Week Three of Term Three. Progress Update

With our Two Term Designer Makers now having left the workshop before Easter, our remaining Three Term students are either in the final stages of their first self-designed projects or pushing ahead with their second. The goal is for each student to complete two self-designed pieces before the end of the course. With that in mind, many set themselves more ambitious and technically challenging briefs, drawing on everything they’ve learned so far and the skills they still want to develop with professional guidance on hand.

With just under three months remaining, everyone is very aware of how quickly that time will pass, but there is still enough room to take on substantial making challenges.

Brian’s Danish Inspired Lounge Chair

Brian has moved into an exciting new challenge with a Danish inspired, mid-century modern lounge chair.

With laminated armrests underway and some extensive hand-shaping ahead, this project will require a real balance of patience, precision, and symmetry. Achieving flowing, mirrored forms on a chair like this is never easy, but it’s exactly the kind of challenge that so many makers love.

As the piece develops, it’ll be exciting to see those sculptural elements emerge and the chair begin to take on its final personality.

Tom’s Overlocker Cabinet

Tom is now in the final stages of his sewing machine cabinet, with sanding nearly complete and finishing oil just around the corner.

This has been an incredibly technical project, demanding a high level of precision at every stage, from large scale opening carcass alignment and decorative slotted dovetails, to the careful integration of drawers and hinged cabinet components within one seamless facade.

One particularly daunting stage involved routing long inlay style grooves across the completed cabinet to visually tie the whole composition together. They were some nerve-racking cuts where any wobble at the wrong moment could undo weeks of work.

Thankfully, Tom pulled it off beautifully. 🙌🏻

The result is a crisp, highly detailed piece with excellent joinery and a huge amount of problem solving behind it. We’re very much looking forward to seeing this one fully assembled and finished.

Dalton’s Drinks Cabinet

Dalton has stepped up in scale considerably for his next piece: a large drinks cabinet featuring substantial laminated curves.

This project has already involved serious preparation, including the construction of a massive former for two large curved laminated sections that will ultimately shape the upper carcass.

Alongside this, Dalton has been quickly progressing through other components, including base construction and drawer work.

As those dramatic curved forms begin to come together, this has all the makings of a particularly striking piece.

Jon’s Elm Cocktail Cabinet

John is also exploring the drinks cabinet route, though with his own distinct direction: a cocktail cabinet with integrated preparation shelf in elm, accented with sycamore.

This already promises to be a beautiful piece, with the warmth of elm paired against lighter sycamore details, and we’re looking forward to seeing how his usual technical accuracy translates into a more complex and sculptural build.

Ben’s Music Cabinet

Ben has now completed his gruelling sanding marathon, and the results were well worth it.

His music cabinet is finished and looks fantastic, built in oak with fumed oak slatted detailing. Over ninety individual slats wrap around the carcass, creating a strong visual rhythm and a real sense of precision throughout the piece.

Functionally, the cabinet includes two piston-fit drawers and a pull-out fascia on the top shelf, which aligns seamlessly with the drawer fronts to allow full access to his pedal setup. As a guitarist, the cabinet doubles as a dedicated amp stand, with the lower drawers providing storage for cables, accessories, and music equipment.

We love the interlocking top with the slats below. Combined with the consistent shadow gaps running around the piece, it creates a beautifully cohesive and highly resolved design.

A brilliant piece of work. Well done, Ben.

12-Week Course Starters

Alongside our Three Term students, we also welcomed a new intake after Easter as our 12-week Furniture Making Course began, filling the workshop benches for the summer months.

Much like the Designer Maker programme, the first few weeks have focused on tool preparation and early skill building projects. Students have already worked through octagonal breadboards and Chinese puzzle exercises, before moving on to dovetailing and their first dovetailed bookend project.

Next up, they’ll be heading to Duffield Timber in Ripon for a wood selection trip, choosing material for their remaining projects. From there, they’ll begin work on the bar stool project starting next week.

It’s shaping up to be a busy and intensive summer of making, and a real deep dive into furniture making over just one term. Students will be learning a wide range of techniques, building several pieces of furniture, and packing a huge amount of progression into a short space of time.

Looking Ahead

At this point in the term, what’s most exciting is seeing each student begin to lean more confidently into their own design language.

Across the workshop you can see the growing sense of ambition, bigger curves, complex forms, and increasingly refined craftsmanship.

We’re looking forward to sharing more as these projects develop over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that.

Upcoming Short Courses

We still have a small number of places available on upcoming courses:

5-Day Table Making with laminating and veneering — Two places left: June 8th to June 12th
2-Day Pencil Box Course — Two start dates: June 15th-16th & June 18th-19th
4-Week Furniture Making Course — Starting 29th June — only 1 place spaces remaining
Designer Maker Course (3-Term Programme) — Starting September — Fully booked
One place remains on the 2-term / international course starting this September, which may suit international students and could align with a 26-week study visa (subject to current regulations).

For full course details and booking: