Jepara Handmade Furniture

Some say furniture making is an art, and others a science. Those who see furniture making as an art see both design and production as being done by artists, who imagine what they want, draw it, and than make it by hand. Others see furniture making as a process of taking a design and turning it into a technical drawing, and then using machines to precisely copy the design.

So what do we mean when we say "handmade furniture"? Does it mean furniture made by hands using simple tools, or does the term handmade include power tools? What defines "handmade furniture" as opposed to "machine made", and more importantly, what effect does this difference have on the quality of the furniture? And in Bali, how is the furniture made?

Furniture manufacturing is generally classed as either handmade, semi-machine made, or fully machine made.

The process of "Handmade" manufacturing normally means "hand tools" only are used to make the furniture. Handmade manufacturing suits certain types of furniture but not others. Modern & contemporary furniture that requires precise dimensions and styles, do not lend them selves to a handmade process.

The type of furniture that is strictly handmade tends to be what is called carved or rustic furniture, where one off pieces of furniture are created from older or recycled wood and that have a carved shape either to the wood structure itself, or a stylized carving on the wood. These types of wooden furniture can also be from natural tree roots or branches, and take advantage of the woods shape.

In Bali, these types of handmade furniture products exist, but tend to be made more at the village level, than in a factory. The products tend to carved or antique pieces, using older recycled wood and natural wood root furniture. The pieces made are normally sofas, chairs, or dressing tables. They tend to be one off pieces, and do not have matching sets.

Semi-machined furniture manufacturing refers to furniture that is manufactured using power tools in a factory. Furniture produced this way has technical precision in regard to cuts and dimensions such as width, size and length, and to joints and bores. Skilled craftsmen also use their experience and eye for shape and style to craft unique products. Semi-machine products can be made with a high degree of uniformity.

In Bali, most of the modern, contemporary, Asian style furniture is made in this way. Our factory has modern power tools, and we employ skilled Balinese & Javanese craftsmen whose families have been making and creating furniture and artifacts for generations. Our design and manufacturing process is an ongoing discussion between our designers and craftsmen, who spend countless hours discussing shape and dimensions. The power tools are used to give precision and to save time, but do not overshadow the craftsmen ability, knowledge and experience.

Fully machine made factories use power equipment and processes intended to take the variability out of the production process. The workers are not craftsmen, but fitters and turners etc. The process is about technical duplication and replication.

There are a few factories like this in Java, but none in Bali that we know of.

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