— II · Philosophy

The long view of a quiet object.

A board is a thing one returns to. It sits on a table, gathers an evening’s light, and waits to be played. We make boards in that spirit — slowly, plainly, and with no ornament that the wood has not already earned.

Founded: 2014
Output: 48 / yr
Stock rested: 2–4 yrs
Warranty: 100 yrs

“We are not interested in the board that impresses on first sight. We are interested in the board you still notice, twenty winters later, in the same room.”

— from the atelier register, 2017

— Five tenets

The principles we keep, written plainly.

A board is a long object.

A well-made board outlives its maker. We design with that horizon — selecting stock, joinery and finishes that age into the piece rather than away from it.

II.

The wood leads.

Each board begins with a single billet, hand-chosen for figure and quietness. Squares are matched across the grain so the surface reads as one cloth, not sixty-four tiles.

III.

Joinery, not adhesive.

Mitres are cut, splined and pegged. Glue is a confirmation of fit, never a remedy for it. Every joint is dry-fitted twice before it is ever wetted.

IV.

Finish is slow.

Six coats of pure tung oil, sanded by hand between each. The surface is not lacquered to a mirror — it is rubbed to the colour wood becomes after a generation of light.

Marks beneath, not above.

The knight is carried inside the work — engraved into the underside in solid brass — so the face of the board remains the wood, the squares, and nothing else.

— On time

The making takes the time it takes.

A Dechamel board is, in honest measure, somewhere between four and seven months of attention. Stock is selected in winter, when the figure reads true; squares are cut in spring, when the shop is calm; the board is fitted in summer and finished into the early autumn.

There is no shortcut we are interested in. The slow path is the work, and the work is the point.