About Bough and Burr
The Beginning
Bough and Burr Furniture is me, Duncan.
I founded Bough & Burr to allow me to pursue the joy I found in creating beautiful objects with my hands and a few simple tools.
I can still vividly remember the moment I got hooked, carving the rails of my first hollow wooden surfboard with a spokeshave. Taking the roughly hewn edge and forming into a gently flowing curve, one pass of the plane at a time. The spokeshave is still my favourite tool.
Captivated by the immense satisfaction I derive from working with wood, a passion for traditional handtool woodworking Bough and Burr was born.
Passion
Woodworking has almost become a meditative practise for me - chasing the signular focus of cutting joinery in pursuit of the flow state - which is the pinnacle of creative energy and something I had only found before through surfing. A state of mind where you are completely in the moment and intuitively reacting to what is in front of you rather than consciously thinking about it.
The focus of my craft is working with natural or live edge timber. The raw nature of large slabs of timber force you to embrace the imperfections inherent in the timber. My minimalist attitude towards design is based on the my ideal to reinforce the connection with nature, between tree and furniture, its past lift and the new life I am able to provide it.
Hand Crafted
Each piece is designed and handmade by me in my small Belfast workshop. I specialise in contemporary, live edge furniture design. Every slab of timber, like a snowflake, is unique which will give its own distinct character to the finished piece.
I offer a custom design service so I can create the right piece to fit your home. I can even arrange a sawmill visit so you can pick the timber yourself! If you are interested in a bespoke piece and are looking for some inspiration then head to the Bespoke page and take a look at some of my recent commissions.
In 2022 I was around to be accepted as a member of Craft NI
Sustainability
The provenance of the timber I use is such an import part of the story for me. To know where the tree grew and imagine what it has endured through its lifetime adds to the unique story of the finished piece of furniture.
Sustainability is at the heart of everything I do. To achieve this, I only use the finest native timber from as close to home as possible. I was shocked on my first visit to a timber merchant that so much of the wood was imported from North America and the rest of Europe. Yet we have a wonderful resource of native species growing here which are perfect of making furniture.
Over the years I have got to know a few of the wonder local sawyers across Ireland and the UK. Each piece of wood is carefully select from sawmills who can guarantee the quality and provenance of the tree.