Portfolio Archive — Diego Bernasconi

Tables

Low Table

This low table is made with sustainably sourced solid cherry, handmade mortise and tenons and all marquetry is cut by hand.

The shading technique is done by scorching the veneers in really really really hot (and fine) sand and this creates a very effective illusion of depth within the wood.

The marquetry top is made from ash burr, walnut burr, mahogany and sycamore veneers.

The detail of the resin joints on each corner of the table frame is to leave just about enough amount of sunlight to filter through at different times of day.

Furniture for life.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

Boxes

The Walker tool chest, made with salvaged walnut, spalted beech from a naturally felled tree in the Sandringham Estate and laburnum drawer bottoms. Details in walnut, spalted beech and the ledge under the box was made in iroko using the Shou Sugi Ban, Japanese technique of scorching the wood with flames.

Furniture for life.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

Sideboards

Edgy Sideboard

Oak and walnut Sideboard for Suffolk.

My client in Suffolk wanted slats dominating her new bespoke sideboard but I was let free to come up with a design.

Made in oak and Norfolk walnut, showing a true contrast between species and a tad spin. Finished using natural tung oil and vegan furniture wax.

The convex shape of the handmade handles give a tinge of rebellion contrasting with the linear design of the rest of the piece.

Have a look at my innovative equipment for slat-taching here!

Please contact me for details if you would like something like this.

Furniture for life.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

Boxes

Anita’s Trinket Box

Anita’s Trinket box was commissioned for Georgie’s birthday. She had her eye on it the moment she met me at one of my shows at The Garden Show in Stansted Park and now it was time to make it happen. In the meantime, she got plenty of Wacky Woodies for herself and family.

Anita’s Trinket Box was a pleasure to make. It has the same dimensions as the original, and the same woods were used, cherry, beech and walnut, but she also wanted me to design and make a tray that would float in the main compartment.

The hardware is from two different manufacturers, both excellent in reputation and top of the range in quality. The hinges are from Brusso Hardware (USA) and the lock is from Fine Box Hardware (Northern Ireland).

Have a look at Anita’s Trinket Box in different woods here!

Furniture for life.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

Chairs

Royal Chair

The Royal Chair is the first chair I designed and made. The wood used is spalted beech, which came from The Sandringham Estate.

Both the round and square peg details are in English walnut and the detail on the back of the back rest is in bog oak and sycamore.

I used only hand tools for shaping the legs and back. It was then joined to the bottom bars which were wood-turned using my lathe and the seat, which I upholstered.

The seat fabric can be of your choice and of course, so is everything else (different seat sizes, height and timbers).

If you like the Royal Chair, you may also like the Royal Stool!

Furniture for life.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

Pleaseit (down) - Stools

Royal Stool

This Royal stool was made with spalted beech from The Sandringham Estate from a felled tree and air dried at home. Both the square and round peg details are in English walnut.

Dimensions are: 39cm high, 36cm wide but I can make it at any height, lower or taller. Or a breakfast stool. Now that’s a thought.

I you like the Royal Stool, you may also like the Royal Chair!

Furniture for life.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

Desks

Desk Bitbot Nut

The Bitbot desk is made from a wide range of woods for the top and sides, including hardwoods, softwoods and (hu)man made materials. The Bitbot desk was a follow up idea coming from the shelves of the same series.

The frame is made in solid oak and sapele, giving a great contrast on the hand-cut dovetails.

Dimensions:

Width: 1.65m

Depth: 47cm

Height: 75cm

View more pictures and information here.

Furniture for life.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

Boxes

Jewellery Box

This jewellery box was made using iroko and spalted beech from the Sandringham Estate. It was made for Irish June as a Christmas present.

The detailed recessed handles on the drawer fronts are made in bog oak as well as the hand sculptured decorative top on the lid. This wood came from the Cambridgeshire Fens and it is thought to be tens of thousands of years old.

The top tray is a sliding tray and also removable.

All joints in this box are hand cut, including all dovetails, as standard in all my work.

Furniture for life.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

Hand made by Raven Armoury, Thaxted England

Working for Them

Candidus Lodge Case (and sword…)

This Candidus Lodge Sword Custom Case was a project for a client of a client.

I was asked to make a bespoke case for a sword that Simon Fearnhamm recently made, but his client wanted a special place to keep it in. And you don’t argue with men and swords.

This sword case was made with iroko and walnut details.

The Candidus Lodge Sword is yet another example of my work in collaboration with Raven Armoury.

More related projects? Click here.

The engraving on the plaque reads:

CANDIDUS LODGE SWORD

This sword was made in 2018 by Raven Armoury as a replacement for the original Candidus Lodge Sword which was stolen from Grand Lodge.

The original sword was presented to the Lodge by W. Bro Knott-Bolton who was a founder and first treasurer. It was unique in many respects. The blade was made for the same cast of steel as was used on the making of the famous Stalingrad Sword, claimed to be the finest sword steel ever produced in this country. It was designed and fashioned by the same artist and craftsmen who were responsible for the Stalingrad Sword. On the steel blade is embellished the name of the Lodge, together with its Crest and the year of its foundation.

Furniture for life.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

Restoration

Piano Resurrection – Lockdown Restoration

A couple of years ago we adopted a piano that had been abandoned for some years in a shed that was very friendly to the elements. All of them.
This Nathaniel Berry & Sons Ltd. London piano had seen better years since it was made in 1939 but that really seemed like in a different life. And I don’t believe in reincarnation.
We thought we should wait for a while for the piano to get settled in our home and after two years, Covid-19 lockdown struck and it was the perfect time to get on with this job.
In the interim, I also learnt to tune pianos and made my own piano tuning lever with an old spanner, a blow torch and a hammer. But I only used the first one to tune it. The handle was made with spalted beech from the Sandringham Estate.
Today, the piano is in tune and has passed the test of tone.
For the amount of water that fell on top of it from the leaking shed, that really is incredible.
I thought it would be a shame to hide the complicated mechanism behind so I decided to make some glass screens.
The piano stool was also restored and upholstered by me.

I can now play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and sometimes I can sing along.

Handmade, finished by hand and oiled using only natural oils.

All vegan and cruelty-free products, including adhesives.

Every item, every time.

You can always find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Just follow the cube!

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