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lowfatroubo

Full time furniture maker, tool maker, writer and Furniture Lead at London Design & Engineering UTC
If furniture is a language, then perhaps we’ve for If furniture is a language, then perhaps we’ve forgotten how to read it. The latest essay on The Furniture Reader explores the idea that objects can communicate long before we sit in them or use them. Through form, ornament and proportion, furniture carries meaning in much the same way that architecture, clothing or ceremony does. But that’s only the beginning. If a Gothic oak settle speaks differently from a Rococo salon chair, what exactly are they trying to tell us? Why did some forms come to represent authority, permanence and restraint, while others suggested comfort, elegance or domesticity? And what do those choices reveal about the people who made them and those who used them? And what does it say about the people who choose to own them now? I’ll be honest, those are questions for another day, but for now, the latest piece is live, and I’d love to know what you make of it. It’s all for free btw. Link in bio. #TheFurnitureReader #FurnitureHistory #FurnitureMaking #DesignHistory #lowfatroubo
And that, as they say is a wrap (wind reel and pri And that, as they say is a wrap (wind reel and print - in case you were wondering) As usual the foreman was asleep on the job #homeworkshop #lowfatroubo
A bit more progress on the home workshop build. S A bit more progress on the home workshop build. Since the last update, the roof boards have gone down, the roof space has been insulated with 100mm Celotex and the inside of the frame is now wrapped with a moisture barrier. Next job is working my way around the wall cavities with insulation before wrapping the outside in a breathable membrane. After that I’ll batten out over the studs to create an air gap behind the exterior cladding. Talking of cladding… the jury is still very much out on that one. Timber is the obvious choice, but exactly what timber, profile and finish is yet to be decided. Suggestions welcome. Slowly but surely it’s beginning to look less like an elaborate gazebo and more like somewhere I might actually make furniture. #WorkshopBuild #HomeWorkshop #GardenWorkshop #WoodworkingWorkshop #LowfatRoubo
So that’s a wrap. Last day @schoolofwoodwork and t So that’s a wrap. Last day @schoolofwoodwork and the Joined Cricket Table class. Today it’s all about attaching the tops, a final bit of fettling and making everything look pretty. By the end of the day there’ll be six more cricket tables in existence - I can live with that. If you couldn’t make this class, there are still a couple of ways to get started. Cricket Tables is a good place to begin - use the link up top for options. Better still, come and build one with me in October at the London International Woodworking Festival in my own workshop. As a tutor, Florida School of Woodwork is a world class facility. For students - it should be on your bucket list. #crickettables#FloridaSchoolOfWoodwork #LondonInternationalWoodworkingFestival #LowfatRoubo
It’s Day 4 of the Cricket Table course at @schoolo It’s Day 4 of the Cricket Table course at @schoolofwoodwork where everything starts to come together. Mortise & tenons are cut, we’re into the fettling stage which is the difference between a fight and a smooth glue-up, drawbore holes are next. If all goes to plan, by lunchtime we’ll be standing around doing what furniture makers have always done at this stage… watching glue dry - a surprisingly rewarding spectator sport. #FloridaSchoolOfWoodwok #CricketTable #LowfatRoubo
Days one and two of the cricket table course @scho Days one and two of the cricket table course @schoolofwoodwork is in the bag. The table tops are made, the leg components have been broken down, and the first mortises are being chopped out by hand. One thing that’s making this course a little different is the timber. We’re building these tables from sapele, which I suspect might be a first for this project. Traditionally these little joined tables would have been made from whatever material was readily available nearby. Oak, ash, elm, any kind of softwood and in any combination locally sourced and affordable rather than exotic. Mahogany didn’t really begin arriving in Europe in any meaningful quantities until the 17th century, and by then furniture fashions had moved on. It would have been an unlikely choice for a humble joined cricket table. Here in 21st-century Florida though, the equation changes. Sapele is readily available, relatively inexpensive, stable, beautiful to work with and therefore makes perfect sense. History gives us the pattern. We simply adapt it to the place and time we’re in. #FloridaSchoolOfWoodwork #CricketTable #lowfatroubo #damnthosemosquitoes
Well… I needn’t have worried. Everyone headed hom Well… I needn’t have worried. Everyone headed home today from @schoolofwoodwork with smiling faces and a Japanese toolbox under their arm. I’d call that a successful couple of days. Day one in the workshop finished with far more done than anyone had any right to expect. I didn’t want to speak too soon, but this little bunch made it look easy. By 4.30 on the first day the box sides and ends were joined, the handles shaped and fitted, everything glued up, the lids trimmed and the base boards routed. That’s not bad going for a project that usually keeps people on their toes. There was even enough time left to wander down to @caferialtotampa for an iced matcha latte with oat milk - aways on trend my friends - you know how we roll at LFR classes! They’d run out of scones by 2.30, which isn’t half as surprising as there being scones on the menu in a Florida coffee shop. This continent is full of surprises. 🍵 Thanks to a great group for making teaching feel effortless. Safe travels home, everyone. Tomorrow we build cricket tables #FloridaSchoolOfWoodworking #JapaneseToolbox #LowfatRoubo #theresalizardinmybathroom
