Meet Jack, Owner and Founder of Son of a Woodcutter
Son of a Woodcutter was started back in 2012 by Jack Fouracre, who grew up in the English countryside. Born the son of a woodcutter, he developed a passion for carpentry early on. But it wasn’t until he moved to Toronto, Canada that he founded Son of a Woodcutter. With most furniture options coming flat-packed in cardboard and a lot of low quality items on the market, he knew there was something missing.
“I wanted to fill my home with furniture that had a story, and that would stand the test of time. So Son of a Woodcutter was born.”
Get to know our founder and woodworker, Jack, and some of the behind-the-scenes workings of Son of a Woodcutter!
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An antiques dealer, believe it or not. I love history and to think about how particular items have passed through the ages when you get to hold them.
What was the first piece of furniture you ever built?
It was a coffee table made from reclaimed pallets. We roll our eyes at it now, as the trend was very drawn out eventually, to a point when even Home Depot was selling them I think. I still like em’ haha! They made a lot of people very happy and I shipped them all across North America, thanks to Etsy.
How is Son of a Woodcutter different today from when it first started?
You know, I miss the excitement of the unknown that I experienced when I first started. Now we are just thankful to be doing the work we love and having furniture to build! We have some really awesome commissions on right now. The way we build has evolved drastically over the years
What kind of obstacles have you overcome?
Our most notable obstacles were finding a space in Toronto and building a team that meshes well together. There have been some hurdles but the team we have put together is just AWESOME! A big part of running Son of a Woodcutter is rolling with the punches, which I love.
What was the most recent Son of a Woodcutter project?
Currently we are building an 8ft white oak dining table. The tabletop uses a lot of CNC machining so that we can achieve a pretty extreme knife edge profile. Then we also had to cut it in half to inlay a piece of brass into it!
What has been your favourite project to build?
The above white Oak table I just mentioned is set to be the most interesting to date. But I am also very proud of the 27ft long by 6ft wide live edge walnut table in 2020!
Why do you think people are drawn to custom wood furniture?
There are a number of reasons I feel that people are drawn to custom work. First, people love to support local. This has drastically increased recently due to the global pandemic and we will be forever thankful for it.
Customers are also making great use of smaller, and less regular spaces. So they are requesting compact dining tables, to seat 8 people in a kitchen nook for example. We are also getting a ton of requests for custom desks to fit into bay windows, attics and under stair spaces as people are scrambling to find a place to work from home. And these need to be made custom, you can't buy items like that off the shelf! We love being able to help make the experience of working from home better for people.
What’s your favourite wood species to work with?
Walnut. That deep, dark colour gets me every time. Although we have been using a lot more Oak lately, and that has been fun too.
What’s one thing you wished everyone knew about Son of a Woodcutter?
I want people to know that we are honest and kind, and not sales driven at all. We genuinely want people to get what they need and want. We aren’t here to meet sales targets or to take more from the world than what we need. We have a very hardworking, honest, kind and friendly team. That is the only thing I think people need to know.
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