The workshop
Three makers, one barn.
Oakhewn started in 2009 with one bench and a secondhand bandsaw. Today there are three of us, a timber store full of air-drying boards, and a stove that burns all the offcuts.
Tom Hartley
Founder · chairs and anything steam-bent
Megan Price
Cabinets, drawers and dovetails
Sam Okafor
Apprentice, year three · turning
Timber
We buy trees, not boards.
Most of our wood comes from fallen or felled trees in Shropshire and the Welsh Marches. We have them milled locally and stack them to air-dry for a year per inch of thickness before they come into the workshop.
It means we always know where a piece of furniture grew — and we write it underneath, next to the date and our signature.
On the bench
- Bandsaw 1962, still running
- Planer-thicknesser for rough boards
- Mortise chisels ¼" to ¾"
- Steam box for chair rails
- Spokeshaves seats and arms
- Pole lathe for pegs and lamps
- Card scrapers instead of sandpaper
- Hard-wax oil three coats