01
Selection
I choose logs with character: burl, forks, root-flare “daisies”, unusual figure. Ordinary boards don’t interest me.
Solid wood workshopSochi
Wood with a story
Slabs, rounds, dry joinery lumber and handmade pieces — from wood I select, dry and work myself.
Workshop manifesto
I choose every piece of wood myself, dry it and turn it into objects with my own hands. That is why there is nothing off the shelf here: every piece is a particular tree with its own story.
Made in Sochi
1maker — the whole cycle, from log to oil
49pieces for sale right now
5m³ of dry chestnut joinery lumber
0middlemen between the wood and you
The path of the wood
Five steps, all of them mine
02
Sawing
Each log is sawn into slabs and boards. Slabs from one log are kept together, so they can be book-matched into a mirrored figure.
03
Drying
For years under a shed roof, or in a kiln to schedule. I state moisture as a number with the date measured — not just the word “dry”.
04
Workshop
I flatten, cut, sand, pour resin and oil. One person, from the log to the last coat of oil.
05
Your home
Each piece leaves with its story: what tree it is and what it went through. Every one carries the “Made in Sochi” mark.
And then — your story with the piece.
To the catalogPieces with a story
Each one — its own tree
In stock
A Pattern That Grows Over Centuries
A burl is a growth on the trunk of an oak in which the fibers twist in every direction. The oaks that grow such burls live for centuries, and no two burls are ever alike.
Read the story →
In progress
A Daisy from a Chestnut Butt Log
The base of an old chestnut is never round: near the ground the trunk spreads into root buttresses, and the cross-cut comes out shaped like a flower. This round is from such a butt log, with petals, rings and the cracks that time has left.
Read the story →
Ask for availability
The Yellow Wood Once Used for Bows
Osage orange is nicknamed "hedge apple" for its huge green fruit. Its wood is among the strongest in the world: it was used to make war bows, and Osage orange fence posts stand in the ground for decades.
Read the story →
In stock
A Growth Decades in the Making
A burl on a chestnut grows slowly, adding to its tangle of fibers year after year. On the outside it is a lumpy growth on the trunk; on the inside, a pattern of tiny eyes like a starry sky.
Read the story →
In stock
Ripples on Water
The bowl is carved from a cross-cut of the trunk, so the pith shows at the bottom and the growth rings rise up the sides like ripples from a thrown stone.
Read the story →Sweet chestnutCastanea sativa✦Osage orangeMaclura pomifera✦Black mulberryMorus nigra✦Burla growth on a trunk or root✦Southern magnoliaMagnolia grandiflora✦Oriental planePlatanus orientalis✦AshFraxinus✦ElmUlmus✦OakQuercus✦Sweet chestnutCastanea sativa✦Osage orangeMaclura pomifera✦Black mulberryMorus nigra✦Burla growth on a trunk or root✦Southern magnoliaMagnolia grandiflora✦Oriental planePlatanus orientalis✦AshFraxinus✦ElmUlmus✦OakQuercus✦
Sweet chestnutCastanea sativa✦Osage orangeMaclura pomifera✦Black mulberryMorus nigra✦Burla growth on a trunk or root✦Southern magnoliaMagnolia grandiflora✦Oriental planePlatanus orientalis✦AshFraxinus✦ElmUlmus✦OakQuercus✦Sweet chestnutCastanea sativa✦Osage orangeMaclura pomifera✦Black mulberryMorus nigra✦Burla growth on a trunk or root✦Southern magnoliaMagnolia grandiflora✦Oriental planePlatanus orientalis✦AshFraxinus✦ElmUlmus✦OakQuercus✦
Catalog
What’s in the workshop
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01Furniture and tabletopsBurl and slab tables, river tables, custom tabletops4 for sale→
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02Bowls, platters and boardsCarved bowls, serving platters, cutting boards25 for sale→
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03Slabs and roundsChestnut, ash, mulberry, Osage orange, oak burl11 for sale→
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04Joinery lumberDry square-edged and planed chestnut and ash boards5 for sale→
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05Blanks for makersOsage orange offcuts, burl, poles — for carving and turning3 for sale→
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06ServicesSlab flattening on a router sled1 for sale→
Species
Wood that grows nearby
01
Sweet chestnut
Castanea sativa
Sweet chestnut is a tree of the Western Caucasus and the Black Sea coast, an heir to the ancient Colchis forests. Its wood resembles oak: bold growth rings, a warm honey tone and plenty of tannins, so chestnut tolerates moisture well and lasts for decades.
Browse →02Osage orange
Maclura pomifera
Osage orange comes from North America; in southern Russia it was once planted in shelterbelts and living hedges. It is one of the densest and strongest woods there is: the Osage people made bows from it, and French settlers called it bois d'arc — “bow wood”.
Browse →03Black mulberry
Morus nigra
In the south, mulberry trees grow beside houses for decades. The wood is dense and hard, with contrasting rings from golden yellow to chocolate.
Browse →04Burl
a growth on a trunk or root
A burl is a growth on a tree's trunk or root in which the fibers twist in every direction. It gives the most complex figure wood can have, and it cannot be grown on purpose: every burl is an accident decades in the making.
Browse →05Southern magnolia
Magnolia grandiflora
Magnolia is one of the symbols of subtropical Sochi. Its wood is even, dense and pale, with olive and greenish streaks.
Browse →06Ash
Fraxinus
Ash is strong and springy, light in color, with a crisp ring pattern. It is used for furniture, stairs and tool handles — it carries load well and ages beautifully.
Browse →
About the maker
“I know every piece of wood in the workshop and what it has been through. That is what I sell”
I work alone: I select the wood, dry it, work it and make the pieces. The workshop started out as IRON WOOD and is now MASSIV MASTER. Every piece carries the “Made in Sochi” mark.
More about the workshop →See it in person
The burl table is waiting in Sochi
The showpiece — a table from a single oak burl — stands in the office: IRON SERVICE, 5 Moskovskaya St., Sochi. Come and see it, touch it; coffee and the story of how it was made are included.
Slabs and lumber can be chosen at the workshop: 52M Plastunskaya St., Sochi. Please arrange a visit in advance.
