To get furniture that exudes a strong Italian personality, you have to put yourself into the right hands: the calloused and work-worn hands of the Basi artisans. Their hands and their careful eyes manage the complete production cycle under the meticulous supervision of the designer. The Basi collections are born from a long process of quality where machines are used only where strictly necessary and man's handiwork is constant and precious.
Everything starts from the selection of the sawnwood: from the moment when the carpenters come into contact with the wood, minutely checking the quality, assessing its texture and solidity by touch and visually checking for any imperfections. It is from these gestures - a real and traditional ritual that is still alive today - that a hand-checked product is born. The wood that is ready for production starts to take shape when the element is outlined with a circular saw. The solid block of wood is divided into the pieces needed to create the individual parts of the piece of furniture, in a process where machines are required as much as the experience of the man using them. But this is not enough.
At this point, the artisan intervenes again with great care in this precision task, adjusting the thickness of the wood using a hand planer. Still by hand, the accuracy of the cut is checked. And then on to the next step. Using routers - special types of cutters – the joint grooves for the various parts of the piece are carved. It is a long and delicate high precision work that only a true expert artisan can perform. Artisans like the master craftsmen who work on Basi furniture.
The outline of the exact shape of the wood is made at an electronically-controlled work station, a robot that carries out special carvings and processes. Once the various elements have been perfected, the work continues.
The first work cycle ends with selecting and positioning a sheet of wood applied on the surface of the piece of furniture to achieve a design that enhances the beauty of the wood's grain. Then the manual assembly of the various prepared elements starts. The frame, as yet unfinished, is assessed and checked by the master carpenters together with the designer.
Once again, this is a part of the process where little is said but much is observed.
Only when everyone agrees that the work has been carried out well the job can continue.
From here on, the cycle enters its more characteristic phase and the work is purely manual, using the skilled movements and taps repeated over the generations.
The wooden frame is sandpapered and planed, scrupulously finished until a perfectly smooth surface is obtained.
Now the wood can be treated and impregnated with completely non-toxic water-based varnish.
When the work of the master carpenters is finished, the elements made of Italian coach hide can be inserted.
The best hides are chosen, cut by hand then sewn and positioned on the wooden support.
The piece of furniture is now ready to become a reassuring presence for generations to come.