David Stephenson Bespoke Furniture. Handmade in Hampshire since 2009
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David Stephenson

Bespoke Fine Furniture Handmade in Hampshire

Covid-19 Update 

2/1/2021

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Hampshire is now in Tier 4 which means that yet again the workshop door must close to visitors and courses will need to be postponed until restrictions are eased.



Hopefully with the rolling out of new vaccines things will begin to return to normal soon.
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Tool of the Month November 2020

10/11/2020

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Tool of the Month had been a bit forgotten this year but here’s a short new entry!

Back in September I treated myself to a new Lie Nielsen number 8 jointer plane. This is the largest commercially made hand plane available, at 2foot long it’s huge!

I decided to pick one up after flattening my recently built Roubo workbench, my no 7 handled it fine but the extra length and mass of the no 8 should make the process a little faster next time, plus the sole is long enough for me to us it as a straight edge to check progress whilst flattening, rather than stopping and messing around with a straight edge.

Looking forward to using this on my next Roubo workbench build due to start in November/December (more on this soon) 😃
For more about jointer planes have a look at my previous blog post about the no7 jointer plane!
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Covid 19 update November 5th 2020

10/11/2020

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📢 COVID-19 update 📢


Due to the latest Covid-19 restrictions, the workshop will be closed to visitors from the 5th of November through to the 2nd of December. Unfortunately this means that courses that were due to take place during November will now be postponed (emails have gone out today to those affected so they can be rescheduled).


In the meantime courses can still be booked for December onwards and gift vouchers are available, the online shop will be due a restock shortly ready for Christmas too...
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Sorry closed again for the 2nd English lockdown. See you soon!
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A busy week!

3/11/2020

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Last week was a busy one on the teaching front 😅

Beginning the week with Dan who made an ash cutlers stool on Monday (first cutlers stool to be made from ash, definitely won’t be the last!).

Then on Wednesday Oscar came in and made a beech cutlers stool with lovely contrasting walnut wedges.

Finally on Thursday I was joined by Lisa and Luke for a newly introduced ‘Taster for Two’ day!

four happy ‘students’, four fantastic stools, one slightly croaky voice...
Fancy coming on a course? Or giving a course as a gift? (Christmas is coming.... 🎅) follow the link below for further information.
Courses
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Throw back to 2015..

2/10/2020

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Throw back to 2015!

The year my Stable Bar Stool first made an appearance. 5 years on the oak and steel design has evolved very very slightly with a larger diameter footrest and reprofiled legs.

For more Stable stool content check out my somewhat neglected Stable Furniture website...
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Couples Courses??

5/9/2020

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Usually my courses are 1:1 but today I was joined by both Georgie and Richard Manners for a taster day course (delayed by 6 months due to Covid 🤦‍♂️). They made a beautiful matching pair of oak cutlers stools!


It was great fun to have a couple in together; perhaps I should introduce “Couples Courses”? 🤔
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Courses
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First Taster Day since lockdown!

24/8/2020

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Here’s Doug with the oak cutlers stool he made on Saturday! 😎
It’s great to be back teaching in the workshop again after 5 long months!

Fancy giving woodworking a go?
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New course gift vouchers!

10/8/2020

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All new course gift vouchers are now available!

The mk1 version introduced last year proved so popular I thought it was time to give them a high quality upgrade. My website will also be undergoing a redesign this summer which will include an integrated shop and enable courses to be purchased online! 🤩
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COVID-19 update 3rd August 2020

4/8/2020

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🎉 Good News 🎉



The workshop is now open to visitors by appointment and I am taking bookings for courses/tuition which will resume from August 15th! 😃


There are some changes to help keep everyone safe, these include reduced opening hours and the provision of sanitizer/hand washing facilities. 🧼

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Tool of the Month July 2020

24/7/2020

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Welcome to July’s Tool of the Month!

Here’s a quick look at a neat little scraper burnisher I picked last week.

Burnishers are used to sharpen card scrapers (also known as cabinet scrapers) by forming a very sharp cutting hook.

I spotted this neat little burnisher on Classic Hand tool’s Instagram feed the other week and really liked the design! I think it’s perfect for people new to sharpening card scrapers due to its clear and safe two handed design and excellent instructions. For just under £10 it’s definitely earned a place in the tool kit i provide for students attending my courses.

www.classichandtools.com/acatalog/Veritas-Card-Scraper-Burnisher-05K2040.html#SID=964
That’s all for July, look out for news about resuming courses and visiting the workshop coming soon!
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    About

    Welcome to my blog!

    Here you can see what I have been up to in the workshop, gain an insight into my work and some of the many tools I use to make each piece of bespoke furniture.

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Bespoke, Handcrafted, Fine Furniture
Antique Restoration, French Polishing
Handmade in Britain
Phone: 0754 556 2669
7 The Fairground Craft & Design Centre, Weyhill, Andover, Hampshire UK SP11 0QN