About Me
As the son of a furniture maker and sculptor, I have been in contact with the joy of woodworking and the beauty of wood already from a very young age. For my seventh birthday, my father gave me a small workbench and some kid's tools, so I could try for myself what I saw him doing. I still remember the smell of wood shavings he carried, when I sat on his lap in the evening when he came home from work, or how I enjoyed standing next to his workbench and watching him carving wood. It's a sweet memory, and I guess it was experiences like these that planted the seeds of what was to become an enjoyable hobby and passion of mine.
Although I eventually chose a different direction for my career - I obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology and until my retirement in 2021 I worked at several biotech pharmaceutical companies - the love for working with wood has never left me. Much of my spare time goes to designing and creating new projects, trying new techniques, searching for some beautiful or special woods for a next project, or simply enjoying what others have made and trying to learn from that.
Over the years, I have collected a range of hand tools and machinery, and after having worked for many years in a 6 x 8 m two-car garage, I recently have built a somewhat smaller 8 x 5 m wooden workshop. While smaller, it still is sufficiently large to work comfortably, even on larger pieces, and it's cosy, with large windows, an oak wood floor, and a pellet wood stove. My main equipment is a Hammer combination machine (table saw, jointer, thicknesser, shaper and mortiser), a Hammer 4000 mm band saw machine, a dust extractor, and a Tecnatool lathe, next to a range of smaller power tools (circular saw, plunge router, orbital and belt sander, drills, Festool domino joiners,...). Among the hand tools, I've had a lot of pleasure using Japanese pull-stroke saws, and the tool I favour most is the bronze Lie Nielsen N°4 bench plane I bought some time ago - expensive, but a joy to work with.
Since I retired early 2021, I now have a lot more time to spend on woodworking and I'm open to engage in woodworking projects for those interested. Feel free to contact me in case of interest.
