Birch plywood is an often overlooked material when it comes to making fine furniture. Sure, it’s used regularly to make kitchens and it is also often used as the substrate when veneering, but it is rarer to see it openly on display elsewhere in a home. So, it was a nice change when a good client came to me and said that they would like some bookcases to be made from birch plywood. Having just moved into a new build they wanted something with a clean, modern feel that retained the pale colour of the birch and the ‘end-grain’ of the exposed plies. The most common thickness of birch plywood…
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The “Sparrow” Bench and Shoe-Rack
This is my "Sparrow" bench/shoe-rack made to a client's requested dimensions to fit within their hallway. I decided to make if from a combination of ash and walnut. The ash would give strong grain and if I was lucky it would also provide some interesting colour variations. Walnut is a favourite of mine and I knew it would provide a rich chocolate colour which would act in great contrast to the paler ash.
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The “Redpoll” Coffee Table
Descending from Ben Vorlich the other day, a wee flock of small birds flew over my head twittering away to themselves. Not knowing what they were, I whipped out the Merlin app and it told me they were Redpolls - a small finch. Perfect, I thought. And that's the name I have given to my new coffee table.
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Five Years to Make a Windsor Chair
Five years ago I made my first Windor Chair as part of a group of students on the Professional Course at the Chippendale International School of Furniture. Five years after that first build, I finally make my own.
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Ash and Sapele Creepie (#25)
Just a nice wee simple creepie made from olive ash and sapele. The top is two-piece and almost bookmatched and shows ripple at one end and spalted dark brown streaking at the other. Side skirts and legs are sapele with walnut pegs into the legs. Dimensions: H 227 x W 430 x D 230 mm.
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The Frankenspline Creepies (#23 and #24)
A new design of creepies with walnut splines giving the appearance of stitching - hence the name given to these stools. Made from my own Scottish Dumfriesshire oak...
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“Chaffinch” Bedside Cabinet (#3)
It's great when a customer likes their first piece of furniture so much that they ask me to make another so that they have a matching pair.
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Spalted Olive Ash Creepie (#21) and Double-heart Elm Creepie (#22)
A pair of creepies photographed out in the wild at Dirleton Primary School's Rainbow Orchard. One made from olive ash and the other made from elm.
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Yew and Walnut Creepie (#20)
A creepie made from Scottish yew and walnut. Walnut pegs in the side skirts. Simple cut-out to the base of the legs to make some ‘feet’. Dimensions: H 277 x W 460 x D 243 mm.
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Another “Eider” Sofa Table (#6) (and more)
A nice wee job at the start of the year was to make another of my Eider sofa tables. My favourite combination of timber for these tables is oak for the table top and base and walnut for the legs. This was requested in a slightly taller and wider size and in a variation I turned the stretcher between the two legs and wedged it in place.
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Olive Ash and Walnut Creepie (#19)
Another fantastic piece of olive ash makes up the top of this creepie, with ripples, streaks and crazy grain patterning. I had been holding on to this piece for a while and needed to make sure it was completely dry given that the grain direction is all over the place. The top has been flanked with simple, straight, walnut sides with a single peg at each corner. The legs are ‘white’ ash and olive ash with the traditional key motif cut-out. The weather was so good I took a few creepies for a photo shoot on a wall looking onto Tantallon Castle, the Bass Rock and the Isle of May.…
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More “Corncrakes”
My clients were undertaking an extensive refurbishment of their home in North Berwick prior to relocating there. A new kitchen was part of the refurbishment and they commissioned me to make them a "Corncrake" table with matching stools and chairs.
