5 April Eleven manufacturing secrets

January 19, 2023

Welcome to Charline's workshop

The creator of the April Eleven brand. In this article, I will take you behind the scenes of the making of our wooden children's room decoration objects. Follow me to discover my unique way of making these wooden objects.

Our workshop is a magical place where each piece is made with love and care. We use the best materials for our creations and we take the time to ensure that each object we make is perfect.

I am passionate about making unique wooden objects for children's rooms. Each product I create is different and has its own personality. I love playing with colors and patterns to create unique pieces that will bring a touch of magic to your child's room.

In our workshop you will be able to see how we use special tools to carve and shape wood to create perfect shapes. We also use painting and finishing techniques to give our objects a unique and high-quality appearance.

So, come and join us in our workshop to discover our way of making wooden decorative objects for children's rooms. With April Eleven, you can be sure that each piece is made with love and passion to offer your child a magical and unique room.

In this article I take you to my workshop in Capbreton in the south of the Landes. I reveal 5 news items from my daily life as a craftsman.

1 In my father's workshop:

This beautiful and vast space belongs to my father, a passionate cabinetmaker. Since my childhood, I have spent hours playing and exploring this place. When I enter, I am immediately enveloped by the warm smell of wood, which awakens in me a feeling of nostalgia.

Although my father is now retired, I continue his passion by working in this unique place. Since I was a child, I have always loved imagining shapes and seeing them come to life under our expert hands, using high-performance machines. Today, my creativity is nourished by years of tradition and know-how.

This space has become my refuge, a place where I can free my imagination and bring extraordinary projects to life. As a cabinetmaker, I have the privilege of working with one of the noblest raw materials there is: wood. Each piece is unique and carries within it a story that often goes back centuries.

If you are looking for furniture of incomparable quality, made with passion and know-how, contact me without delay. I would be happy to put my cabinetmaking talent at your service.

2 My training:

You may have read it somewhere on the site. I am a trained stylist and I attended the prestigious Esmod school. So I have no training in the field of crafts and therefore wood. To train myself and reach my current level of skill, I spent a lot of time with my father in his workshop. At the beginning of April Eleven, he was the one who carried out most of the manipulations. Gradually, he passed on his knowledge to me and I became more independent on the tasks I had to accomplish. Woodworking requires meticulousness and love for this material. When creating a wooden object, touch is one of the most used senses.

In this professional workshop I am not comfortable at all the positions and I leave it to my father to help me on certain machines. The large circular saw that we use to cut the large plywood panels is one of them. I have nevertheless invested in machines more suited to my work. The scroll saw, the oscillating cylinder sander and the drill press are some of them.

3 The choice of wood:

The wood I use for my creations is natural oak plywood, sourced from carefully selected European forests. More precisely, this wood is extracted from a German forest, where the best forestry practices are applied to guarantee impeccable quality and a limited carbon footprint.

As a craftsman, I am particularly concerned about the environmental impact of my activities. This is why I source my wood from suppliers who share my values and commitments. The natural oak plywood I use comes from responsibly managed forests, where rapid regeneration and sustainable management of forest resources are guaranteed.

By using this precious and durable wood, I bring an authentic and warm dimension to my creations. Oak, a noble and resistant material, is perfectly suited to the manufacture of robust and elegant furniture, which will stand the test of time with elegance. Thanks to this exceptional raw material, I can design unique and tailor-made pieces, which meet the highest demands of my customers.

If you are looking for quality wooden furniture, designed with passion and concern for the environment, do not hesitate to contact me. I would be delighted to accompany you in your project and to make you discover all the beauty and richness of natural oak plywood.

4 Prototype:

When new ideas come to mind, I immediately head to the workshop. I draw on a piece of scrap wood and grab the jigsaw to cut along those lines.

Once the shape is sanded, I take a few steps back to assess whether the product would be of both aesthetic and commercial interest. Wondering how many prototypes end up in the trash? Unfortunately, about 70% of the objects I design will never be made, because it is part of the process of creating unique wooden objects for our children's rooms. Discover my wooden creations for our little ones.

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5 The choice of glue:

The glue I use is a special white glue for wood. My father used it before me and I chose to follow the workshop manager.

This is a slow-setting glue. It requires tightening once the gluing is done. When I make a music box for example, I have to apply the glue to the support and then use a clamp to apply pressure between the two wooden parts for at least 1 night. The preparation time for a wooden music box is quite long.

Our glue is made in France near Le Mans.