In a couple of weeks the 2026 Bodger’s Ball will be held at the Avoncroft Museum just South of Bromsgrove. I’ll be bringing along a portable pole lathe I have designed mostly from easily accessible 2×4 wood which can be set up for cups, bowls or spindle turning, and has…
A few weeks back Carolina Smoorenburg organised her latest Masters of Slojd event. These events are zoom calls which any interested crafter can dial into, and each time they interview a variety of great craftspeople. On 26th February 2026, it was the turn of Robin Wood to talk about his…
It is hard when you do a job which is your passion, to stop long enough, to see what has been achieved. As such, this blog post is a review of 2025, which I hope will appeal to anyone following my journey. I do hope you enjoy reading it as…
In this fortnight’s blog I want to look into discounting work, which is topical just now with Black Friday just having passed. I’ve talked about this in the past on Instagram in #wordywednesday posts, and been anti-discounting my work. I feel that there are many factors which contribute towards confusion…
The original title of this blog was ‘why pricing a wooden bowl by costs alone is virtually impossible’. I’ve always struggled to calculate costs of a bowl and hence the minimum price it should be. As I’ve worked through this blogpost I feel like I’ve come close to the impossible…
Today’s blog is more of a catalogue of what I have made for this year’s Wizardry in Wood (WiW) with a bit of detail on reasoning and manufacture process. WiW is a four-yearly celebration of woodturning which occurs in London, organised by the Worshipful Company of Turners. Those pieces which…
A question I often get asked at market by customers, and when speaking to other woodturners (who predominantly use power lathes) is ‘Why do I use a pole lathe?’. This article seeks to answer that question, acknowledging that it has changed over time and perhaps is still changing. In doing…
On Monday 22nd September I visited the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading once more in order to try and find answers regarding the design of the pole lathe and its paraphernalia. This blog post is very much aimed at other pole lathe turners, but non turners may find…
This blog could quickly descend into a multi-page essay, so to keep things clear I’ll try and focus solely on how to price a simple 6″ wooden bowl. This blog is aimed primarily at makers who are trying to price their work, but also may be of interest to customers…
This week’s blog is about a very special evening that happened in the workshop recently. Together with friends we transformed the space into a place to sit and eat food together and talk craft. It celebrated both the craft of cooking and the craft of making, but mainly we just…
