DANISH CRAFTSMANSHIP

Every Bernh. Pedersen & Son piece is produced in keeping with the sideboard designs from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and the strong Danish craft traditions. Many of the same machines, tools and techniques from the mid-century are used to manufacture the furniture based on the original drawings and specifications. Even some of the cabinetmakers from the old days in the workshop are still part of the production today, ensuring all experience and details in the design are transferred to the relaunched models.

Building on strong craft traditions

The original techniques and same machines and tools used in the 1960s to make the original furniture are used for large parts of the structure today. In particular the preparation of the seamless tambour doors, which is one of the most time and precision intensive parts of the pieces. The doors are called seamless because visually each door looks like a single piece of solid wood, which miraculously disappears on each side when the cabinet is opened. In fact, the doors are made of finely cut wood lamellae, carefully assembled and fixed onto a backing of canvas, which allows the lamellae to fold invisibly behind the side panel. It takes a highly skilled craftsman to ensure the tambour doors are cut and put together with precision and not least meticulously fitted into the frame of the sideboard. Even the slightest of inaccuracies would mean the work would have to be discarded and maybe it’s one of the reasons the technique is so rare today, because of the precision and amount of time needed for the production.

Adding cutting edge technology

In some areas, new technology and adjustments have been added for the relaunch to improve the sideboards. This applies to all of the lower structure with legs and bracing, which for the new pieces is made exclusively in solid wood. Also cutting edge technology is being used today with the introduction of a five axis milling robot, the CNC machine (Computer Navigation Control) that allows for the highest precision cutting and stronger joints to further heighten the strength and stability of the pieces.

While advanced machinery and technology are important contributions to the high quality in the production of Bernh. Pedersen & Son furniture, the centre of everything will always be the experienced cabinetmakers in the workshop. Only an experienced craftsman can program and control the machine so it cuts to perfection with all joints fitting into place. And it takes the artisans unerring eye for wood to know how the grains should be matched or how to best select and cut the planks.

A craftsman’s sense of surfaces

When it comes to the final touch there is no match for the experienced craftsman’s sense of shape and the subtle nuances in a surface. All the finishing work is done by hand with every corner, edge and surface being finely sanded until everything is smooth and even. Also the oil and lacquer finish is done manually with final sanding by hand to ensure everything is smoothed down. You can feel the extensive finishing work when running your hand over a finished sideboard and the surface feels soft and silky against the palm. It’s the feeling that only fine furniture making and skilled craftsmen can provide you with – and the essence of the huge amount of time and meticulous work put into a Bern. Pedersen & Son piece. Beautiful and timeless pieces to be enjoyed for generations.