Here’s a quick glimpse behind the scenes – a look at the work involved in sourcing an 11-tonne London plane trunk and turning it into timber for furniture.

A tree looking for a second life

It started with a call from Julian at Blue Sky Tree Care. A huge London plane in Kingston upon Thames was due to be felled the next day. It was slowly dying – likely due to water contamination – and was being removed for safety reasons. We'd be doing him a favour if we could take it.
 
Without us, it would almost certainly have been chipped or burned, the usual fate of most trees felled in London.

Moving an 11-tonne monster

The team at GForce, who’ve transported trees for us for years, stepped in as always – although this one needed a bit more muscle.
 
For the first time, they had to send two lorries: one with a crane strong enough to lift the trunk and another that could physically carry its weight.

Breaking it down at the yard

With the log unloaded at our yard in Essex, Duncan got busy with a huge 54-inch chainsaw, cutting the trunk into quarters – pieces just small enough for our bandsaw mill to handle.

From trunk to timber

We milled the quarters into planks ready for the long, slow drying process. They’ll air-dry for up to a year, steadily reducing moisture and becoming strong, stable and ready for furniture making, before a final stint in the kiln.

There's nothing plane about it

London plane produces wonderful hardwood for furniture makers and when quarter-sawn reveals a distinctive lacewood grain.

You can see it here on a beautiful piece by furniture maker RHMB.