I grew up with a fascination for materials, especially for metals and woods. The various ways they behave, both between individual types and between different states of the same material, felt like actual alchemy to me as a child.
We are able to use tools and temperature to change the way a material behaves. As a man in my late 20’s, I can now put these early feelings into words, but at the time I just manifested a healthy obsession with using and making tools (healthy, apart from occasionally drilling holes in my bedroom floor or hammering something “just to see what happens” – sorry Mum).
Every Christmas or birthday my grandfather would give me a hand-tool. A set of chisels, screwdrivers, a saw, a hand-cranked drill. These were in a sense, part of the best early education I could have asked for – how to change your environment using tools. This is a huge part of being human.
Now, if something doesn’t work or I need something to make my job or life easier, I make something to suit. I think this outlook may have been adopted from my above-mentioned grandfather, whose hoover has a turned elm wheel that replaced a broken one, or whose washing machine has buttons made from turned walnut. Don’t throw something out if you can fix it, another important lesson. More importantly, design and make things to last.
I studied Product Design and Technology at Loughborough University, graduating in 2016, and currently work mostly as a freelance designer and design engineer. The other half of my time is spent producing things with my hands, with the focus now mainly on kitchen knives and firepits.