Furniture Manufacturing in Stone, Wood and Metal

Scale

A hotel project and a single coffee table are the same job at different sizes.

What grows with a project is the number of pieces, the depth of the packing and the number of people on site. What does not grow is the drawing, the approval of the actual block, or the inspection before the crate is closed.

A project

A piece schedule for a hotel, a villa or a restaurant. One drawing set and one reference block for the whole scheme, so the lobby and the guest rooms are cut from the same stone and finished the same way.

A wide view of the MOREONYX showroom in Shuitou with tables and chairs — The Shuitou showroom, where finished pieces are held before dispatch. A showroom, not a factory floor. What is visible here is the small part of the work.

One piece

One coffee table, taken through the same process: a drawing to approve, a photograph of the actual block, a finished piece checked and photographed before it is packed.

A round black and white marble coffee table with objects arranged on it beside a white sofa — A round table, cut and polished, photographed where it will be used. A finished piece. Colour on screen depends on the light in the room it is photographed in.

Three materials

Stone, wood and metal, under one order.

Most workshops do one of the three and buy the other two in. That is where a project goes wrong: the stone arrives on one schedule, the frame on another, and the joint between them is settled on site by whoever is standing there. We cut the stone, machine the timber and fabricate the metal, so the joint is decided on the drawing before anything is made.

Stone

Cut from blocks, not assembled from tiles.

A top is taken from one block, so the veining runs continuously across the surface and out through the edges; where a design calls for a bookmatched pair, two adjacent slabs are opened and mirrored. Tops are hollowed, squared, polished and finished underneath as well as on top. The stone is cut in Shuitou, Guangdong.

A dining table with a black and white marble top on a sculptural marble base, in a showroom — A dining table cut from one block, shown finished in the Shuitou showroom. A finished piece in a showroom, photographed for the catalogue. The block it was cut from is no longer available.

Small carved onyx objects and vessels in amber and cream tones arranged on a table — Objects cut from onyx, cut and polished alongside the furniture. A display of finished objects. Onyx is translucent and the piece you receive will not look like the photograph under the same light.

Timber

Frames, tops and carcasses, machined from a drawing.

Solid timber is turned, milled and profiled on the CNC; sheet and veneer are cut on the machine and edge-finished by hand where the drawing asks for it. Timber is checked board by board before it is cut, because a fault found at the wrong moment is a fault that reaches the client.

Turned solid timber pedestal bases stacked on a pallet in a workshop — Pedestal bases turned from solid timber, waiting for sanding and finishing. Unfinished components in a workshop. The timber is a species and a grade chosen per project; we do not publish a fixed list.

Organic shaped table tops cut on a CNC router in a woodworking workshop — Tops cut on a CNC router, profiled from a drawing rather than by hand. Components in progress. The profile on a finished piece follows the drawing you approve.

Rows of bentwood chair frames stacked on the floor of a workshop — Bent and cut chair frames, stacked as they come off the jig. Frames in progress, before jointing, sanding and finishing.

Wooden chair frames silhouetted against a window in a workshop — Frames against the morning light. Timber is checked by eye before it is cut. A workshop, photographed in daylight. Grain, colour and figure change with every board.

A worker assembling a solid timber chair frame on a workshop floor — A frame assembled and jointed by hand, then sanded through the grain. A workshop. The person in the frame is at work and is not identified.

Metal

Bases, frames and fixings, finished to the surface you specify.

Sheet is profiled on the laser and pressed to shape; frames are welded, ground and polished; finishes are powder coat, brushed, polished or a patina. Metal is what holds stone up, and it is where furniture quietly fails, so the joint is drawn and not improvised.

A showroom of powder coated and polished steel tables, stools and frames on a polished floor — The metal collection — powder coated steel, brushed and polished finishes. A display of finished pieces. The colour of a coated frame is matched to your sample, not to the photograph.

A press forming machine in a metal fabrication shop with sheet steel parts on a bench — Sheet steel pressed to shape on the form we own for the job. A workshop. Tooling is made for your project and stays yours.

A CNC laser cutter cutting a large sheet of steel in a fabrication shop — Steel profiled on the laser cutter, cut from the flat pattern of the drawing. A workshop. The cut edge is finished by hand afterwards; a laser alone does not give a finished edge.

A worker welding a polished steel table base in a fabrication workshop — A base welded, then ground and polished back to the drawing. A workshop. The person in the frame is at work and is not identified.

Rows of polished stainless steel table legs and bases laid out on a workshop floor — Legs and bases finished and laid out in rows before packing. A working floor. The photograph shows one part of the workshop at one moment, not a capacity figure.

A pedestal side table with a round top and a bronze toned steel column — A pedestal table in bronze-toned steel, finished and ready. A finished piece. The patina is a finish, not a coating: it will change with handling.

How it runs

Six steps, and you see every one of them.

Nothing is cut before the drawing is approved, and nothing is crated before it has been checked against that drawing.

01

Brief

A drawing, a file, a photograph or a piece schedule. We come back with what we can make from it, what we would change, and what we cannot do.

02

Drawing

A shop drawing for approval: every part, every material, every joint, every tolerance. This is the version that gets signed.

03

Material

For stone, photographs of the actual block and the slab layout before a cut is made. For timber, the board. For metal, the finish sample.

