Finishing

I make furniture and I restore furniture and all that goes along with it, with the exception of upholstery. I have been a woodworker since childhood and I attended The Chippendale School of Furniture to receive formal training in the art.

I have taken an extraordinarily long time to learn that you cannot, try as you might, engineer wood. Whilst it is an intrinsically dead or, at best, dying thing, it continues to be affected by the air, the moisture and the temperature around it, well beyond its life as a tree. Handmade furniture is, as a result, a challenging but highly enjoyable practice.

There is a lot of claptrap written and spoken about the craft of woodworking, especially when it comes to design and build. As with most art, religious zealots rise to the surface and expound on this and that, making esoteric observations all about wood and how it must be crafted. I have reached a stage where I really can't be doing with that. Wood is just a beautiful thing. The trees do all the work, we just chop it up and work out how we could put it together to good effect.

I decided to take up the craft of furniture making and restoration full-time because I love working with wood. Always have done. I shall work with any wood, solid and veneer and I am happy to build and restore traditional and contemporary pieces.

Personally, I admire the Arts and Crafts movement. I really like detailing in furniture and folks like Greene and Greene are right up my street. I like to use traditional finishes and hand tools in the work that I do. They let me work quicker and, in my opinion, improve the quality of the finished piece.

I live in Scotland and I work mainly with Scottish hardwoods and softwoods. I buy logs, get them milled to my specification and then season and dry the planks in a variety of locations. I sell some of my timber as well as use it for commission builds.

I don't charge for quotations or designs. If someone chooses to take my design and award it to another maker then, so be it. Must have been a great design but a lousy quote.

I have tried to keep the site simple, readable and succinct. It was pretty hard to do and I hope you enjoy your visit here. You should feel free to get in touch. Visitors are always welcome at my workshop.

Mark Adams