Tēnā koutou
We are Jeremy and Rachel Trotter, proud owners of Ruff Tūporo. We have three lovely girls and we love living on the beautiful Hibiscus Coast. Ruff Tūporo is a very special name conceptualised by ourselves and our younger daughter Soraya.
Ruff Tūporo means “rough wood”. Here at Ruff Tūporo we create beautiful usable art from Aotearoa’s finest native and exotic woods. From the salvaging of various woods after storms and floods to finding old and unwanted native furniture, we enjoy bringing these woods back to life with the hope that people will enjoy displaying these pieces in their homes, as unique pieces of our country’s fading but not forgotten, heritage.
Ruff Tūporo integrates various woodworking techniques such as chainsaw carving, chisel carving, free-hand router carving, poker burning, flame art, natural oxidising and of course, finishing all our products with our own tried and tested, special heated oil and wax blend which is done in two stages. This finishing process really enhances the natural appearance of all our wood products and brings out the beautiful deep, earthy rich tones of each unique piece.
This woodworking journey started at the age of 14 in the small town of Taumarunui, in the heart of the King Country.
From there, being involved in the sawmilling industry for around 25 years, to working with a local woodworker who specialised in making some incredible Rimu furniture, to manufacturing bandsaws and sharpening circular saws, to now currently creating our own unique style of wooden products. You could say “wood”, has always been in our blood.
Ruff Tūporo has a very unique style which many experienced wood workers may frown upon, as we prefer the more raw and unfinished look on our products. This process is deliberate. And as much as we can, we lightly dress each board maintaining the milling process (saw marks), which gives the unique finish you see on many of our products. This is due to being a saw miller half of my life and finding an appreciation for the scars left on wood which these larger breakdown saws leave. Because these saws do the bulk of the work, we feel we have to give credit where credit is due and so choose to show this in our finishes.
Therefore, the variations in colour, size, grain, markings and defects give all of our wood products a unique finish and effect.
– Jeremy Trotter
What started out as gifting chopping boards and grazing platters to family and friends, to taking on the feedback of the quality and functionality of these items, resulted in developing a design, brand name and logo.
Wood or “Tūporo” has been a big part of Jeremy’s life
Jeremy has always taken a keen interest over the years in finding things that were unused, broken or unwanted and transforming it into something that has the potential to become a great piece of workable art.
From pallets on the side of the road to old drawers, un-wanted cabinets, hutch dressers or coffee tables, if it is made of solid wood it can be made into something quite special!
In fact, one our first pieces of furniture we created was a three metre (12 seater) long dining table made from pallets using a handsaw and a rasp with a few nails and bolts. It was quite an achievement and a piece of furniture we have many cherished memories of. There is nothing quite so satisfying as to make something with your own hands and to stand back and look at the finished product (bangs, cuts and all) and realize that your own hands made it.
What started out as gifting chopping boards and grazing platters to family and friends, to taking on the feedback of the quality and functionality of these items, resulted in developing a design, brand name and logo. It is like we were always going to do something that involved working with wood, where Jeremy could put his experience, creativity, craftsmanship and workmanship to good use.
Why Ruff Tūporo?
This name came from a brainstorm one afternoon with Jeremy and his younger daughter. Behind every finished product is the process of sourcing that timber whether it be slabs of macro-carpa or unwanted drawers or units made from native timber and breaking it down. Safe to say this process is laborious and “ruff!” Jeremy is able to look at it and visualise how he can get the most out of it, and eventually design a workable piece of art. From there, you get “tūporo” – a stunning piece of wood with its own story, restored and repurposed for new memories to come!
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