Commissions & Productions

I am always prepared to try fresh avenues and happy to accept commissions.

I have made spindles and Newel posts for staircases, and bedposts for four poster beds. I can turn spindles nearly 8'6" long in one piece.

The Sleeping Dragon

Single hemisphere Alun sitting on the bench

Alan Heslop is sitting on his cricketers bench with 460mm spheres that I made.






Dragon's Bench

oak hemisphere

This is me making a 650mm hemisphere as part of of Alan Heslop's Prize wining 'Sleeping Dragon' Bench.

The Dragon Bench
Lids made out of Ash

Ash and acrylic lids for decorative jars. I make several hundred of these each year.


Wooden walking sticks





Ebony walking sticks for a stick maker.

oak staircase spindles

Oak staircase spindles.







Knitting needles 3, 3.5 and 4mm in diameter.



Small wooden cross



A cross for Little Leighs Parish Church.

Tapering Wooden Cone




(Right) 6ft long cone tapering from 7” to 1”

Salt cellars

Gilded burr fieldmaple bowls for use as salt cellars with turned rosewood spoons in the Crown in Stone & Oxney.

Applewood candlesticks

4ft 6in high Candlesticks in Applewood



Music Stands

Music Stand Oak Quotation Music Stand Oak Duet Music Stand

I have made music stands normally in English hardwoods and to one of two designs which are either duet or single (the designs are called Lyre and Quotation and are illustrated below).


Musical Instruments

Oboe Denner Oboe T Stanesby
Instrument Collection with Rock Maple and Boxwood Cor Anglais by Grundmann

Having learnt the Oboe as a child, I have been interested in making these.  To date, I have made Baroque Oboes and a Classical Cor Anglais but am extending my range.

Helen McKean (Oboist) and David Butcher (Recording engineer) recently helped me to record some short extracts of pieces played on these instruments.  

If you would like to find out more about the recordings, please email me



Listen to some sample tracks!

To listen to one of the tracks, just click on the track title, or select a Hi Fi or Lo Fi version.

Denner Oboe

Partita 5, Aria 5 Vivace, by Telemann (Denner oboe) Lo-Fi Hi-Fi

Stanesby Oboe

Fitzwilliam Sonata no.2 in B flat, Allegro, by Handel (Stanesby oboe) Lo-Fi Hi-Fi

Cor Anglais

Adagio by Mozart - second part (Cor Anglais) Lo-Fi Hi-Fi

You will need an MPEG player to listen to the tracks. There are several free players available, e.g. Realplayer

Technical info: The lofi tracks should play with all but the slowest modems; the hifi tracks should play on a broadband connection.  (thanks David)

Special Commissions

Candlesticks

commbish

In 2010 I was commissioned to make a pair of candlesticks for the St Cedd Chapel in Chelmsford Cathedral. These were given as a retirement present by Bishop John Gladwin. They are made of ebonized sweet chestnut with the top gilded. This is intended to blend with the other pieces in the cathedral that include a considerable amount of black and gold material, some of which can be seen in the picture.


Hollow Sphere

oak hemisphere

I recently made this burr fieldmaple hollow sphere and a walnut stand to replace a glass trophy for a fives competition (a game played in a court that is like a small squash court, in which a leather covered ball is hit with either gloved hand).


Turned Spindles

spindles

I have been asked by George Birtwell to make some spindles to go on a most unusual and interesting project. It will involve a number of intricately turned spindles, each about 2.5metres long and with a different maximum diameter. Watch this space to see how it turns out!