From fitting mortise and tenon joints for beautiful oak doors to carefully shaping the hut’s distinctive curved middle beams, every detail in the joinery room is crafted with meticulous care by joiners Robbie, Andy and Nigel
Can you give us a glimpse of what goes on in the joinery room?
Andy: This is where we create oak doors, frames, windows, middle beams and chestnut steps for the huts – all the joinery that gets completed before handing it over to the hutmakers for fitting. The main tools here on the joinery benches are chisels, planes, squares, marking knives and routers for small mouldings, cutting rebates for hinges and grooves for draft excluders. There is an awful lot of care and attention to detail that goes into our work.
Have you both always worked in carpentry?
Robbie: When I was growing up in Hull, I loved making things with wood, which led me to take a joinery course after leaving school. For the past 24 years, I’ve lived in Dorset, taking on a range of jobs from roof truss manufacturing to fine furniture making, before joining Plankbridge. I’m the second longest-serving member of the team.
Andy: I’ve been a carpenter for nearly 48 years. After school, I began my apprenticeship with a building company in Poole and have been working with wood ever since. Before joining Plankbridge last year, I worked for a building company in Crewkerne, completing numerous projects for the Duchy of Cornwall on their farms, many of which are Grade II listed buildings. My role involved crafting replacements for sliding sash windows, doors and frames. Interestingly, I also have the claim to fame of being ‘curtain hanger’ for the King. The company I worked for was tasked with installing a temporary pelmet and hanging 20ft-long velvet curtains for the unveiling of a plaque in commemoration of all the work King Charles has done at Poundbury.
Can you walk us through the journey of the wood, from raw material to finished piece?
Robbie: The oak arrives in the joinery room in long lengths, which I cut down into smaller pieces for specific jobs. Some of the waney-edge sawn boards of seasoned English and French oak will be transformed into doors, like the ones that Andy is helping to fit for a customer’s hut currently in production. It’s great seeing the wood go from its raw, natural state – with the bark still on – to a beautifully crafted piece of joinery.
Does working with wood help you feel connected to the past?
Andy: Yes, if you take the power tools away, our methods aren’t much different from those used by carpenters in centuries gone by. The Industrial Revolution introduced wood-working machinery, many of which were steam-powered. During my apprenticeship, I worked in a shop with ducts in the floor that once connected to a steam engine driving the machines. Although electricity had obviously arrived by the time I started, the process of joinery hasn’t changed much in a century. What would take us three minutes today would have taken three hours in the past, as the Victorians would have shaped hinges using a mallet and chisel and hand-sanded with a craftsman’s touch and feel.
What aspects of craftsmanship do you most enjoy in your work at Plankbridge?
Robbie: The fact that we use a range of traditional joinery techniques, like mortise and tenon joints, which are stronger and more authentic than more basic joints. It means that the door legs won’t rotate if the door swings too far back and the door jamb won’t twist. I also enjoy working on one-off creations and getting involved in problem solving. Most of all, I enjoy just working with the wood. People tell me I leave a trail of sawdust behind me wherever I go!
Meet more members of the Plankbridge team, here
