Jason Roskey of FERN NYC

a conversation with Fern NYC

"Many furniture makers stay away from these types of maple because of the uneven characteristics in the grain, but I'm interested in going against some of the old woodworking conventions by mixing woods and using lumber with the most character to my advantage when designing a piece."

"an early 20th century lathe of mine
with turning leg blanks for a new chair design"

"recent Studio Table in the process of being flattened."

A couple weeks ago, I had a discussion with Jason Roskey, of Fern NYC, about his choice of materials & woods. Fern recently launched an online store (here) that include their latest release, the Amoeba Serving Boards (cherry & big leaf maple) and their line of lighting and objects, including limited edition boxes. If you are LA, SPECIFIC carries some select FERN pieces.

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Can you tell me about your choice of materials?

Most of our work is constructed from walnut, maple and oak. We source two types of walnut - Claro & Eastern Black Walnut. We get our Claro mostly from working walnut orchards in Northern California. As these trees die out, they are being replaced with a new hybrid walnut tree. There's a huge market for the stuff right now, because of its beauty so we have chosen to not put as much focus on the giant slabs that a lot of other companies are using, but to use the orchard lumber, which usually has a lot of defects and comes in smaller pieces, but has beautiful grain.

A couple weeks ago, I had a discussion with Jason Roskey, of Fern NYC, about his choice of materials & woods. Fern recently launched an online store (here) that include the Amoeba Serving Boards (cherry & big leaf ample) and their line of lighting and objects, including limited edition boxes. If you are local in LA, SPECIFIC carries some select FERN pieces.

Claro Walnut is the only West Coast wood we use, all of our other lumber comes from the Northeast - primarily Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Upstate New York. Eastern Black walnut differs from Claro Walnut in that it doesn't show as many color variances and is more straight-grained. It is generally a more toned down wood, but it's still very beautiful.

I'm also obsessed with maple and the various ways you can manipulate its color by bleaching and oxidizing. I'm mostly interested in using "soft" maples, a deceiving name since they are only slightly softer than Sugar Maple (the most common maple lumber used for cutting boards and furniture). We use a variety of maples that include Silver, Red, and Norway. These woods have much more figure than Sugar Maple. Many furniture makers stay away from these types of maple because of the uneven characteristics in the grain, but I'm interested in going against some of the old woodworking conventions by mixing woods and using lumber with the most character to my advantage when designing a piece.

"the picture is of maple to be milled and glued up for chair seats.."

The "Studio Dining Table," a slab table proportioned for apartment living that can comfortably seat four, tell me more!

The Studio Dining Table began as a custom table for a client who wanted a natural-edge slab table, and this being New York, didn't have the space for many of the large slab tables that are on the market. She really wanted a substantial, yet movable piece that could double as a desk and seat 4-6 people for dinner parties.

It is built from red maple I sourced from Pennsylvania. The slab was split and widened about eight inches. I added a 12-inch square brass joint that will form a patina over time. A lot of the wood's color changes come from the ambrosia beetle, an insect that attacks maple trees when they are at or near the end of their life. The beetles leave a fungal trail inside the tree that gives the wood beautiful streaks of color. I put the wood through an oxidation process that was common among 19th century gunmakers to change wood color. Unlike an off-the-shelf wood stain that creates a dull uniform color, this recipe reacts with the wood's tannins changing natural maple tones to gray, purple and brown that remind me of a sophisticated weathered barnwood.








Read past interview with Fern on YHBHS here...
Please visit Fern's online store here..
or just contact them directly here!






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