Introduction
Years ago, when I was but a little boy, I discovered wood and although I later followed a career in aviation, the lure of this versatile and varied material was always nagging away at me. I spent my teenage years at a boarding school where woodwork was on the curriculum and I will never forget the sight that greeted me when I first visited the workshop: saws, chisels, clamps and mallets were hung all over the walls; numerous benches were distributed around the floor and encircling them were a great number of lathes. My father turned to me, knowingly, with a glint in his eye and I knew that here I had an opportunity to really explore this magic medium.
Over forty years later, having retired from aviation, I have the cabinet-workshop that this career has funded - Table saw, band saw, compound mitre, lathe, planers, CNC and yes, my own chisels and mallets and clamps. In the intervening years I have watched the experts and stumbled my way through projects, accumulating by each one the skills and techniques that have stood the test of time. Exactly why did our forefathers make panelled doors? Because the modern, stable sheet materials just weren’t available to them and wide, single boards would tend to split as they dried. Or a dovetailed drawer – what is it about that neat row of interlocking pins and tails? I now know it is the craftsmanship, which has evolved over the centuries and makes the best use of the natural qualities of this most magical fibre to produce a tap-tight joint with no mechanical fasteners.
In timber, the Creator has gifted us the gold-standard of materials –
and He knew a thing or two about it Himself.
I now have a new focus - to offer those who need it a bespoke cabinetry service, anything from typical household items to more specific or individual pieces that can be personalised via the CNC engraving facility: Table, desk, bookcase, bed, wall-cabinet, or perhaps an outdoor sign for your business or home. Flick through the portfolio and see if anything grabs you.