04

Prototype

One piece made and photographed. A change here is cheap; a change after a batch has started is not.

05

Production

The batch: cut, machined, fabricated, finished, assembled.

06

Inspection and dispatch

Pieces dry-laid together, checked against the drawing, photographed, then crated. The crate is photographed before the lid goes on.

A marble topped round table on a copper toned steel pedestal base standing on a workshop floor — A stone top set on a steel pedestal — two materials, one piece, one drawing. In the workshop, before final fitting. The stone will be matched to the block that is approved.

A timber slat table top being fitted to a steel frame in a workshop — A timber top on a steel frame. The joint is decided at the drawing stage, not on the bench. Assembly in progress. Fixings are chosen for the finish you specify and the use the piece will have.

Cartons and crates stacked in a metal works warehouse awaiting dispatch — Crated and ready. Every piece is packed so it arrives in the condition it left in. Our own warehouse. We do not publish stock figures, because they change daily.

In the workshop

The workshop, as it is.

Four films from the floor. They are not styled, they carry no commentary and they have no sound. What is on the screen is the work.

The metal collection A walk through the metal collection: tables, stools and frames, finished and ready to ship. Filmed in our metal works. No sound is carried on this clip.

Machining and frames CNC profiling of the tops, then the chair frames coming off the jig. Filmed in our timber workshop. No sound is carried on this clip.

The production floor Welding, grinding and finishing on the floor — the part of the process nobody photographs. Filmed on our production floor. No sound is carried on this clip.

One piece, more than one material A stone top on a metal base, brought together on the bench. Filmed in our workshop. No sound is carried on this clip.

Filmed in our own workshops in Shuitou and at the metal works. The people in these films are at work and are not identified.

How we work with you

Six ways to work with us, and what stays yours in each.

OEM

You send the drawing and the material. We build to it: your name on the invoice, your finish, your packaging, your barcode, your label.

ODM

You send the brief. We propose the material, the structure and the finish, and revise until it is right. The result is yours to sell under your own name.

B2B

Wholesale to dealers, designers and studios, from the published collection, cut to order.

B2C

Direct to the end buyer, through your own storefront or through ours.

E-commerce supply

Supply for online marketplaces and direct-to-consumer stores: packed to your brand, barcoded, shipped as single units or as sets, with the documentation a platform asks for.

Brand authorised production

We manufacture under your brand. Your drawings stay yours, your models are not offered to anyone else, and nothing about the project is used in our marketing.

Confidentiality

Everything about your project stays inside the project.

A mutual non-disclosure agreement is signed before drawings are exchanged. We sign yours or ours, whichever your counsel prefers.

Jigs, fixtures and any tool made for a piece belong to the client once they are paid for, and they stay in our workshop for that client alone.
Photographs taken on our floor are not published, and a factory visit is not photographed for marketing.
A piece made under your brand is not shown in our collection and is not offered to another buyer.
Nothing about your project appears in our marketing, our social accounts or our references without your written permission.
Your drawings, files and models are returned or destroyed on request when the order closes.

Straight answers

What a buyer asks us first.

These are the questions that decide whether a workshop is worth a trial order. Here are our answers before you have to ask them.

Will you sell my model to anyone else?

No. A piece made under your brand is not offered to another buyer, not shown in our collection, and not used in our marketing. That is a term in the agreement, not a courtesy.

Who owns the tooling?

You do. Jigs, fixtures and any tool made for your piece are yours once they are paid for, and they are used for your orders only.

What if the block is not like the sample?

It is sent to you before cutting, with photographs and the slab layout. You approve the block, or we open another one. We do not cut on the assumption that it will be close enough.

How do you hold a tolerance on a long top?

Tolerances are written into the drawing and checked at inspection against that drawing, not against a general standard. If the drawing is not specific enough, we say so before the piece is made.

Can you keep a date?

We will give you a date and tell you early if it moves. We publish no lead times, so any date you are given is one somebody has looked at.

What will you not put in writing?

We do not publish prices, lead times or minimum order quantities, because they depend on the stone and the piece. We do not claim a certification we cannot document. What we will do is quote you against a drawing, in writing, and tell you exactly what we have not tested.

Work with us

Start with a drawing.

Send a drawing, a file, a photograph of a piece you like, or a piece schedule. We will tell you what we can make from it, what we would change, and what it would take. If we are not the right workshop for the piece, we will say that too.

Two hundred and fifty-eight: pieces in the published collection, each cut to order
62: stones in the catalogue
Three: materials cut, machined and fabricated under one order
Shuitou: Guangdong, China — where the stone is cut

A reply comes from the workshop, not from a queue.

From the collection

Pieces cut by this workshop

Every piece in the collection is cut to order, from a stone chosen for that piece, and listed with its size and its item code.

Arabescato White Console Table 63" x 17.7" x 30.3" MO-A001

Bvlgari Red Marble Console Table 65" x 14.2" x 33.5" MO-A002

Beige Travertine Console Table 65" x 14.2" x 33.5" MO-A003

Nero Marquina Console Table 65" x 14.2" x 33.5" MO-A004

Email info@moreonyx.com.

Trade and specification enquiries are answered by the production team, MOREONYX INDUSTRY.

Write to the workshop Trade programme The collection