Day one @schoolofwoodwork Over the next week I’ll Day one @schoolofwoodwork Over the next week I’ll be teaching two very different projects. We start with a two-day Japanese toolbox - a deceptively simple piece that introduces accurate layout, careful joinery and a clever wedged locking mechanism - all good entry level techniques. After that, we’ll move on to a five-day build of the joined Cricket Table (or Tavern Table), exploring draw-bored mortise and tenon joinery, compound angles and the deceptively complex geometry that sits behind this humble vernacular form. It’s always a privilege to spend a week in a workshop with people who have chosen to invest their time in learning something new. #floridaschoolofwoodworking #lowfatroubo #japanesetoolbox
Long-time followers and close friends will know I’ Long-time followers and close friends will know I’m just as happy in the kitchen as I am in the workshop. In fact, I’d argue they’re pretty much the same place. Different tools perhaps, but the same process: observation, patience, repetition, and the quiet satisfaction of getting something right. So imagine my surprise when, completely out of the blue, I received a text message from someone I hadn’t heard from in over fifteen years. To be fair, it was a misfire. The message was meant for another Derek. Still, I’ll happily accept a culinary tip from anyone. If the perfect poached egg has always eluded you, then we’re already kindred spirits. I’ve lost count of the gadgets, widgets and assorted contraptions I’ve bought - and eventually sent to landfill - in pursuit of that elusive café-style egg. Until now. @eatpoachies A poached egg in a paper bag. It sounds ridiculous until you try it. The results are consistently excellent, they’re almost impossible to mess up, and they’ve earned a permanent place in my kitchen drawer. I don’t use the phrase game changer very often, but this genuinely is one. Do your own research. Buy a pack. Tinker with them for a week. Then come back and tell me… ”…yes, the world is a slightly better place.” #poachies
Progress. I’ve finished fiddling and faffing with Progress. I’ve finished fiddling and faffing with a few of the details. The legs are now octagonal, the stretchers have found their place, and the frame has been slimmed down a little. Small changes individually, but together they’ve made a much better chair. The next step is to build one properly, probably in oak. That build isn’t just about making a nicer version - it’s about testing the sequence of operations, refining the workflow, getting a feel for the handling of the components and finding out how long the whole thing really takes to produce. After all, this is destined to become a teaching project. The seat is still up for debate. A loose cushion? A drop-in upholstered seat? Or perhaps something closer to Allan Peters’ original with its gently curved solid seat. I’ll probably make all three before deciding. One thing that has surprised me is the template for laminating the back slats. It worked first time. No tweaks, no second attempt and it works for a sculpted seat. Serendipity... or some benevolent workshop spirit looking over my shoulder? Either way, I’ll take it. If you’d like the longer story behind this project - why I’m developing it, why Allan Peters’ work still matters, and how a teaching project evolves into a course I’ve written a more in-depth piece over at The Furniture Reader. The link’s in my bio #lowfatroubo #tlevelfurniture #furnituredesign #furnituremaking
Prototype nearly there. This chair will become on Prototype nearly there. This chair will become one of next year’s projects on the T Level Craft & Design – Furniture course at @ldeutc t’s still very much a prototype, cobbled together from an assortment of workshop offcuts, and there’s plenty of refining to do before it’s ready for teaching, but I’m getting close. The design owes a quiet debt to Allan Peters. His book, Cabinetmaking: The Professional Approach, was one of the most influential books I read when I was starting out as a self-employed furniture maker. What appealed to me then - and still does - was its practicality. Peters wrote for people who wanted to make a living at the bench. His designs reflected the realities of small-batch production, and his advice was grounded in the workshop rather than wrapped up in unnecessary mystique. That’s the thinking behind this project. The chair isn’t just something to build; it’s a vehicle for learning. Every joint, every angle and every process has been chosen to develop skills that transfer directly to commercial furniture making. The best teaching projects don’t just produce a chair. They produce a furniture maker. #lowfatroubo #tlevelfurniture #furnituredesign #furnituremaking
Pedestals, platforms, plinths… whatever you call t Pedestals, platforms, plinths… whatever you call them, today they’re doing what they do best: showing off good work. We’re open for business at @ldeutc this Saturday from 10am–3pm, and the workshop is ready. On display are projects from the last two years, alongside the ones next year’s students will be making as they begin their own journey into furniture making. The rest of the college will be open too, of course. But if you’re 16–18 and you wake up wondering, “What can I make today?” then you already know where you should be heading. Come and explore the T Level Craft & Design – Furniture course. Talk to the staff and current students, pick up the work, look closely at the details, and discover how making furniture can become a career in the creative industries. Open Day
📍 London Design & Engineering UTC
🗓️ Saturday
🕙 10:00am–3:00pm We’ll see you in the workshop.
