Materials - Jan Hendzel Studio

Understanding materials

With over 20 years of making our founder, Jan, knows his timber – its appearance, its uses in different contexts, its condition over time, and the stresses it can take. Part of our service is to advise and suggest wood-types to give you the confidence you are making the right decision.

Sourcing wood

The solid woods used by Jan Hendzel Studio are mainly from timber yards around London, or reclaimed from specific London sites. The diversity, history and size of London offers magnificent opportunities for wood collection – from eccentric estates to parks, from ancient interiors to the fabric of old buildings.

Sourcing wood close to our workshop allows us to identify a full chain of custody (provenance) for the materials we use. And can unearth some amazing stories from previous uses.

Wood types

Below are examples of timber we often use. It is not exclusive but a reference to help inform you of timber choices. They offer a glimpse of the wonderful diversity of type. Some are extremely rare.

Finishes

The samples below have all been sanded and finished with an Osmo clear oil. Other finishes can effect the colouration of the wood. When working with us, we readily provide samples to help you envisage the final product.

Ash – Plain and ripple

Ash – peach / mid-olive

Ash – dark olive heartwood

Ash – English – baked / thermally modified

Reclaimed Pine – Victorian floorboard

Reclaimed spruce pine – Victorian floorboard

Reclaimed Douglas fir – Victorian roof truss

Reclaimed pine – Victorian floorboard variation

Reclaimed oak – English oak from canal lock gates

Oak – brown English with sapwood

Oak – tiger English

Oak – black expanded cork – natural / sanded & oiled

Oak – agglomerated cork – sanded oiled / natural

Reclaimed Oak – Australian Queensland silky oak from Kingston Court House

Oak – pippy and burr English

Oak – pippy English

Oak – quarter sawn English / with medullary rays

Oak – English – crown cut / quarter sawn

Oak – Holm

Oak – European / American white

Sycamore – pale English

Sycamore – Ripple English

Sycamore – baked English thermally modified / rippled example

London Plane – English heartwood

London Plane – English heartwood / sapwood

London Plane – English – grain variation

Beech – English spalted

Elm – British

Chestnut – English

Hemlock – British

Cedar of Lebanon – English grown

Walnut – English

Walnut – American black

Walnut – European

Wellingtonia – Giant Sequoia

Douglas Fir – English

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