Field notes of a family workshop · Vol. XIV
Carpenters & Joiners
Gaddesden Row, near Hemel Hempstead
We make staircases, wardrobes, doors, kitchens and the odd bandstand. Dad cuts, I draw, the kettle is always on. This is the book we keep of it, and you are welcome to read it.
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Contents
This is a small business, so the journal is short and honest. Nothing is outsourced; the wood is English and bought from a mill we can drive to; the drawings are done at the kitchen table.
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Plate I
Plate I. A No. 7 jointer, finishing pass, oak. The thinner the curl, the better the afternoon.
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Entry XIV · Tuesday
The house is a 1930s cottage with a stair that had been boxed in and carpeted since the war. The clients wanted it open, light and quiet underfoot, and they wanted the old newel kept if it could be saved. It could, just.
We made the stringers from a single oak board so the grain climbs with the flight. The treads are let into housings and wedged from below, which is slower than screwing and the reason it will never creak. The balusters are square, because round ones look like they came from a catalogue.
Sixteen risers, 3 mm of play in the whole flight, none left after the wedges.
Fitting day took two of us from seven to four. Rosie from next door brought biscuits and an opinion about the handrail. She was right about the handrail.
B. Pike
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Plate II
Plate II. The finished flight, morning of the handover. Hard-wax oil, two coats.
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Our trade
Open, closed or cut string. Templated on site, made in the workshop, fitted in a day.
Built into alcoves and under eaves, scribed to walls that were never square.
Framed and panelled doors, sash repairs, and screens, in oak or in painted softwood.
Solid-timber carcasses, dovetailed drawers, and tops that can be sanded back in twenty years.
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Plate III
Plate III. A two-door oak wardrobe, raised panels, pegged frame. See the full entry on the staircase for how we build a frame.
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Method
From the first cup of tea to the last coat of oil, in the order it happens.
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We measure, look at the walls and talk about money honestly. No charge within fifteen miles.
A scaled drawing and a fixed quote, with a sample joint you can hold.
Boards picked one at a time, then left in the workshop to settle.
Dry-fitted twice before any glue. Photographs sent at each stage.
Fitted in a day, oiled by hand, swept up. We take the biscuit tin with us.
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Writing to us
WorkshopGaddesden Row
Hemel Hempstead, Herts HP2
Telephone01632 960388
Lettersnotes@pikeanddaughter.example
HoursWeekdays, 7.30 until 4.30. Saturdays by arrangement.
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Dear Pike & Daughter,
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