Michael Heard Email and Phone Number

My focus is on bringing back lost trades and skills of times past and adding a modern perspective. I respect traditional ways of doing things. My interests are around timber, metal and exotic cattle breeds. I pride myself on building a house for my family, building an arena for our horse riding pursuits, felling a tree, barking it and in doing so turning it into a strainer (corner) post for a fence on our property.More than just resurrecting lost arts, I'm interested in respecting what has been and where a modern approach might be useful. As an example, creating metal castings has always been both laborious and provides a sub-optimal result, maker's marks, jagged edges and imperfections of the timber negative. By introducing a 3D printer into the process, I've been able to quickly model designs for clients and make a perfect mold so I can concentrate on the artisan side of things.Now I produce very limited, high-end, quality timber and metalwork products. For example, a two meter wide, 100+ year old tree came down on our property. Beautiful timber, its seasoning for six months. A couple of slabs are going to be the center island in our house. The rest could be a breakfast bar, coffee table or even a unique one-off bathtub, or a...?Additionally, I produce custom brands for a variety of uses. These brands are like the wax seals of old; they are my customer's unique mark, they use them to stamp their particular insignia or logo on a range of products, such as promotional cutting boards, leather keyrings, coasters through to stock brands.I grew up knowing how to make something out of nothing, eating noes to tail and understanding where everything comes from. I've been in the mines for the last 12 years, my role has been to put the landscape back to what it was before the mines came through. Operating equipment from a D11R, 24M, 789C, 793F, EX-8000-6, going home to a Stockhorse mare the size of a Greyhound and a dog the size of a Thoroughbred.