A Day in Our Cornish Workshop

Step through the doors of our Cornish workshop before the day properly begins, and you'll find it quiet and calm, but not for long! Within the hour, steam will be rising, timber will be flexing around jigs, and a small team of skilled hands will be turning raw wood into the curved, sculptural pieces Tom Raffield is known for.

It's a process built on patience and skill with plenty of laughs and good times along the way - no two days and no two pieces are ever quite the same. From the first steamer switch-on to the final piece boxed ready to travel to its new home, here's a look at what really goes into a day in the life of our workshop team.

Early Morning: Waking the Workshop

The first job of the day is firing up the steamer. While the steamer works, Ash, the Workshop Team Leader, and Gabi, our Logistics Manager, meet to make a plan for the day to ensure orders for all our customers are scheduled on time. Each piece is made to order, so each day is different and that's half the fun!

Meanwhile, the wider team, Andrea, Duncan and Luke, are already prepping timber, checking jigs, and setting up for the day ahead. There's a calming rhythm to it, quiet, focused, everyone knowing exactly where to start.

Mid-Morning: The Bend

This is where the workshop comes alive. With inner frames prepped and waiting, steamed timber is pulled from the chamber and, working quickly before it cools, bent by hand around the jigs using steel straps and clamps. The strap takes the strain, so the wood can flex without snapping.

It's physical, precise work, often done in pairs, with barely a wasted movement. Every design is different, requiring different lengths, materials and bends, so nothing is rushed into, it takes careful planning and a practised eye.

Some pieces take longer than others; a team member might shape ten of one design and only one of another. But the care never wavers.

Then it's time for a well-deserved lunch break - a moment to relax and enjoy a bite to eat outside, before being roped into a game of table tennis, darts, or a quiz!

Midday: Precision and Patience

Once a piece has dried and set on the jig, the finer work begins. Precision marking to exact measurements and careful sanding by hand, until the timber feels silky to the touch. Quiet moments of alignment, making sure a twist component sits flush, or a strut carries its weight just right. Wherever possible, joints are made without glue at all; brass rivets or the wood's own tension do the work instead.

Ash checks over the final pieces, giving each one the green light to move through to our finishing area.

Afternoon: Finishing and Sending Off

As pieces near completion, Andrew ensures each is finished by hand with an eco-friendly, water-based varnish, a natural protective layer that lets the grain do the talking.

Sophie and Tania then pick and pack each product into custom, sustainable packaging designed to get each piece safely to its new home.

What stands out about a day in this workshop isn't just the craft; it's the care. By the end of the day, what started as raw, sustainably sourced timber has become something built to last, shaped by steam, by hand, and by a team who take real pride in the process, not just the finished piece.

Posted: 21.08.26