New Workshop

Hello all, I’m happy to announce that I have completed the move to the new workshop – and what an improvement it is!

For those who hadn’t seen the photos from the early days; I started the business working in my cellar – it’s a nice cellar for sure, but still a cellar. With all the machines and equipment in there (workbench, router table, bandsaw, planer, table saw, lathe, drill press and a few dust extractors) it was rather cramped, and very little airflow meant sawdust in the air could quickly build up.

I am now in a purpose-built workshop building filled with other local small businesses – which means I have much more productive atmosphere, however the commute is longer now I’m not just walking down the stairs.

I have also had a chance to take stock of how much material I had accumulated over the years – so many unfinished projects (how many of you over the years have been promised a Yari but never heard back from me!?).

New Order Process

After several years of business taking orders in advance of production, I have decided to switch things up. The reason for this is, sometimes I would take months to complete an order, and this left customers with unacceptably long waits to receive their items. This always left me feeling guilty and a bit stressed.

The new system should hopefully alleviate this! From now on, I am making batches of items and as soon as they are ready, I will list them on the website. I have just completed around 20 sets of Sansetsukon (oak, ash, walnut – in both chain and rope) and will shortly be making these available. Whilst this may leave you waiting for a specific item at least if you buy something, you know it will be with you sooner rather than later. I hope this improves the productivity of the workshop too as it means I can focus on getting a batch produced to the best standards, without needing to produce multiple things at once.