Modern Sustainable Furniture by Team 7
7 May 2010
“Masters of the Universe”
I was so taken with the NOX sustainable furniture line from Team 7 that I downloaded considerably more pictures than I am going to be able to use in this blog. Actually, I like them for a number of reasons, but let’s start with what gives them their cachet. They bill themselves as a green company, which is the sort of thing that gets my antenna wriggling quite a bit. The thing with green these days is that it has become a bandwagon everyone wants to jump on, and far too often, people have taken the easy way of achieving green, that is, by simply telling any and all that they’ve gone green. But, really now, if you are not truly environmentally conscious with everything you do in your wood shop, you’re not green, you’re just cashing in for some green (rim shot!). But seriously, if the term means anything at all, it just has to mean that those who proclaim themselves as green use manufacturing methods that do as little damage to the environment as possible. Well, as it turns out, Team 7 is working very hard to do just that.
Their products are of solid wood, but 100 % of the hardwood Team 7 uses come from certified sustainably-managed European forests that comply with the International Protection of Species Act. In addition to this, Team 7 does not use any endangered wood species or tropical wood so as not t
o encourage illegal clear cutting of the rainforest. Team 7 also uses only non-toxic, formaldehyde-free white glue, the better to serve the environment.
But important as protecting the environment is, no one is really going to purchase these products unless they’re designed well and built well. And that, in turn, is why I found myself downloading so many pictures. I just couldn’t make up my mind as to what should be included in this blog! Let’s start with the one that first caught my eye, the NOX table.
This table consists of heavy, solid planks of wood that have been joined perfectly. With its A-line table legs, it is massive and inviting. It’s the sort of table one could envision using pretty much forever because it seems to have that kind of permanence about it. One of the features is the tabletop itself, which is two wide planks side-by-side, rather than the traditional solid leaf running the entire length. The 
transition between the two wooden table planks has been resolved in a particularly attractive manner with either stainless steel connectors, so you can still see the gap, or a thin, stainless steel middle plate. The wood itself is open-pored and has only been treated, according to their website, with a non-toxic, herbal oil/wax finish. When I learned how to create a similar finish with tung oil, I was told it was a hand-rubbed oil finish, because that is the method that is used to apply it. It is not varnish, so it never creates the hard cellophane-like finish of that product. Oil (it doesn’t have to be tung oil; there are other products that provide essentially the same finish) penetrates into the wood, and seals it, but because it is not on the surface, the natural beauty of the wood comes through most magnificently. Then, to finish the product, one applies beeswax, which is the same method Team 7 uses. The results are nothing short of stunning, as one can clearly see from those few pictures I am able to include with this blog.
The problem with this kind of workmanship is that one is never really sure if anyone other than another woodworker is going to appreciate it. But looking at the designs these people have come up with, it is hard not to gush about what has been done here. It is gorgeous, responsibly made so as to make a smaller environmental footprint, and has been created by woodworkers whose pride and skills are manifested in every detail. And it has about it a simplicity that is both modern and old. The Shakers, I think, would have been pleased to have made designs like these, but with their Scandinavian look, these designs can go into virtually any home from the very ancient to cutting edge modern. Team 7 is in two worlds, and masters of both.
Joseph
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2 Responses to “Modern Sustainable Furniture by Team 7”
May 7th, 2010 at 6:32 AM
Fabulous. I like the wildness of Core Beech wood. They mention a process called Herbal Wood Finish I would like to know more about. I’ll have to read up on it.
May 7th, 2010 at 7:12 AM
Based on what I read on their site and on my own experience in this, I would have to say that it is almost certainly a variation of the tung oil finish I use myself. Or it could be linseed oil based, although most of the oil finishes I see are tung oil based. Boiled linseed oil and pure tung oil are both difficult to use because they don’t dry well. To get past this, there is any number of recipes for additives to the basic oils themselves that help them dry better. I personally use MinWax tung oil finish, but there are, as I say, any number of them out there that all work pretty much the same way. You put the oil on with a rag, let it set for a while, then wipe off the excess. I was taught to use 220, 400, and 600 grit wet-dry sandpaper to sand the oil into the wood, which gets the oil in a bit deeper and polishes the bejabbers out of the wood itself. You use a finer grit each day for a total of three coats, and the results are stunning.