MEET THE MAKER - JAN SALTET FROM GREEN WOOD CHAIRS
May 2020
Jan Saltet came to Australia from the Netherlands many years ago in search of his own patch of paradise - and he found it on a bushy block out past Tharwa.
He built himself a house, a workshop and a veggie garden and got to work. He now makes beautiful Green Wood chairs from Australian regrowth timber using a blend of traditional and modern techniques, which we sell in-store or on our website as the perfect complement to our recycled timber furniture.
We caught up with Jan in his workshop to have a chat and capture some shots of him in his home setting.
Jan on his “Bodger Horse” - a traditional UK woodworking set up for shaping chair legs with a draw knife.
Jan’s beautiful home.
Why do you like working with timber
I use different materials depending on what I’m making – I once made a yacht out of concrete because it was fashionable at the time and supposedly cheap. Now I’m mainly set up for timber. I fell into making furniture in 1982 when many of my Tharwa neighbours and contemporaries at the time were woodworkers. I became interested in making chairs when I saw a popular book at the time ‘Making a chair from a tree’ by JD Alexander.
What are you most proud of making?
I‘m pleased I set up this chair making business in a semi-production line fashion, which means I can make them affordable.
The finished product. New on the left, 10 years old on the right.
Rustic or clean dressed?
Whenever I make something, whatever it is, I like to reuse materials. The timber for my chairs is sourced sustainably and that is important to me.
If you had to work with just one timber species?
For the chairs I use eucalyptus fraxinoidis because it has the right properties, that is, it splits straight, it has good strength to weight ratio and is available locally. For other projects I may use something else depending on what’s available.
The wood-fired steamer to prepare for bending slats and legs.
A car jack press to hold the mortise & tenon joints together.
Downtime is best spent?
I like bushwalking, gardening (growing my food).
What do you love about your job?
I like the way that I am in charge of every stage of my chairs: from a live tree to the customer.
More shots from Jan’s Workshop:
Jan’s chairs are available via Thor’s Hammer - drop into the showroom at 10 Mildura St, Griffith ACT to see them, or enquire via the product page here - GREEN WOOD CHAIRS
Paired perfectly with our round leg table design in recycled Mixed Ash.