Chimera7aus Understanding Natural Timber Products
Looking after natural timber products and the Pro's and Con's.
Strength and weakness.
Timber is a wonderful material, and given that it can be from a sustainable supply, makes this truly unique material a great preference for what we are aiming to do. Timber in particular is strength dependent on its grain direction, meaning it is very strong in one direction, and weak in the other. So you will notice that all the thinner sections of our products are designed to go with the grain, however, this does not mean that our products can not be broken if excessive force is applied to it. Forcing parts together or apart is one way to potentially brake something, the same as standing on something that in not flat on a surface.
Timber and moisture.
Timber is a porous material and therefore will absorb liquids and swell. Extended time being wet will also cause the timber to soften. To keep everything we make totally natural, we have not sealed or oiled the timber, so we recommend keeping all our timber products as dry as possible. However should you wish to coat and seal these items to protect against moisture, there is no problem there if you use the appropriate sealer.
Colouring.
Timber being a natural product/resource, even the same tree will often produce different colours. So with varying grain, texture and density, no two items we make will be the same, even if from the same plank of wood. Also for this reason, the wood burning and the addition of different food colouring constantly results in different effects, colour shades and burning effects.
The good bits about our products.
100% all natural timber is all there is, no oils or chemicals. All colouring is done through either lightly burning and/or adding food colouring. We use sustainable timber and package everything with 100% recyclable materials. We focus on sensory stimulation in our designs be it for play or education. We have many educational items in development and so we hope to release more products as production lines stabilize and more equipment it bought.
The not so good bits about our products.
First we ask everyone to understand that what we make is not mass produced high volume products. Being dressed raw timber, individually machined and hand finished there will be variations in every part. Different colour, texture, grain, burning and hand finishing. So our parts are made to be within a set tolerance, and not to be 'perfect'. You will find small variations in machining finishes as well as hand finishing on top of the variations that comes with timber like colour, grain, texture, and density. Also we don't know yet what the demands will be on the various products, so we will aim to maintain a wide variety of stock but if there is any notable delays in us supplying something that is out of stock, please keep an eye on our facebook page and website blog for any and all notable news with in Chimera7aus.
Perfect through imperfections.
While differences and imperfections will happen in all items, what we are looking for in each item before it is released and sold is to be within a set tolerance. To ensure that any one part will work with another. That each piece is a pleasure to use or play with while still being unique. Think of Chimera7's products as something that was made out in Grandpa's Shed, Unique, made with love, just for you and with the hope that everyone will love it just as much.