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 🐶

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! 🤩

For those who haven’t visited the workshop in the last 18months or haven’t seen my social media posts.... In September 2017 we gained a 4 legged apprentice named Monty!

Monty is a very friendly and very bouncy Sprocker Spaniel! He has made the Workshop his 2nd home since Christmas time 2017 and now has his own page on the website with some information about him and some nice photos!

Monty will no doubt be a regular feature on the blog in the future, now that I’ve caught up on 8 months worth of posts!

Next up on the list of website updates!

The aftercare information sheets supplied with Stable Stool’s and the range of kitchenwares is now downloadable/printable via my main website. Handy if your original information sheet has gone missing!

After the workshop was broken into over Easter I’ve been looking at ways to increase security. Today I finished the most visible upgrade, steel window bars! I’ve tried to make them as unobtrusive yet effective as possible as I don’t want the workshop looking like a prison.

With crime on the up and Police forces stretched due to funding cuts, maybe you should also look at your security and see if it can be improved!

I thought it was high time for a new blog post, so here's a little one about a renovation project I completed last week.

This lovely old pine pew arrived a couple of weeks ago, it was covered in nasty damaged varnish. The client bought it recently and wanted it tidied up so she could put it in her porch (which it fitted perfectly!).

I really liked the design, especially the 'arches' on the legs that looked very much like the kind of window you'd see in an old church. It appears that it had been dismantled and cut down.

So first thing to do was to strip off the varnish, for this I used Nitromors paint and varnish stripper. Not very nice stuff, and a lot less effective than it used to be, health and safety has a lot to answer for!

However it tackled the old varnish with ease, which made my life much easier!

With all the varnish stripped off the next task was to wash the timber to remove any residue from the Nitromors. This also raised the grain of the timber, so once it was dry it was time to give the entire pew a light sand.

After sanding all that was left to do was to apply a new finish. I chose linseed oil as it's a finish that was traditionally used for church furniture, and offers good protection to the wood.

I gave the pew four coats of oil which really brought out the grain of the pine and gave it a welcoming warm colour.

As you can see below..

I was pleasantly surprised how well it came out! The pew was then put into my store for a few days to dry and to await collection.

It was picked up the other day by a very happy client, who is now hopefully making good use of it in this fantastic warm weather.

New for 2015!



A selection of my small handmade gift items is now available from the Rum's Eg Gallery in Romsey!



Items include clocks, tea lights, chopping boards and a 'Stable' stool / table.



For more information about Rum's Eg check out the link below.



http://www.hampshireartandcraft.org