Percy Bishton - Woodworker and Turner

Lockdown has been a very interesting experience with lots of lows and highs. It's not something I ever want to go through again, and I hope people will not all rush back out trying to get back to normality too quickly and ruin all the effort we have all put in. The Cli...

It's amazing how quickly things can change! Since I last wrote a blog post I have travelled to Japan for the test event for the Olympic Games - an event which was very successful, as well as very useful for me to learn a bit more about how my job as a route setter will...

Last time I blogged I mentioned that I was about to become a little bit busier. The reason for this is that the IFSC (International Federation of Sport Climbing) asked me if I would like to be chief route setter for the bouldering at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this sum...

The new year ahead will see a number of exciting things happening for me, but will be particularly busy too. Thoughts of spending less of my work time in the climbing wall route setting and more time in the workshop have been put on hold for the short-term whilst I tur...

So, after a brief pause for summer holidays, I've finally found a little time to finish the roof of the timber frame I've been building. Photo below. (It's not totally finished - there are still the wind braces to go into the roof structure, but its all but done bar th...

So, the main frame for the house is now complete, and there will be a short delay whilst the wood for the roof trusses is processed. The tree that the roof timbers will come from is still growing, but is due to be felled, milled and dried in August. This should allow m...

Just a quick update with things. The house build is coming along, in between the showers. A couple more days on the main structure and then I will tackle the roof trusses. This house will have a tree (yes, a whole 25 foot high section of beech tree) holding up the roof...

Every now and then I get to do some carpentry.

As I have been lead to understand, a joiner joins bits of wood together to make functional, everyday things like cupboards, window frames, doors - that sort of thing. A cabinet maker does finer work - beautiful cabinets and...

I am a big fan of Paul Sellers, and I was reading his blog the other day. He pointed out how efficient modern machinery is at mass producing furniture, and how a factory with machines set up to produce very complex wooden constructions such as Windsor chairs could stil...