David Stephenson Bespoke Furniture. Handmade in Hampshire since 2009
  • Welcome
  • Meet the Maker
    • Meet the Workshop Dog
  • Bespoke Furniture Making
    • Restoration
  • Courses
    • One day courses >
      • One day taster course
      • Introduction to woodworking machinery
      • Sharpening and setting up hand tools
      • Make an octagonal chopping board
      • Introduction to hand-cut dovetail joints
      • Introduction to hand applied finishes
    • Two Day Courses >
      • Mix and Match
      • Introduction to Furniture Joinery
      • Weekend Project Course
      • Build an oak console table
      • Build an oak coffee table
    • Course Gift Vouchers
    • Three Day Courses >
      • Build a Roubo Workbench
    • Courses for Two
  • Collections
    • The Stable Furniture Collection
    • Kingston Table Collection
    • Workbenches
    • Home Accessories & Kitchenware
    • Aftercare Information
  • Shop
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Returns and cancellations
    • COVID-19 additional information
  • Blog

Covid re-opening news!

17/4/2021

0 Comments

 


The workshop will reopen to visitors on April 20th! Courses/tuition will resume from May 19th! 😃

Like last summer visits will be by appointment only to begin with and again some changes to help keep everyone safe, these include reduced opening hours, track and trace logging and the provision of sanitizer/hand washing facilities. 🧼

Monty and I are looking forward to seeing you all again 🐶
0 Comments

Tool of the Month March 2021

4/3/2021

0 Comments

 
So what was in the brown paper package i posted on my instagram story the other day? 🧐

A 2” Barr cabinet makers chisel! 😃 I’ve admired these handmade chisels since I first saw them in a woodwork magazine nearly 20 years ago and not long after in the flesh at college during my apprenticeship!

I’ve been using a 2” Ashley Iles chisel for squaring up chunky mortises and chopping wide shoulder lines on tenons among other things for about 12 years but have always found it to be a little too long/unwieldy and the blade a bit thin, this new chisel certainly is better proportioned and has a much more robust blade, really looking forward to using this tool day to day 😁

0 Comments

Machine maintenance!

22/2/2021

0 Comments

 
Some machine maintenance today, it’s a job I’ve put off for far to long!

Adjusting the table saw’s sliding table.. over time the settings have moved ever so slightly, the sliding table is supposed to be set to have a very slight ‘toe out’ where the table moves fractionally away from the blade to prevent the back of the blade from binding on the workpiece. Mine had become a tad ‘toe’d in’ which made cross cutting wide boards frustrating.

The Hammer C3 31 is really easy to adjust (though the machines instructions have a lot to be desired) all it took was a spanner, a simple jig to hold a dial gauge and a bit of patience, now it’s spot on👌😃
0 Comments

Tick Tock Tick Tock

24/1/2021

0 Comments

 
This should come in handy next week, keeping an eye on process timing for my new Roubo workbench course trial run ⏱
Picture
Building on the success of my other courses I am hoping to launch a three day workbench building course this year.

I am about to begin building a prototype of the course workbench to check that my proposed time scale and costings are realistic.

For further information and proposed specifications please check out the link below
Three day workbench course
0 Comments

Covid-19 Update 

2/1/2021

0 Comments

 
England is now in lockdown again 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.
0 Comments

Tool of the Month November 2020

10/11/2020

0 Comments

 
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!
0 Comments

Covid 19 update November 5th 2020

10/11/2020

0 Comments

 
📢 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...
Picture
Sorry closed again for the 2nd English lockdown. See you soon!
0 Comments

A busy week!

3/11/2020

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments

Throw back to 2015..

2/10/2020

0 Comments

 
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...
0 Comments

Couples Courses??

5/9/2020

0 Comments

 
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”? 🤔
Picture
Courses
0 Comments
<<Previous
    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.

    ​

    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    Courses And Tuition
    New Products
    Tool Of The Month
    Workshop News
    Workshop Ramblings

    RSS Feed

Beautiful bespoke freestanding furniture, designed and made in Hampshire.
Woodworking and furniture making courses and tuition.
Phone: 0754 556 2669
7 The Fairground Craft & Design Centre, Weyhill, Andover, Hampshire UK SP11 0QN
  • Welcome
  • Meet the Maker
    • Meet the Workshop Dog
  • Bespoke Furniture Making
    • Restoration
  • Courses
    • One day courses >
      • One day taster course
      • Introduction to woodworking machinery
      • Sharpening and setting up hand tools
      • Make an octagonal chopping board
      • Introduction to hand-cut dovetail joints
      • Introduction to hand applied finishes
    • Two Day Courses >
      • Mix and Match
      • Introduction to Furniture Joinery
      • Weekend Project Course
      • Build an oak console table
      • Build an oak coffee table
    • Course Gift Vouchers
    • Three Day Courses >
      • Build a Roubo Workbench
    • Courses for Two
  • Collections
    • The Stable Furniture Collection
    • Kingston Table Collection
    • Workbenches
    • Home Accessories & Kitchenware
    • Aftercare Information
  • Shop
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Returns and cancellations
    • COVID-19 additional information
  • Blog