Bill Clayden
Bill has designed and made practically all the furniture in his present house and garden as well as numerous wood turnings, pewter ware, wood carvings, a summerhouse and tree house.
Some typical examples of various styles and types Bill has designed and made in no significant order are illustrated below.
"Country carpenter".
When Bill moved to his present converted farm buildings house from a smaller Edwardian house with many built-ins there was a need for a lot of large storage units and a kitchen table. This need was met by using high quality yellow pine easily obtained from a local builder's merchant. The first pieces were made very simply but sturdily and gradually they became more sophisticated with exposed dovetails, teak trim, sawn veneers, curves, and panels stained by Bill's artist wife.
Stack laminated.
These were influenced by Californian workers but were much less profligate in the use of materials. Most of the materials for the tables were second hand mahogany. The top of one was made from strips whose width decreased by an arithmetic progression from the centre to the outside which facilitated the bending as the strips became narrower so the radius of curvature decreased.
Grating pieces.
These were originally influenced by an early association with gratings used on high quality wooden boats and ships and the acquisition of some massive second hand teak window frames which had numerous fastenings and so lent themselves to the construction of pieces of furniture based upon small sections. The grating theme is developed from the usual square mesh format to include pieces with a variety of geometric shapes and surfaces including the rocking chair which is based upon a solid of revolution.
Chairs
For workers not concerned with making a living from their work chairs are interesting pieces to make in small numbers but boring to be batch produced. Bill's dining room chairs consist of 5 pairs, the ergonomics loosely based upon a 60's icon designed by Magestretti and sold in large numbers throughout Europe. Home produced brass bolts are used as a feature as well as steel studding for dowels.
Response to the material.
A name used by David Field to describe furniture which is usually one off, uses solid timber, exploits the grain and figure of the wood and the final form is frequently determined on the bench.
Sculptural.
The transparent acrylic top of the occasional table allows the sculptural form of the legs to be shown to their full advantage. The bowls are laminated on a turned MDF mould but the veneers have to be shaped in a similar manner to the planks on a cold moulded wooden boat.
Sawn veneers.
The acquisition of a bandsaw with a 250mm depth of cut allowed veneers to be sawn with ease to exploit small pieces of exotic timbers as well as requiring a different approach to construction. The sideboards were a personal new approach but retaining curves whilst the small desk is a complete contrast with its square lines accentuated by legs and lipping. Both pieces use biscuits for construction.
Boxes.
These allow scope for using novel construction methods, styles and wood. The box illustrated has a double curvature lid and splines arranged such that their envelope matches the curve of the lid.
Turnings
As well as the usual complement of bowls, goblets etc Bill has satisfied the small part of him which is a sculptor and he likes non-functional shapes whose appeal is visual and tactile rather than utilitarian but which do not depart too far from the utilitarian such as the doughnut made from incipient rotten spalted sycamore. Another recent approach is to produce simple geometric shapes based on hemispheres and discs and the use of laminations to make exaggerated wide rims.
As a contrast to wood Bill spins pewter plate on his woodturning lathe to make simple bowls and jugs and melts the scrap to make castings which can be easily turned to make door and drawer handles.
