It’s all in the detail…
20th January 2017
It’s always so exciting when a new member joins the team and even more exciting when they bring something completely new to the table. deVOL is full of incredibly talented designers and makers eager to learn a new craft and get to grips with a brand new material, and metal was no exception. Everyone has watched in awe as Stephanie showed us the basics of jewellery making, restored our amazing antique chandelier for the new London showroom, created the fixtures for our lovely new ceramic pendants and took on the task of making a brand new range of beautiful handmade door furniture for deVOL.
Our hardware is such an important part of our kitchens, it’s these little details that bring everything together and elevate a design to achieve that wonderful timeless yet completely modern and stylish look that has become synonymous with deVOL. Our brass handles have been a firm favourite of both ours and our customers for some time, there is something so classic about brass, even though it’s at the top of everyone’s wish list it doesn’t feel like a fad, it’s just too beautiful to fade away into trend history.
“It makes sense that every aspect of a deVOL kitchen, right down to the handles, should be equally well designed and made by deVOL. Good design is all about equal consideration for every aspect, form, aesthetic, utility etc. The quality of deVOL is in their attention to detail, the last finishing touches.” – Stephanie
Each beautiful brass handle has various copper alloys to find interesting unique variations to the metal. Stephanie has been experimenting with lots of different techniques such as acid etching, antiquing fluid, sand blasting and patinas to achieve each unique texture and finish. Every cup handle has been individually sand cast to achieve a different degree of pitting too, all of the tiny little holes were formed by sprinkling tiny grains of sand inside the moulds in different quantities. I’d never really heard of sand casting before but it sounds (and looks) like such a cool technique…
In (very) basic terms, you first make a pattern that you put into the sand. The sand then sticks together, kind of like a sand castle, so that when the mould is removed the sand remains the same. Next you need to melt the metal, this is the fun bit! You have to heat it to extremely high temperatures, we’re talking around 1,000 degrees Celsius, depending on the metal, to create the molten liquid… how cool does it look! The molten metal then fills the cavity in the sand left by your mould.
Once completely cooled you should have some beautiful solid metal shapes surrounded by sand. So, time to shake the sand off…
…and voila! beautiful brass cup handles!…Well almost, then Stephanie carves them and files them down to create a wonderfully smooth and perfectly formed deVOL Brass Cup Handle.
Not only did we want them to look great but they had to feel good in your hand too, solid cast brass handles so have a lovely weight to them, you can really feel the quality. It only makes sense to have the same pride and precision that we have when making our cabinets when we create all of our little extras, whether it’s our handmade ceramics, the amazing new stool we’re developing or these delightful new handles Stephanie has worked so hard to create.
These are just one style of cup handle that we will be making and they will be available separately and will be priced at about £45 each, depending on the finish. We’re going to keep on experimenting with styles and techniques and finishes and we hope to create a whole range of deVOL hardware that will be just as special and unique as our furniture, kitchenware, sinks and tiles.
For more information or to place an order please get in touch with our lovely team at enquiries@devolkitchens.co.uk
