About

By day, I work in technical leadership for software delivery. It’s coordination, trade-offs, reliability, and keeping services behaving as they should. Most of it happens in front of a screen or a whiteboard.

Wood turning is physical, noisy, and occasionally unforgiving. There’s no backlog, no diagrams, and especially no Jira. Just a piece of timber spinning at speed and the need to pay attention. It’s something I can do to unwind that doesn’t involve staring at a screen.

For years I’d said that when I retired I’d buy a lathe and make bowls. That felt like a safe, distant ambition. In Christmas 2023, my wife gifted my dad and I a woodturning course. That was enough to tip the balance. A lathe appeared in the garage soon after.

I eventually outgrew it (technically I burnt out the motor) and replaced it with something more substantial.

Locally Sourced Wood

Most of the timber I use is local. Friends and family let me know when a tree is coming down. Occasionally I’ve noticed Kirklees council have kindly left huge logs around the place. I’ve recently acquired some lovely Ash after chatting to a local tree surgeon. There’s something satisfying about taking wood thats grown in the places around you that might otherwise have been chipped or burnt and giving it a second life.

I like knowing where a piece started; which garden, which tree, which storm. Preparing, sealing, drying, and finally turning it is all part of the fun (waiting for a couple of years while it dries, less so). The grain and character of the timber usually have the final say in what it becomes, you can have a plan, but the timber tends to have other ideas.

Storage Problems

I started by sharing pieces on Instagram. Some people were interested in buying them. Others were mildly concerned about the steady expansion of bowls and pens across all available surfaces at home. Many items have been offloaded gifted on friends, family, and colleagues. Finally an Etsy shop followed.

This site mirrors what’s on Etsy, but building it was part of the appeal. Software is how I make a living; woodturning is how I step away from it. This space sits somewhere between the two. Systems on one side, sawdust on the other.

If you see something you’d like to buy, it keeps me supplied with sandpaper and linseed oil.

Need Something Specific?

If you have a question about a listing, a finish, or a custom request, get in touch via the contact page. I will reply as quickly as possible.