Top tips for a tidy workspace

With a few jobs on the go, we took the opportunity this week to get on top of organisation in the workshop and sort stuff out. I am sure that everyone is familiar with that feeling of just how good it is to have had a good old proper tidy up and clean.

Which got us talking about what systems we like best for keeping things organised. From the classic nails and sharpie drawn tool wall through to Colin’s favourite, the wooden plug tidy where there is space for all the appliances not currently being used to be “plugged in” while they wait. The handy label maker ensures that the right plug is found first time every time.

Also pictured is the plane cabinet, each with its own space, and some boxes clearly labelled for their contents. Its so much nicer keeping things organised when you can enjoy the process of doing so. Which also allows us to be better prepared when tackling a bigger range of furniture and kitchen design, build and restoration projects.

Let us know your favourite workshop/workspace organisation tips?

Image showing a tool wall with tool outlines drawn, labelled boxes “glue” labelled using glue, and “burn” labelled in pyrography, a plane cabinet, and a wooden plug tidy with labelled plugs below the main wall socket.

Who are the hardest working members of the team?

We have a fair number of friends in the workshop that help us out with making Highwood Furniture, and those who follow our social media will have on occasion seen them make an appearance - sometimes these might be our four legged friends, but more important for getting the job done are the inanimate, but by no means lacking personality, characters that help us out.

We thought we would use this weeks blog to introduce some of these. From Ernie our trusty dust extractor who keeps our workshop air clear and healthy, to googly eyed Theo the thicknesser who works super hard in processing our timber to the dimensions required for our projects. He is part of the process for almost every piece of wood that comes through the workshop - whether that be for a cheeseboard, a cabinet, or a full on kitchen. Theo works hand in hand with his alter ego Polly planer whose expertise is similar to Theo’s, just on the other side of the same piece of wood.

They don’t all have eyes though, there are many more “affectionately known as” names carefully dotted around the workshop. Pictured you can see good old Minotaur Mitre Saw who steps up when cross cuts and angles are required - especially important for decorative features on cabinet and drawer faces, and in compound features of complex joinery found in some of our chairs, tables, and cabinetry. You can also see Bodger Bandsaw whose speciality is small precise cuts and irregular shapes and patterns. Bodger also takes part in many different projects, but is particularly useful when shaping some of the rough pieces ahead of refining for handles, sgian dubhs, and is also handy for cutting out shapes for inlay features.

Let us know if you would like us to introduce other members of our team, perhaps our latest addition Sandy McPolish, our new random orbital sander will put in an appearance soon?

Who designs better furniture: Artists or wood-workers?

With a few projects in the design stages at the moment in the Highwood furniture workshop there are a lot of ideas bouncing about. And this raises the question of what makes a great design?

Design is in no doubt as individual as the designer, and the approaches taken can be as equally as diverse. Good design enhances our lives, it is beautiful, practical, and hits the balance between the two in just the right way. Functionality and style need to go hand in hand, and it will meet the style and personality of its surrounds and the people invested in it.

To coin a corporate phrase blue-sky thinking should be every bit as important for your next piece of furniture as it is for your boardroom planning. While sometimes a design may focus heavily on the practical requirements, for others it is about really thinking outside the box and introducing something truly unique and special into your environment.

At Highwood furniture we work with carefully selected locally sourced sustainable Scottish timber, and the beauty of the materials we work with often carry the weight of the “beauty” side of a design. This allows us to focus on simplicity and functionality to provide you with a one off piece. High standards of workmanship, detailed cabinetry, and high quality finishing make all the difference in doing justice to the beautiful natural resources we work with.

At other times the vision (and unfortunately also the budget) of the client, and the environment the piece is destined for lend themselves to being able to reach for the sky when it comes to design. Colin’s artistic flair can then come into its own. Where this situation arises Colin likes to throw in some random design ideas off spec as part of the design process. He finds that this demonstrates a different direction which can then bring out new ideas.

