http://www.woodreview.com.au 45PROFILEA
s we witness the development of
artificial intelligence, robotics
and machine learning, things made
by human hands are likely to become
more surprising.
Byron Raleigh, 43 trades under the
name Artefact Furniture, a name
that draws attention to its essence
and is spelt out on his website: ‘Ar-
te-fact: An object made by a human
being, typically an item of cultural or
historical interest.’
It’s a positioning statement for a
business that espouses traditional
values: solid timber furniture, traditional
joinery, high quality, made to last.
And yet, while Byron sees that touch
of humanity as the defining element
for what he makes, he loves machines
and is inspired by what they offer. He
speaks quietly but has strong views,
many of which at first seem opposing.
He owns older but top of the line
machines to produce not volumes
of work but, it seems, for the joy of
appreciating the consistency and
accuracy of what they can do. He
loves their build quality: it’s likely he’ll
never have to replace them.
He designs furniture with production
efficiencies in mind, but is not
concerned with producing those
designs en masse.
He wants to make affordable
furniture and objects, even
though the scale of his
production is small and
high profit margins are not
possible.
He is a country person
who lives in the city...and
sometimes wonders why,
but accepts that he is now
a ‘hybrid’.
Around four years ago, with some
income from the central Victorian
farm he grew up on, Byron had the
ability to take his workshop from
home to a small factory that he
leased and has now populated with
fine ‘mid-century’ machinery and
other tools.For those who appreciate such things
it’s a beautiful space. It gleams with
the pride of order and considered
arrangement. On the walls and
shelves are jigs, templates and
prototypes for designs that have been
developed and constructed over time.What is it he likes about making
things? ‘I like the autonomy; being a
master of your own time, and it’s the
discovery of making as well’, said
Byron. Without being totally reliant
on income from furniture makingOpposite: Byron Raleigh in
his well ordered workshop in
Northcote, Victoria.
Photo: Linda Nathan- Byron’s Femur chair started
with an idea for a form
that would be ‘flowing,
seamless’. ‘The shapes are
nested somewhat to come
out of 150 x 38mm without
too much waste, and the
front leg comes out of
the offcut.’ Photo: Marc
Buckner - Design is a process that
starts with sketches and
then moves into scale
cardboard models like
the ones shown below.
The next step is full scale
prototypes which allow
joinery techniques to be
nutted out. Photo: Linda
Nathan
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