Grafa is a range of hand crafted gardening tools made in Melbourne, Australia. The business is headed up by couple, Travis and Harriet, who are keen gardeners. They launched their range in 2014 and have since put thousands of their beautiful tools into discerning gardener's hands. They've been featured in local and international design press.
Travis made his first copper gardening tool in 2011. He was inspired by the work of the Austrian naturalist movement, which showed that using copper tools could benefit soils in agriculture. His elegant range of artisan digging tools has evolved to incorporate timber-handled designs and other unique variations. “I love working with copper,” he says. “It’s an extraordinary metal. Malleable enough to shape into interesting and organic curves but strong enough to last you a lifetime in the garden.”
After refining each prototype, the couple make most of their tools by hand at their home studio in Melbourne’s inner west.
One of the few copper tool producers in the world, Grafa boasts an inviting collection of handmade garden planters, trowels, forks, scoops and hoes. The tools maintain a sense of old-world charm, similar to the classicism of old pocket knives, axes and hammers. Travis says he finds inspiration in the way these keepsakes “seem to last forever” and are passed down through generations.
IImage credits: Grafa & The Design Files
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