Like making, I’ve never really managed to kick the Like making, I’ve never really managed to kick the writing habit. Not that I’d want to. So after months - who am I kidding, years - of procrastination, diversions and false starts, I’ve finally launched a new project on Substack: The Furniture Reader. It’s free to subscribe and gives me a place to explore ideas about furniture, craftsmanship and material culture in a little more depth than the fast-moving world of Instagram tends to allow. The first Note and Post are now live, including an essay called Before There Was Furniture. If you’d like to follow along, there’s a link in my bio. I’m not entirely sure where this little adventure will lead, but that’s part of the appeal #The FurnitureReader #lowfatroubo #furniturehistory #furnituredesign
FOR SALE – 4 × Bad Axe No. 9 Precision Tenon Saws FOR SALE – 4 × Bad Axe No. 9 Precision Tenon Saws A bit of a story behind these... A few years ago, when Mark Harrell came over to the UK to teach one of his saw-building classes during London IWF, these four No. 9s were intended as replacement saws for students whose original kits were delayed in shipping. By the time the parts arrived, the class was over. Rather than leave the job unfinished, Mark returned to the UK a few months later and personally completed them. They’ve sat in my teaching inventory ever since, waiting for the right projects to justify keeping them. The reality is that I rarely teach work that allows these saws to shine, so it’s time they found homes where they’ll actually be used. If you know Bad Axe saws, you’ll know exactly what these are. The No. 9 is Bad Axe’s modern interpretation of the classic Disston No. 9 - an incredibly versatile joinery saw that comfortably bridges the gap between a dovetail saw and a traditional tenon saw. Large tenons, lap joints, dados, housing joints, deep shoulder cuts... (I’ve cut them all with one of these - there were five!) this thing just gets on with the job. What makes it special is the distinctive ogee-shaped exposed toe, which reduces weight at the nose and gives the saw “exceptional balance and manoeuvrability”. Here’s the numbers… • 14” (356mm) blade
• 12ppi Hybrid hammer-set toothline
• 0.025” (0.64mm) gauge plate
• 0.032” (0.81mm) kerf
• 3⅝” (92mm) depth of cut
• Black-oxided carbon steel sawback
• Cherry handle
• Regular handle size
• Brass slotted nuts Why I’m Selling Simply put, these are too good to spend their lives wrapped in brown paper. I’d rather see them in the hands of woodworkers who’ll appreciate what they are and put them to work. Only four available. 📩 DM for price and details. #BadAxeTools #TenonSaw #HandTools #FineWoodworking
After a week of cricket tables, a few people have After a week of cricket tables, a few people have asked which one is my favourite. The honest answer is that I try not to think about it too much. Furniture makers are supposed to sell things, not adopt them. What I do think about is ownership. Or perhaps more accurately, the illusion of ownership. Most of the old furniture I admire has already outlived several owners. Some pieces have survived wars, house moves, changing fashions and the occasional enthusiastic amateur repair. Long after the makers and owners disappeared, the furniture simply carried on. When you buy a handmade piece, you’re not really buying ownership in the absolute sense. You’re buying custodianship. You get to look after it for a while, use it, enjoy it, spill tea on it, tell visitors where it came from and perhaps kick the feet a few times as generations before you have done. Then one day it moves on to someone else. With any luck, these tables will still be doing their job long after both maker and current custodian have shuffled off this mortal coil. Of course, there is another option. You could do what I did and make your own. There happens to be a book I can recommend that might help. Or, if you’d prefer to fast-track the experience, I’ll be teaching cricket table making @schoolofwoodwork in August and @london_iwf in October. Al this is a slightly roundabout way of saying that a few cricket tables are looking for their next custodian. If you’d like to apply for the position, send me a message.
Today’s table is one you might have seen before - Today’s table is one you might have seen before - it’s the one featured on the cover of Cricket Tables. @lostartpress or @classic_hand_tools will be happy to supply you with a copy. Furniture names are curious things. Many were coined by antique dealers, auction houses and collectors to help describe and market objects. There’s nothing wrong with that, but over time these labels can take on an air of historical certainty that they don’t always deserve. Take the term “cricket table” for example - it has nothing whatsoever to do with the game of cricket. This style of table is sometimes referred to as a “tavern table”, though I’m not entirely sure for whose benefit. Perhaps it conjures up images of ye olde England and flagons of ale. The truth is these tables were probably more likely to be found in coffee houses than public houses, but that’s not nearly as romantic. This particular table is based on a period piece that I never actually got to see in person. It was probably the fourth or fifth cricket table I made, long before the idea of writing a book about them had crossed my mind. Looking back, it’s interesting to see how much of what interested me then still finds its way into my work today. Some of the things I struggled to accept - imperfection and asymmetry for example - now sit comfortably in my repertoire. If you’re interested in giving this table a new home, send me a message for details #crickettables #lowfatroubo
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