HAND CUT or LASER CUT MARQUETRY?
Ok let`s start by dispelling some of the myths surrounding marquetry production.
Is Laser Cut Marquetry better quality than Hand Cut?
Hand Cut refers to either fret sawn, scalpel,guillotine or knife.
Firstly of course,it depends who is cutting it( especially if its Hand Cut),and secondly it depends on the pattern.Certainly for geometric shapes or lettering, the laser comes into its own.And of course for massive repeat runs it will produce identical pieces in identical production times.However,its interesting that some of our highest quality clients, such as Super- Yacht makers and Top- end Furniture makers, insist that we supply them with our Hand Cut Marquetry.Good quality hand cut has a definite organic feel that I`ve yet to see a laser reproduce.The pics below are hand sawn examples;
A good example of combining the 2 methods(hand cutting and laser) is our New York Coffee Table.This 2000 piece picture(designed and built March 2001) is made both with the laser(100`s of windows of buildings) and then the buildings were let into the sky with a scalpel along with other elements.Using either method solely would have been both impractical and costly .
In fact we only added the laser to our facilities 6 years ago,for the first 14 years we only supplied high quality Hand Cut marquetry and frankly did not see the need for a Laser Machine at all.(see News and Updates)
However,when we won a contract to provide layons for 130 doors, along with 800 yards of inlaid freize ,for a 6 star hotel in Dubai and delivery was needed in 4 weeks we realised that the time had come(especially as there were 80 pieces in one yard of the freize 64000 total!)
Of course once the contract had been successfully completed ,it didn`t take long to start working the laser into our everyday work ,and now we provide roughly equal amounts of hand cut and laser marquetry.The trick is using the right method for the best job and we are very proud to say that HERITAGE INLAY DESIGN LTD are the only company in England ,that excells in ALL 3 techniques, ensuring that our clients get the best possible marquetry,whatever the requirements and whatever the method.
