I am an aspiring cabinet maker with a growing body of work, real workshop experience, and a genuine commitment to the craft. My background is in Art History (2:1, University of Sussex) — an education in design thinking, material culture and craft that I now apply directly at the bench.
I have just completed the Master Hand Tool Woodworking course at the London School of Furniture. Prior to this I had two short work experience placements at Wardour Workshops in Wiltshire — three weeks in January 2025 and three weeks in January 2026 — where I was introduced to the workshop machines and given the opportunity to design and build a coffee table from a recycled oak tabletop, modelled in Fusion 360 and cut with self-made jigs.
I am seeking a full-time workshop position and can commit until February 2027. I am physically capable, safe, detail-obsessed, and at my best when I am making things well in a professional environment.
Designed and built during a work experience placement at Wardour Workshops in Wiltshire. The top was cut from a recycled oak table — already a beautiful piece of timber — which I re-proportioned and rebuilt as a new piece from the ground up.
I started with Fusion 360 to resolve the proportions, joinery details and arch profile before making any cuts. The main joinery feature is large-format through-dovetails at every corner. The arch cut-out on each leg panel was router-templated from a custom MDF jig and refined by hand. Finished with Rubio monocoat.
This circular-top side table was made in the first three weeks of the Master Hand Tool Woodworking course at LSF. The design was taken from a period woodworking manual and proportions adapted. Joinery includes mortise-and-tenon legs, halving joints at the cross-stretchers, and hidden dovetails.
The circular top was shaped with a bandsaw and refined by hand using a spokeshave and compass plane.
The main case-construction project of the LSF course. Open-plan with a fixed shelf and piston-fit drawer below. The carcase is solid ash throughout — selected for heavily figured grain. All four corners joined with hand-cut half-blind dovetails.
The piston-fit drawer closes on air resistance alone. The drawer handle is hand shaped from satinwood. Inside finished with shellac; outside with Odie’s oil.
Precision hand tool work on a small scale. The challenge was cutting consistent through-dovetails in heavily figured walnut where unpredictable grain requires careful sawing and controlled chisel work.
All four corners cut and fitted by hand — saw to the line, chisel from both faces and pared to a consistent depth. Interior surfaces hand-planed to finish-ready quality before assembly.
The Lighthouse Studios course ran one day per week over 12 weeks and covered furniture making fundamentals. The main completed piece was this two-tier spice shelf, designed and built to a functional brief.
Alongside the main project, the course involved joinery exercises — through-dovetails, mortise layout and cutting, and a complex sample combining multiple joint types. These exercises built the precision required before moving to LSF.