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Modern manufacturing: How craftsmen can fuse technology with traditional skills – in association with Oxley’s
This week’s blog is in association with luxury outdoor furniture company, Oxley’s. Oxley’s, like Haddonstone, employs its own expert craftsmen to produce its beautifully bespoke and sustainable garden furniture. In fact, Oxley’s luxury designs are of such quality that they are made to last a lifetime, to be passed down through the generations. As a testament to this quality, they also offer their customers a unique 10 year buy back guarantee.
Our love affair with one of a kind, handmade products has continued to blossom in recent years. The so-called ‘craft economy’ has gained significant ground as more consumers turn away from meaningless, throwaway items and opt for unique designs that will be treasured for a lifetime. Online craft emporiums are taking a leaf out of US-based Etsy’s book, with a surge in digital stores like Folksy and Shopify now connecting artisans to customers at the touch of a button.
Digital transformation has affected almost every industry across the globe. In our modern age of manufacturing, products can be prototyped, designed and produced at scale within days. It’s almost the very antithesis of how traditional craftsmen create their lovingly handmade designs. But can traditional crafts meet technology halfway? Is there space for specialist craft skills, honed over many years and passed across generations, to coexist, when time is of the essence?
A hybrid craftsmanship model
A careful balancing act must be struck if manufacturers like Haddonstone and Oxley’s are to retain traditional skills whilst introducing new technological innovations into their design and production processes.
Whilst getting products ready for market quickly and efficiently is paramount, there are ways that we can preserve and celebrate craftsmanship without sacrificing real artistry in exchange for convenience.
With the right processes in place, the two can certainly work together harmoniously, meeting business demands as well as almost ritualistic workmanship.
Haddonstone are a wonderful company to work with, cannot recommend them enough. The beautiful show gardens are ideal for a visit, perfectly showcasing a wonderful range of home and garden products and are just stunning in the summer months. It has been a pleasure working with Haddonstone, the team are extremely friendly and helpful!
Amy Godwin, Oxley’s
Technology gives artisans more time to refine their design process
At Haddonstone, we produce architectural cast stone components for building and construction projects worldwide. From simple retrofit cast stone porticos to major renovation projects, our specialist team works hard to turnaround our clients’ stonework quickly. The onus on delivering the highest-quality cast stone components to our clients’ exacting specifications and deadlines is essential. Every project is different and we can be commissioned to create anything from a standard garden planter or water feature, to completely bespoke façade stonework for a new build development.
Like Haddonstone, orders for Oxley’s come in all shapes and sizes. From a small bistro set for a balcony in the city to providing furniture for all the outdoor seating areas in one of the world’s largest mansions. Each Oxley’s order is made bespoke to each customer, allowing people to create the exact design of furniture that they want. Each set of furniture is unique, individually designed to fit with any outdoor space and colour scheme.
Age-old techniques meet modern methods
At Haddonstone, we also use traditional patternmaking to create the wooden models and moulds that are used to cast our clients’ designs. Predominantly, our craftsmen do this manually, applying age-old techniques and taking time to hand carve each wooden framework using traditional knife, file and chisel tools. Our team even produces the decorative wrought iron domes used to crown our classical cast stone temples and the structural metal reinforcements for our heavy, load-supporting architectural components.
Wherever possible, they also supplement the process using modern machinery. This significantly speeds up the procedure but also allows our team to focus on creating some of the more intricate designs required by some of our clients. This was the case, for example, when we were commissioned by designer Anouska Hempel to produce a number of highly intricate cast stone brackets for the opulent boutique Monsieur George Hotel & Spa in Paris.
Modern technology reduces time away from the business
Modern technology is also allowing our team to meet our clients’ project requirements without needing to step foot outside our Northamptonshire manufactory.
A few years ago, we were approached to perfectly replicate and produce a stone baluster for Kinnaird Castle in Scotland. By working with a local 3D scanning specialist third-party company, we were able to obtain the exact design specifications of the baluster’s profile via a digital file and then go on to produce an accurate replica in our studio, without needing to leave the county.
The production time was significantly reduced, whilst our design team had more time to concentrate on the overall design and manufacturing process.
How Oxley’s are combining traditional and modern techniques
Oxley’s are similarly dedicated to combining traditional and modern techniques, using moulds for sand casting liquid molten aluminium, which have been shaped to the form of the original hand carved design, to create each piece of beautiful furniture.
Partnered with the skilled art of mould making, which requires exquisite joinery skills and the ability to visualise the 3D mirror image of the final piece.
This allows Oxley’s to create the moulds needed for sandcasting.
It saves time to cater to demand
Technology is also enabling us to prepare our products for market quicker. The British Standard for cast stone specifies that a minimum curing time of 14 days is required before cast stone should be transported. Whilst this method clearly adds to the production lead-time, it is essential for ensuring the long-term structural robustness, durability and appearance of cast stone items. It also prevents damage during transportation, which is essential if you are shipping designs around the world.
The good news is that advances in industrial science have enabled this time to be significantly reduced and we can now take advantage of an accelerated curing process. Vapour curing, the process of curing the dry mix cast stone in an environment with high-pressure steam and water vapour, reduces the curing process from a fortnight to just 24 hours. This fast-tracked curing process significantly reduces the length of time a product takes to travel from the production floor to our end client’s door.
Bringing sustainability into the equation
The purpose-built machinery at the Oxley’s foundries allows them to manufacture the highest quality furniture in the most sustainable way possible.
The skilled craftsmen in the Oxley’s factory have perfected the process to allow for the most effective methods to manufacture beautiful and sustainable outdoor furniture.
Traditional skills will always rule over machines for creativity
Marrying craftsmanship with modern technology can clearly work to a manufacturer’s advantage, saving time, resources and increasing production efficiencies.
However, where traditional skills are required to translate a client’s exacting requirements into a bespoke, one of a kind design, there is no question that a machine will struggle to replicate this.
At Haddonstone, we are proud of the skills and high level of expertise our passionate team possess.
Craftsmanship shouldn’t become a lost nostalgic art, but by combining modern technology with our unique human skills, we can ensure there is indeed space for honouring specialist craft skills when time is of the essence.
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