End of the season
We’ve got two courses left this season; it draws to a close at the end of October. After that it gets a bit chilly in the workshop!
We’ve had a fantastic year so far: our first in our new workshops. Thank you so much to everyone who has attended. We’ve enjoyed every minute of it (except for that bit where StJohn cracked a tenon in a student’s stool! Don’t worry… all fixed.)
Course Dates: 2025
Loads more courses and more spaces on each course. Our course schedule for 2025 is now on our website. There might be a couple of tiny changes but if you book a course we won’t change that date.
Last year our March and April courses booked up over Christmas but we had spaces later in the summer.
Shows next year
We’ve got one show left this year: the London International Woodworking Fair on the 1st and 2nd November. It’s going to be a good one; we hope to see you there.
We exhibit at craft and country shows about once a month during the Spring and Summer. It’s a lovely way of meeting potential new chairmakers! If you’d like to have a chat about our courses and see some of the chairs, stools and benches you can make come along to a show next year and we can meet.
We don’t have exact dates for next year’s shows yet but this is our rough plan:
We look forward to seeing you there!
- March Eadenstone Craft Fair, Cambridge
- June Cambridge Town and Country Fair
- 12/13th July Strumpshaw Tree Fair, Norwich
- August Cambridge Country Show, Stow Cum Quy
- September The Wonder of Wood Fair, Burwash Manor, Cambridge
- November London International Woodworking Festival, LDE UTC, Royal Docks, London
If you think there’s a craft show within an hour’s drive of Cambridge that we should attend please drop us a line. We’re always grateful for new opportunities.
Tools
We’ve finally managed to put up a tool list on the website!
It’s a work in progress but it’s most of the way there. If you’ve been on a course with us and spot something that’s missing please let us know.
On which note…
Christmas List
It’s almost acceptable to talk about Christmas in October so we’re taking the opportunity to publish The Quiet Workshop Christmas List 2024. This might become an annual event! Five gifts for the chair maker in your life at a range of prices:
Under £10
Olfa Slimline knife. Our favourite marking knife for when a pencil isn’t precise enough. Also good for any number of other workshop tasks and as the blades are snap-off it doesn’t need sharpening.
£10 to £20
Folding rule with depth gauge. StJohn has been carrying one of these for years. It has survived the washing machine but we don’t recommend a fast spin cycle. Over the winter we’re replacing all of the tape measures in the workshop with these because they’re more accurate and easier to use.
£20 to £50
Ray Iles Rounding Plane. Ridiculously satisfying.
£50 to £100
Diamond sharpening stone. We sharpen with oil stones in the workshop but if we were starting from scratch we’d buy a double sided diamond stone and never have to flatten it.
Over £100
The Quiet Workshop Bench screw and nut: £150. We make these and you can order them directly from us. Everyone who takes a class at our workshop knows how quick these are to use and how tightly they hold. We have about ten left in stock but won’t be making any more until after Christmas. If you’re planning a workbench build this is a great place to start.
What’s for lunch?
Since this was so popular last time here are some pictures of Bryony’s gorgeous food!
As always, if you’re interested in coming on a course please give us a ring (07778 397328) or drop us an email. You can book all of our courses through craftcourses.com
Enjoy your time in the workshop.
StJohn & Bryony