It is also important for us, as designers to consider what we are designing, and what skills are important. It is easy to focus in on the functional and practical nature of the project in hand. How many cupboards will fit in a space? What would “normally” be the layout of a wardrobe in these circumstances? What is the build structure of a bed or table in most circumstances? In this way, if a design is created based on how it will be built the creativity can be stumped. When we are designing we like to start with a vision, and build that vision first before building the furniture. Only when this is done is it time to introduce the practicalities and find a way for the vision to be made into reality. Arguably it is easier to design inspired artistic pieces of furniture before having the knowledge of how to build them.

What does this mean for you if you are commissioning a piece of Highwood furniture?

House/site visits are important part of the process, drawings can begin to take shape at an initial visit when you are present. A visit also allows us to get a feel for your style and personality which is so important in making the right piece for you. In this way, the design process starts with rough sketches. We may go away and build on these and come back to you with more detail. Once a direction and ideas have been generated then more detailed plans will come together, possibly, but not always, using computer software. For some pieces there may be multiple design visits, with changes made at each until we get it right - in partnership with you.

So who does design better furniture: An artist or a wood worker? Perhaps the best furniture comes from someone who is both? Someone who can pair artistic vision with functionality using wood.

Do you know a lap joint from a bridle joint?

A recent project that came through the Highwood Furniture workshop prompted the use of a range of different joinery techniques, and therefore invited the opportunity of using this weeks blog to reflect on these and why they are used.

For those who enjoy and appreciate, but perhaps don't make furniture, the difference can sometimes be mystifying. Good joinery is beautiful, and we can all appreciate the feel of a piece of furniture that we have confidence in. Good design brings together aesthetic beauty with strength and longevity.

For this particular project, the brief was for a table to complement the beautiful new kitchen the customer had recently fitted. The key feature was a large oval quartz table top in the same material as the kitchen countertop. Because of the weight and dimensions of this table top it was even more important than ever that balance and strength were at the forefront of the design. Other features selected were clean lines, and the timber of choice was oak to bring classic understated quality into the equation.

When choosing the type of joinery we will use for a piece of furniture, a number of factors are taking into account. Strength and durability and the way that joints will allow the timber to move as it adapts to its environment are key when considering the initial suitability of a type of join. The type of timber used for the piece may have an impact on what will be most suitable, as will the angles and pressures that will be required by the design. Where forces that may impact on structural integrity are minimal, there are times when joins are chosen for their simplicity and therefore cost and efficiency. It might also be that joinery is chosen for and is an integral part of the aesthetics of a piece, for example in a display box that Highwood furniture created for an artists materials hand cut dovetail joints were important to the high-quality intricate detail requested.

Choices made will differ depending on what is being made, table, cabinet, bed, etc. In the table described above the decision was made to use a lap joint where the timber crossed at the base of the structure, a bridle joint for each of the angled joins, and slip joints where the structure for the table top is supported by the main frame. These are illustrated in the picture alongside this blog.

We invite you to take a look at the furniture you come across in your life, it is truly fascinating to look at details and qualities of cabinetry in relation to its quality, structural integrity, and ultimately longevity.

Why does the end of my tape measure move?

Handy tips to increase the level of accuracy when measuring up

They say measure twice cut once, but that only works when your measurements are accurate

Accuracy is so important in so many things, not least when you are creating neat and precise joinery on a piece of fine furniture. For various reasons this became the topic of conversation in the Highwood Furniture workshop recently.

When planning and designing a piece of bespoke furniture we will visit your home wherever possible, and will certainly visit to measure up ahead of building anything that will be fitted (i.e. wardrobes, kitchens, window seats, shelving, etc). While it is not totally crucial, having an idea of size from the start can help with those early conversations. Rough measurements are all that are needed at this stage.

However, if you are wanting to measure more accurately there are a few things to take into consideration. , For example, do you know why the “hook” at the end of your tape measure moves a little? Exactly the thickness of the hook to be precise. The reason for this is to allow the measurement to be accurate whether you are measuring from the inside of a piece, or outside.

For example - when measuring the length of, say the inside of a drawer, where the full length of what you want to measure in your cabinet or other item is contained, the hook will contract into the tape to ensure that you aren’t adding any extra onto your measurement because of the thickness of hook.

