Woodworking Masters: Watch Seth Rolland Cut Wood Like Paper

With work gracing offices and homes all around the world, master woodworker and custom furniture designer Seth Rolland is internationally renowned for his stunning, unique nature-inspired pieces—band-sawed with surgeon-like accuracy into paper-thin, bendable structures.

ABOUT

Seth has a proud heritage as a Master Craftsman, after spending the past 25 years designing high quality custom furniture. With a strong focus on designs that seamlessly blend functionality with fluid lines and form, he ensures that every piece he creates is well-balanced from every angle.

Seth began his custom furniture trade in New Mexico and is now firmly established in WA, where he is sought after for his bespoke pieces. Using the most beautiful wood varieties found locally and imported from all over the globe, carefully selected for colour and grain, he is dedicated to changing perceptions on furniture design spending hours carving, assembling and finishing each piece with flawless attention to detail.

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES

After majoring in Environmental Studies and Philosophy, sustainability is integral to Seth’s furniture designs. He believes in creating pieces that aren’t disposable or only a temporary fixture, instead paying particular attention to designing custom furniture that’s timeless and can be loved and passed on through generations as family heirlooms. Seth has a complete understanding of how wood ages and accommodates this within his designs.

MATERIALS

As sustainability is key to his woodworking projects, Seth only uses wood that’s fully certified to be sustainably harvested, with verification from the Forest Stewardship Council. From maple, alder and bamboo through to mahogany, cherry, sapele and ash, he designs furniture using a broad range of wood varieties, with character being a defining factor in the wood he selects.

Seth has helped in milling boards that were recovered from trees which were blown over by storms or were removed when roads were installed by local road crews. He  also regularly salvages wood from old buildings, preferring to leave forests untouched where possible.

One Seth’s favourite wood varieties, walnut, he found difficult to acquire sustainably, but eventually located in USA’s Mid West. In this region farmers had planted acres of walnut trees wanting to pass these onto later generations, to give their grandchildren a head start in life.

WASTE AND RECYCLING

To avoid waste, Seth recycles his smaller wood cut-offs from other projects for sculptures, bookends, cutting boards and vases, as well as using wood dust for his garden compost.

FINISHES

Wanting to be as eco-friendly as possible, Seth likes to use non-toxic finishes for his custom furniture designs, from oil based and satin polyurethanes through to hardening oils, with minimal solvents. While finishes that stand the test of time are vital for his pieces, minimising his environmental footprint is crucial for Seth.

PACKAGING

After spending so much time and energy on his designs, Seth always pays careful attention to packaging. He salvages boxes from local grocery and hardware stores to ship his furniture and re-uses his packaging materials such as bubble wrap and paper multiple times. Seth also uses plywood crates and blankets for shipping, which are regularly recycled.

LATEST WORK

Image Credits: sethrolland.com