Day 1: The Make Works Christmas Countdown

For the Make Works Christmas Countdown this year, we will be telling you a bit about different materials each day, with suggestions about where you can work with it in Scotland.

Day 1: Cork 

Cork is a natural material grown in the bark of trees in southwest Portugal and parts of Africa. It’s a buoyant, elastic and near-impermeable; which is why it is used in products such as bottle-stoppers and insulation materials. 

If using cork yourself, it comes in a variety of densities and colours; based on how old the tree is and where it is from. Cork can be cut, moulded, casted, formed, turned and sanded; parallel with many processes you might otherwise associate with wood. The cork industry is relatively sustainable, as cork bark is harvested annually so as not to harm the trees, allowing them to regrow new cork for the following years’ harvest. 

As cork is not grown in the UK, you do need to import it. Suppliers such as Jelinek Cork Group in Bath and Charles Cantrill in the West Midlands will deliver. In Scotland, most open workshops and sculpture studios will allow you to work with cork on their machines.