Rolling pin beech

A product that leaves Konrad Horsch's workshop is anything but just a piece of wood sawn into shape or turned - it's a piece of wood with a history. For every knife edge that passes through his hands, every rolling pin that he puts the finishing touches on, he can provide the biography: Where was the tree from which the workpiece is made, when was it felled and under what circumstances, which plants, animals or fungi have left traces in the wood, why and in what form? Instead of buying from the timber merchant, he therefore prefers to buy his raw material from where it grew - then, as they say in specialist circles, "negotiations are conducted standing on the trunk". Or he recycles old wood and puts it to a new use, often inspired by its original purpose.

Working only with solid wood is a matter of course for the cabinetmaker from Iserlohn, in a manufactory and with minimal use of machinery. Every object that bears his name is made by him, regardless of whether it is a one-off piece such as large solitaire furniture, art objects for public spaces or products made in small series such as those in the Manufactum range. Even if they are not unique, they are made with the same attention to detail as one-of-a-kind pieces, something Horsch learned during his studies with the well-known cabinetmaker James Krenov in California. Last but not least, the character of the wood alone makes each piece unique. Knotholes, annual rings and grains are simply not uniform - and if they were, the wood would also lose its appeal for Horsch.

Out of their own lack often arise the best products. Year after year, tarte flambée are offered at the Christmas market of the Historic Factory Maste-Barendorf - where Konrad Horsch runs his workshop - and year after year, those in charge of making the dough flatbreads were annoyed by inadequate rolling pins that were not up to handling the tough and thin dough that had to be rolled out. Konrad Horsch developed a sample piece for his own use, solid, made from one continuous piece of beech, without attached handles, instead turned as a whole. The absence of an axis around which the roller rotates requires adapted handling, since the spherical handles move with it - but the ergonomic design intuitively ensures optimum power transmission and easy guidance. The device was so well received that Horsch produced it in larger quantities the following year and offered it for sale. The beech wood used is characterized not only by its exceptionally good stability, but also by a closed-pored, smooth surface that is particularly suitable for contact with baked goods.