The Quiet Workshop

Coming soon: Workbench plans!

On every course and at every show we are asked about our workbenches. We’ve put a lot of thought and a lot of work into them over more than 10 years. Our most recent bench is at least the eighth iteration of a design that is always almost perfect! Just one more tweak…

So it’s time to stop procrastinating and publish the plans. We’re making these available in six different sizes: three in metric, three in imperial, all in the same set of plans. But they’re not just a straight conversion. We’ve designed the imperial and metric benches around the materials most commonly available in different regions and have worked out sensible sizes so that you don’t end up with something silly like a bench top that’s six feet six and forty seven sixty-fourths of an inch!

• 1m/3.5′ – ideal for chairmaking, small and easy to store but rock solid
• 1.5m/5′ – a good sized joinery bench but every piece is manageable when setting up or moving it around
• 2m/7′ – a bench big enough for any furniture project but with a top that’s still moveable by a normal human being

These benches have been designed with five principles in mind:

• Built from easily available materials with basic woodworking tools
• Only very basic joinery skills required
• Easy and quick to set up
• Every component must be light enough to move easily around your workspace
• Rock solid; the fact that it packs down quickly mustn’t make it flimsy in use

The plans will include complete cutting lists for all pieces, a suggested tool list and instructions. Eventually there will be YouTube videos but don’t hold your breath…

We’re setting up a shop page on our website: thequietworkshop.com and when that’s live we’ll send a very short newsletter round. Probably the end of June.

If you haven’t been on one of our courses yet but would like to see one in action then come along to…

Cambridge Open Studios

Every July, for the last 51 years, artists and craftspeople in and around Cambridge throw open their doors and invite you into their studios. It’s an incredible celebration of the creativity of the people in the area. 223 studios and 12 larger venues will be open over the four weekends of July. We’ll be taking part on the 1st, 2nd and 4th weekends: 5-6th, 12-13th & 26-27th.

We’re on page 62 of the guide. We’re listed as number 144 under my name: StJohn Starkie. The number has nothing to do with our workshop address which is 41 High Street, Great Wilbraham! We look forward to seeing you in July.

Shows this year

We had a lovely time at Living Crafts Fair at Hatfield House. If you haven’t been before we thoroughly recommend it; we’ll definitely be back next year. If you missed us there you can catch us at one of the following:

• 14-15th June Cambridge Town and Country Fair, Parker’s Piece, Cambridge
• 5th-6th, 12th-13th & 26-27th Cambridge Open Studios – right here in Great Wilbraham
• 9-10th August Cambridge Country Show, Stow Cum Quy
• 13-14th September The Wonder of Wood Fair, Burwash Manor, Cambridge
• 24-25th October London International Woodworking Festival, LDE UTC, Royal Docks, London

If you think there’s a craft show within an hour’s drive of Cambridge that we should attend please drop us a line. We’re always grateful for new opportunities.

Stools

The simple stool courses are our most popular. This two day course started with the little one rung milking stool but more and more people are asking to build them bigger. When you book this course on craftcourses.com it will default to the smallest stool. If you want to build a stool that works well under a dining table or as a bedside table choose the option to add timber for a 50cm stool. If you want it to work well at a kitchen counter select the option to add timber for a 70cm stool. These are nominal heights for the leg blanks. The seats are actually at about 46 and 64cm respectively and have been designed around long-standing conventions that suit the majority of people and living spaces. But you can always make them shorter!

Adding rungs means a bit more work rounding legs, drilling mortises and cutting tenons so it’s a slightly longer first day but you get a beautiful piece of furniture that fits your home.

As always, if you’re interested in coming on a course and you want to find out more please give us a ring (07778 397328) or drop us an email. You can book all of our courses through the links on our website. If our dates aren’t perfect for you or you want to book for a group give us a call; we can usually work something out.

Enjoy your time in the workshop.

StJohn & Bryony

There was so much space before we put the benches in!

Come and visit our workshops in July!

We finished the expansion of the workshops over the winter and are now running all of our courses with six participants. If you don’t have the chance to come on a course why not visit us one weekend in July? This year we’re taking part in Cambridge Open Studios and invite you to come in and see what we’re doing. There might even be biscuits…

COS has been running for over 50 years and is an annual opportunity to meet artists and craftspeople in their studios. This will be our first year opening our doors for this event and we’re really looking forward to it.

There are several local artists in the Wilbrahams and Fulbourn who will also be taking part and they’re very much worth a visit so if you’re free for a weekend in July come and see us.

We’ll be open from 10-5 on both Saturday and Sunday of the 5/6th, 12/13th and 26/27th. We’re running a course on the 19th and 20th so we won’t be open for visitors then but look forward to seeing you on any other weekend in July.

Course Dates: 2025

Loads more courses and more spaces on each course. Our course schedule for 2025 is now on our website. There might be a couple of tiny changes but if you book a course we won’t change that date.

Shows this year

We’ve had a couple of changes to our show calendar and are delighted to have been accepted to Living Crafts Festival at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. If you haven’t been before it’s worth the trip; it’s one of the biggest and most diverse craft shows we’ve been to and has an unparalleled range of workshops and activities.

• 8-11th May Living Crafts Festival Hatfield House, Hertfordshire
• 14-15th June Cambridge Town and Country Fair, Parker’s Piece, Cambridge
• 9-10th August Cambridge Country Show, Stow Cum Quy
• 13-14th September The Wonder of Wood Fair, Burwash Manor, Cambridge
• 24-25th October London International Woodworking Festival, LDE UTC, Royal Docks, London

If you think there’s a craft show within an hour’s drive of Cambridge that we should attend please drop us a line. We’re always grateful for new opportunities.

Books

We often get asked for book recommendations. Whilst there are lots of books about building Windsor Chairs there are fewer that are great for ladder backs, post and rung and rush-seated chairs. The two I got started with are often available used and are both an excellent introduction to the craft. They’re by no means exhaustive though. When describing the process of building the legs of a chair one of the authors writes, “Turn or otherwise round the legs…” which leaves plenty to the imagination. A little face-to-face instructions won’t go amiss!

Jack Hill’s book is often very reasonably priced but copies of Langsner’s book are sometimes eye-wateringly expensive. Setting up a search on Abebooksco.uk is worth doing.

What’s for tea?

All of the food on our courses is hand-made by Bryony. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu as a patisserie chef so her standards are rather high!

As always, if you’re interested in coming on a course please give us a ring (07778 397328) or drop us an email. You can book all of our courses through the links on our website.

Enjoy your time in the workshop.

StJohn & Bryony