Robert Nößler is 33 years old, a master carpenter, and now lives in Hamburg. He was born in Thuringia, where he grew up in a small village surrounded by a lot of forest. Through his grandfather, who was a hunter and carpenter, and his father, who ran a carpentry business, he was in contact with wood from birth and gained his first experience of working with wood very early.

After his journeyman's examination in 2009, the next logical step for the passionate carpenter was to become a master carpenter in order to develop professionally and personally.

In the further course of this blog you will find out how his masterpiece came about and how the Vacuflex vacuum bag from Columbus helped him.

Function, form and material selection

He has noticed that many masterpieces are unfortunately stored away unused after they have been built. It was therefore important to him that his furniture fulfills a daily purpose without wasting valuable materials. The decision fell on an office furniture that should accompany him throughout his professional life.

The design and the choice of materials are derived from his previous life. The shape of the body is characterized by a ship's hull which reminds of the port of Hamburg. The idea of building the masterpiece out of oak stems from the fact that he grew up in Thuringia, where centuries-old oak trees adorn the villagescape. He also made his journeyman's piece in 2009 from smoked oak. This closes the circle regarding the function, design and material selection.

Structure and manufacturing

The piece of furniture consists of a molded body made of 20 layers of 0.9 mm thick straight oak veneer, which was brought into shape by the means of laminated bending. The top panel was also made from 20 layers of 0.9 mm straight oak veneer and connected to the molded element with a classic open finger joint.

All laminated bending was done using the Vacuflex vacuum bag. Robert Nößler informed us that the result would hardly have been possible in this form without Vacuflex.

In the body there are three functional drawers for the user.

Two of these drawers are made from oak and feature a classic semi-concealed dovetail joint. The drawer bases were made from a self-made smoked oak plywood panel and were slotted into the drawer frames.

The secret is in the details

One drawer, the bottom one, was also molded by the means of laminated bending – because otherwise too much space would be lost due to the rounded body – and consists of 15 layers of 0.9 mm oak veneer. It also contains a special detail, which makes this piece of furniture stand out. A secret compartment has been hidden in the lower part. An anchor, laser-etched into the bottom of the drawer, marks this detail in a classy way and skilfully picks up on the ship theme. The drawer panel is connected to the drawer body via an electronic lock and keeps it locked. If you place the supplied key card on the anchor, an acoustic signal sounds and the secret compartment can be opened. We are excited about the creative idea and the perfect implementation.

But enough of the words, let yourself be inspired by the details in the pictures.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Robert Nößler for sharing this wonderful story about the creation of his masterpiece with us.