Where you are measuring something that calls for hooking the tape measure over the edge; i.e. the top of your cabinet (or table, shelf, or plank of wood, etc) the hook extends. This compensates for the hooks own thickness that is overhanging the edge of the length you are measuring.

Genius eh?

And one of those pieces of information that is common sense obvious to those of you who know, but you don’t know what you don’t know until you find out!

Some other tips for accurate measurement:

1. Keep your measuring tape straight and tight. For longer lengths having two people definitely helps.

2. Ensure your tape measure is in good condition; consider if you have an older tape measure could it be stretched or bent, or the hook at the end worn?

3. Read the measurement at eye level, in line with the point you are measuring to.

4. Check your unit of measurement - I have yet to actually compare, but I imagine a 190cm long bed is much comfier than a 190mm one!

Welcome to our Highwood Furniture Blog

Welcome to our blog, where we will share our latest projects, as well as handy tips and tricks to help you with your projects.

Our business values are rooted in local, sustainable, high quality, and we feel lucky to be part of the vibrant rural community in and around the village of Alyth in Perthshire where we live and work.

The products that come out of Highwood Furniture are born out of a love for the craft and the wood that we create them from. An unanticipated pleasure that we discovered when we started taking our products out to local markets in 2023 was the many conversations we have had with local woodworkers and enthusiasts from every level. Starting this blog we hope will offer a way to continue that throughout the year.

There is no doubt that some of the items we produce could not happen without the many hours of practice, study, trial, error, learning, and tears that have gone before we even start planning. However, there are some simple hints and tips that are at the core of everything, and we love to share these where we can. We also love to share some of the techniques and materials that go into some of our more complex projects. We don’t claim to be anywhere close to knowing all there is to know. We are learning all the time, and the nature of what we do means that we are constantly developing and changing how we work to embrace and explore new design and construction possibilities.

We invite you to join us on our journey. Learning comes from every question we are asked, as well as from shared experience or design/technical ideas. We know that those of you who love the products that we make are people who understand and are interested in quality and craftmanship. Which gives us very little place to hide! So it is good for us that we want to share it with you. If our clients and community aren’t part of the process that is involved in making our furniture then we aren’t making it in the way that we aspire to.

Wood turning: How to get the perfect finish

Wood Turning, an ancient craft, loved by hobbyist and professional alike is often put to use to create parts for furniture in the form of legs or spindles. At Highwood Furniture it is a technique that has found its way into chair backs, stool and table legs, bespoke balustrades, and furniture restorations. It is also a technique that we use for some of our handles, bowls, and other smaller items.

Christmas market season out of the way, we have spent more time than usual reflecting on what makes a quality item. And yes, markets may also include an element of checking out the competition. Quality varies; from pure genius to clunky, poorly finished, chisel marks still intact.

There are some fantastic wood workers out there, and due to the “hobby” nature of the craft it is possible to find incredibly high quality turned wooden pieces at bargain prices. You will find true craft people who have spent years honing their talent, and who do it for pleasure not profit.

Partly because of this, we have found that the equivalent items we sell are also that, turned for fun rather than profit. However, when the item pictured was produced this week in our workshop, as a first ever wood turning project it raised the question: Why do some turned items offered for sale fall into the category of clunky, poorly finished, chisel marks still intact? Following a few simple steps it is possible to create a high quality smooth finish on a simple item with no skill or experience at all.

While the turning process is important; make sure you choose a well seasoned stable timber, ensure your tools are sharp, work your lathe at an appropriate speed, our Highwood Furniture top tip is that sanding is your secret weapon. Sorry about that guys, its the same old secret weapon that is key to a perfect finish on all of your furniture or wood working projects. By making sure that you start with a course grit that matches the depth of your deepest chisel imperfection and gradually progressing to finer grits you will create that smooth clean finish. In ensuring that you work through the grits make sure that you are completing each stage before moving onto the next. And don’t be scared to go back. It is those coarse grit stages that are so important in removing the deep characteristic “clunky, chisel marks still intact” look that has a habit of sneaking through.