Serving board fluke

Its name is telling, because our serving board "Fluke" has the shape of a tail fin. The cabinetmaker Konrad Horsch manufactures it exclusively for us from the solid wood of oak. The design according to our own design, the wood from forests in the Sauerland: This is how sustainability works. If you take a closer look, you will also recognize the origin of the wood by the fine, hole-like feeding marks of the millimeter worm, which has eagerly bored its way through the tree trunks. We did not want to remove these feeding marks, nor did we want to have the wood sorted out altogether, since the quality and longevity of the end product are not affected by them. However, the millimeter worm is a reminder that our forests are not immune to the effects of climate change. Drought damage, for example, makes even the strongest oak susceptible, less stable and less resistant.

But Konrad Horsch wouldn't be Konrad Horsch if he didn't get the best out of what is supposed to be waste wood. He manufactures our serving board Fluke in two variants: Natural oak and - with a naturalbraunem, warm hue - steamed oak. Since steamed, the dark wood retains its character even under stress, cutting marks will not be seen on it even in the long run. The sawn, smoothly sanded board with a handle and neatly rounded edges becomes even more velvety with a surface treatment with wood butter, which you can (and should) easily repeat at home from time to time. Prepared in this way, the oak wood can withstand contact with oily or fatty foods, such as pickles and olives, ham, sausage and cheese. Our serving board is also large enough that you can also bring pizza and tarte flambée to the table on it.

A product that leaves Konrad Horsch's workshop is anything but just a piece of wood sawn into shape or turned - it's a piece of wood with a history. For every knife edge that passes through his hands, every rolling pin that he puts the finishing touches on, he can provide the biography: Where was the tree from which the workpiece is made, when was it felled and under what circumstances, which plants, animals or fungi have left traces in the wood, why and in what form? Instead of buying from the timber merchant, he therefore prefers to buy his raw material from where it grew - then, as they say in specialist circles, "negotiations are conducted standing on the trunk". Or he recycles old wood and puts it to a new use, often inspired by its original purpose.

Working only with solid wood is a matter of course for the cabinetmaker from Iserlohn, in a manufactory and with minimal use of machinery. Every object that bears his name is made by him, regardless of whether it is a one-off piece such as large solitaire furniture, art objects for public spaces or products made in small series such as those in the Manufactum range. Even if they are not unique, they are made with the same attention to detail as one-of-a-kind pieces, something Horsch learned during his studies with the well-known cabinetmaker James Krenov in California. Last but not least, the character of the wood alone makes each piece unique. Knotholes, annual rings and grains are simply not uniform - and if they were, the wood would also lose its appeal for Horsch.