I create bespoke solid wooden furniture which either in total, or in the greater part, is crafted using hand tools and traditional methods of joinery. This means my furniture is milled by hand, without the use of power tools and is joined using traditional woodworking methods like, dovetailing, mortising, lap joints, etc. , it is then also finished by hand and in some cases sanding is not used.  

I use a planer to mill rough stock to approximate thickness, I’ve used a router on pieces that were designed with full round overs for an entire cabinet. And at times a hand drill for the backs of cabinets. All other work and milling, including re-sawing is done by hand.

Hardware is typically brass or bronze, doweling is sometimes used and for pieces that have checks or weak sections, butterfly keys are utilized, normally as a structural element rather than design. I fashion my own knobs. I have not as yet used plywood for any part of any piece and I avoid stock that is near 3/4″ in thickness.

This is how I work. I prefer the process and I feel that the overall piece has a different tone and look than something made otherwise. This is not a criticism of machine work, nor is it purist dogma. It’s simply how I prefer to work, I can hear the sound of the wood being worked and what that tells me about what I’m doing versus the whine or drone of a power tool. It creates the results I prefer to see and no two pieces are alike.

Without question, working this way ensures that each piece will be unique even if the design, as in a set of chairs, is the same. It also means there will be “tracks” or “fingerprints” left behind by the process.