About Us

Our Story

When I started Durham Woodcrafting, I was a young guy in my early teens. I started with a few small tools in my Grandmother’s shed. I always loved the antiques and the old homes, in and round the charming hamlets of Bucks County. I studied carpentry in trade school and immediately after graduation, I got a job with an 18^th and 19^th century Restoration Company. This stoked the flames of my passion for world class architecture.

My parents had a very diverse friend base. Artsy and eclectic, and kind of harbored the creative environment for the founding of my exploration in culturally diverse art and architecture. It was though this friend network, that things just became obvious that the market place needed that passion. Through that environment of friends, many that we still collaborate with a vision started.

That brings us to where we are now. Between the founding of that vision and our current place in business, exists a very fortunate opportunity to explore the nuances of the art in architecture. Now that my client base has grown, through that kindness and generously of others, it has become its very own thing and lineage for which I am eternally grateful. Thus, allowing me the good fortune to provide artful pieces to this day. What we have become and what we started was a studio art environment to create things with that vision in a very unique way.

As we continue to grow and learn, I found the biggest dignity in knowing the forgotten nuances and foundings of world class architecture. We apply these timeless and time tested techniques in all we do. To this day, we have the good fortune to continue to share our pieces with friends and clients. The diversity in our client base, started with making a cherry four post dog bed, from the shavings made at the primitive lathe in that little shed for a much loved and adored couple. They loved their golden retrievers and built many artful homes to their clients throughout Solebury. Later, to having the good fortune to collaborate on the prayer sticks for Dali Lama’s arrival at Lehigh University’s Packer Chapel.

Whenever possible, I try to employ materials and techniques from around the world in a culturally diverse format. As shown here by our use of materials, this benefits you, the consumer in new, healthful, and artful ways never before seen. This online store setting is just a sampling of our offerings. Much thanks and happy shopping!

The Origin

The concept of Yakisugi/“Shou-Sugi Ban” is the process of carbonizing wood fibers, which crystallize the cell wall or lignin. Traditionally, as seen in the states with our ancestors, they would use wide plank lumber in the farmhouse’s winding staircase and in flooring. One of the reasons they were able to use this material in this fashion, was because it was structurally stable. The stability is from the crystallized cell wall or lignin. There is two basic ways to achieve this, heat or time. Our ancestors had time, as the timbers were standing forever. The method here is heat, as it speeds up the process of time. The heat greatly helps to somewhat stabilize our products to largely remove nutritive material. This is in pursuit of achieving a material less likely to harbor bacterial growth, by removing its food…the sugars, starches etc. naturally occurring within the wood.

The Japanese art of Yakisugi/“Shou-Sugi Ban” is to carbonize the outside layers of the wood, largely in a similar pursuit aside from the aesthetic this method is to extend the usability span of the timber in a cleaner fashion. Traditionally, Yakisugi or “Shou-Sugi Ban” was used on limited forestry resources available indigenously. Now through the magic of technology, these methods can be applied to a vast array of materials, especially here in North America in previously unexplored ways. We bring you our version of a much more diverse forestry resource in theses Appalachian hardwoods then ever used historically. We present to you, our “Shou-Sugi Ban” style boards and accents.

Our Boards

In our boards we use these new technologies derived from old methods. We have been able to provide a product with a material that is carbonized down to its core, through its thickness which is unique. In this new material we found that it has new uses, applications, colors, and textures generating a whole new palette from which we can design. The colors change the whole design aesthetic and performance. The Appalachian hardwoods which traditionally would not be used in these new ways, provides you wonderful new options. When you receive our “Shou-Sugi Ban” stylized products you may find the board has new aromas not found in many other mediums.

The idea behind our boards is dress to impress providing the right feel to your presentation, your event/party, or even just an evening at home. The accent stripes can be used as a visual reference as a cutting guide if you so choose. We laminate our boards using waterproof glue that is food safe. We provide care and usage instructions to ensure your board will maintain its beauty and durability