Furniture reborn as musical instruments in Ukraine
Todchuk uses a variety of woods including oak, beechwood, maple wood and others.
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian Bogdan Todchuk has found an eco-friendly way to craft musical instruments - instead of using raw wood, he searches local landfills for old wooden furniture to turn into guitars, violins and other instruments.
Todchuk started on the path of using recycled furniture to make instruments when he found a set of old table legs on the street as he was returning home from work one day.
A look at the back of the first guitar he made reveals a patchwork of table and chair legs and wood from a sofa frame, all painstakingly glued together.
Todchuk said each time he has glued pieces of wood together and has worked on the shape, music starts playing in his head as he sees what was previously just pieces of wood become an instrument.
As well as different pieces of furniture, Todchuk uses a variety of woods including oak, beechwood, maple wood and others.
An IT specialist at a Ukrainian state-run defence company, Todchuk said manufacturers normally use what is called ‘hard wood’ to produce musical instruments.
He said wood from old furniture is of higher quality and gives a better sound as it dries out naturally, in contrast to raw wood which is normally dried in special ovens.
Musical instruments can be made out of any material, Todchuk added, saying that it was important to "use the planet’s resources more effectively".
Todchuk’s guitars are more affordable compared to guitars made by famous brands and he said they sound more powerful. The artisan also founded a Facebook page for repairing musical instruments.
Oleh Kosenko, one of Todchuk’s clients, says he is able to repair any sort of damage to an instrument, and praised the sound made by a guitar he owns made by Todchuk.
Todchuk said he aims to found a world-wide movement of craftsmen who manufacture recyclable musical instruments.
