Project brief Many of our customers approach us because they are looking for a very personal design that has been inspired by an idea they have had or something that has special significance to them or their family. We are used to receiving some very unique requests, like this exciting project to design and make […]
Project brief
Many of our customers approach us because they are looking for a very personal design that has been inspired by an idea they have had or something that has special significance to them or their family. We are used to receiving some very unique requests, like this exciting project to design and make two benches for a dining table in the shape of bi-plane wings.
Our customer is a plane enthusiast and wanted the benches to be in the style of the World War 1 Sopwith Camel. Aviation is a passion for this design engineer with Rolls Royce who has a distinguished academic background in jet engine propulsion and an impressive knowledge of aircraft design.
Biplane style bespoke bench
The project involved the design and fabrication of two dining table benches in the form of bi-plane wings with the following bespoke wood features:
- Solid maple wing shapes for seat and lower shelf
- Solid sapele for legs and struts
- Solid sapele and walnut for roundel motif
- Hand-applied oil finish
The two benches together form a complete left and right wing.
Bespoke design
The wings took inspiration from a Sopwith Camel WWI bi-plane but the Sopwith struts were not robust enough for their purpose as an everyday dining bench so the aircraft design expertise of our customer’s son, combined with our furniture manufacturing skills and experience, meant we were able to develop a special strut for the purpose.
At Dovetailors we love the creative minds of our customers and we want them to enjoy their wooden furniture for their look but also for their functionality. This is why we reinforced the feet with steel and hand applied the oil finish. These bespoke benches are made to last and to be easily maintained.
Our favourite thing about this project?
A CAD model of the wing was used as the basis for the 3D shaping of the wood on our CNC. As a result the struts Sapele pieces came off the CNC machine looking like air Airfix model kit that had to be put together. The end results is just perfect!
David said: “This is the kind of project that really plays to our strengths of interpreting the imagined design of our customer, however quirky or complex, and working closely with them to turn it into reality.”
