MATERIALS
Unique and high quality
When FOAK was born, our very first product attribute we wanted to achieve was to use the best quality materials we could fine. As we make physical constructed products that are used everyday and tactical, this was a centre point. Not just high quality but sustainable and different to your everyday products, we founds these in a variety of ways explained here.
Knife steels
We source all our knife and tableware steel from Sheffield, primarily Liberty Steels of Stocksbridge.
Stocksbridge is where Samuel Fox acquired an old cotton mill in 1842 to convert it into a wire mill so he could make his own steel instead of buying it. Samuel Fox’s mill went on to acquiring crucibles, Bessemer converters and furnaces to make and roll steel for many industries throughout history.
Not only did Sheffield have a major part in the steel manufacture during the turn of the century, but it is also where Harry Brearley invented stainless steel. Whilst researching steel that could resist erosion caused by high temperatures, he created alloy carbon steel samples with etching marks created by nitric acid in alcohol. The chromium steels he found resisted chemical attacked including vinegar and lemon juice. The first true stainless steel was believed to be a 0.24% C and 12.8% Cr ferrous alloy.
SF100, also known as silver fox 100 as a nod to Samuel Fox is a reinvention of the original stainless steel with modern steel production techniques and knowledge. This steel is a fine-grained high carbon stainless steel, its 0.68% C would usually be seen as a little too high for stainless steel. But due to its Chromium and other chemical composition of this steel it sits in a beautiful position where it can be both, giving it unique knife properties.
Handle materials
All the materials we use have been tried and tested for durability, toughness and surface scratch resistance. We picked out the materials we tested with the highest in all these properties, along side the the modern aesthetics and design presentation of these materials.
We predominantly use 5 different materials to create our classic ranges, these include:
Black Canvas Micarta
Zebrano
Natural Jute Micarta
Ocean Recycled Plastic
Hybrid Woods
Micarta is material that was first invented to use in high strength electrical insulation and aerospace parts. It is laminate normally made up of linen, canvas, paper or carbon fibre. The materials are laminated with phenolic resins and cured under high pressure to create an extremely solid and moisture resistant board material.
Ocean recycled plastic is the name of a material from the company Smile Plastics in Swansea UK. This material is made from 100% recycled PET and is 100% recyclable in all local recycling centres. The recycled material is sourced from a variety of areas, mainly from food packaging that was going to land fill or from clean up operations. This material is 100% waterproof and mould resistant, it is also highly scratch and heat resistance. Even if the surface gets damaged, it can be resurfaced easily with a little sand and polish.
Clay
Our ceramics are all made from one type of clay which is earthenware, mainly white in colour.
The white clay we use is the best clay we feel for it purpose, the finished surface is a smooth and lightly textured one. When throwing there is no other clay like it, no grit or inconsistencies and is easily malleable when spinning at speed.
We bisque fire out white ceramics to roughly 1100 degrees C, then a glaze range of 1020 – 1160 degrees C. The shrinkage from wet to fired is generally 10% so everything we make is originally a little larger than when you get your hands on it!
Some of our plates are created using buff clay as this has a more strengthened property when hand building. This also allows the large flat span of a plate to be stronger in the centre and resist cracking.
All our ceramics are fired using low temperature earthenware glazes, these are using done in dual colours. The act of mixing two glazes together has to be done with knowledge of the end product, each time you glaze a piece of ceramics there are always factors that make that piece unique. This is why we have glazing experts at Clay Studio Manchester look over our glazing before firing.
Furniture timber
Majority of our timber used in furniture making is sourced from Worksop Timber Co. The wood we use is FSC certified and is usually used as scaffold boards.
This timber is European whitewood which comes to us in rough sizes of 3900 x 225 x 38mm. These are then planed all round and cut to size. After cutting the boards, these are sanded from 60 grit up to 320 grit sandpaper then stained and coated with 3 layers of lacquer.
Whitewood is a great solid timber for small furniture construction, it is easy to work with but has a solid grain structure and a small amount of knots. Easy to work with but needs to be cared for and stored appropriately, that is why we store all our timber in a stable environment within our workshop.
If you would like us to make you a table but would like a different material, please get in touch.