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The practicality of
log furniture stirs our hunger and appreciation of the human intellect
as well as the human imagination.
It could be simply a matter of taste as to why many of us find a rustic
log table more appealing than a richly carved mahogany table. However,
for many of us we would be hesitant to blend some log or rustic
furniture pieces with every decorating theme. You certainly wouldn’t
place an Adirondack chair with a finely carved Chippendale dinner table,
however, in many settings, log furniture has no equal.
Nearly all furniture is made from wood in that wood logs have been cut,
placed on a lathe turned, sanded, stained then finished to create a
piece of furniture. However, log furniture makers often rely on their
keen eye, their feel of the wood, and hand tools to release the
furniture from within the wood. To the craftsmen who create log
furniture their most essential tools are the drawknife and spokeshave in
order to peel logs and make tenons. In every log furniture crafter's
workshop, you’ll find such tools as handsaws, chisels, hatchets, and
other hand tools, which they use in their craft.
The practicality of log furniture stirs our hunger and appreciation of
the human intellect as well as the human imagination. However, both of
these are lost with conventional mass-produced furniture where there are
hundreds if not thousands of identical pieces. With rustic log
furniture, every uniqueness of the logs and slabs guarantees the
individuality of every piece of furniture. The skill of creating log
furniture is as much an understanding of natural as it is a freeform
art.
Early pioneers built log furniture out of necessity, and it retains its
romantic charm even today. Finely crafted natural log furniture speaks
to us and whispers the name of the individual who freed it from the log.
It unites us with our past and lets us enjoy the warmth of the wood.
Early pioneers carved log furniture as a necessity then later as an art,
creating furniture that is bold, warm and inviting, with an endurance to
match that of the colonist, pioneers, and settlers who first employed
it. Today, you can still find antique rustic furniture that has been
past down through several generations still being used as it was
intended.
In addition to its history, and durability, log furniture is still
popular today because of its simplicity, elegance, boldness, natural
beauty, and most of all its character.
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