everything else on the high street starts to look shoddy. On close inspection off the shelf work often shows open joints, grain tear out* , patchy lacquering and general signs that the product has been rushed out of the factory. When using a natural material such as timber, 100% perfection is virtually impossible. However that remains the goal we strive for with each piece we make.

* tear out occurs when the grain runs in the opposite direction to planing and therefore leaves a small cavity. This happens around knots or burrs or where the timber is rippled or interlocking.

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