Hi, I am a 21 year old Autistic Woodturner from Chester UK
How it started
I first started woodworking in the summer of 2017 after I was introduced to the DT teacher at my school. The first project I ever made was a ‘kururin’ rolling stick on the school lathe from an old beech rolling pin. It took me a long time to turn and it didn’t look the best but it was my first project and I was really happy with it!
My teachers at school really encouraged me and helped me to get started in woodturning, so much so that in December 2017 I got my own lathe! Over the next few months I slowly got more tools until I had run out of space in my shed, so we cleared out our garage to use as a workshop.
When we moved house about a year later I no longer had a space to work and had all my machines in two tiny sheds over the winter. I had to pull all my machines out onto our patio every time I needed to use them. Even so I turned my first segmented bowl, and then a segmented vase that I won the British Young Woodturner of the Year 2019 with!
One of the sheds at the back of the garden with my machines inside
My Segmented Zebrano Vase -Winner of the 2019 British Young Woodturner of the Year award
In March of 2019 work started on the new workshop. Construction was completed in early May 2019, before I immediately left for the Woodturner of the Year Award at the OXO Tower Gallery in London followed by Makers Central 2019 in Birmingham.
Handmade Britain's Best Woodworker 2023
Back in 2022 after a lengthy audition process I was accepted to be a contestant on the 3rd season of Britain's Best Woodworker where myself and 9 other woodworkers battled it out over 5 weeks to be crowned ‘Britain's Best Woodworker’.
-
In order to get on the show, I filled in an application and had to submit a short video. I found out afterwards, there were over 500 other applicants! After multiple interviews conducted over zoom, I had to create a bird house in 2 hours in my home workshop. To make mine unique I decided to create a staved cylinder that I cut, glued and turned within the 2 hours.
-
It was an incredible opportunity and I enjoyed every second of it. Everyone on the show was so friendly from camera operators to directors to my fellow contestants. I still keep in contact with everyone and it really was an experience I'll never forget.
-
My favourite piece from the show was my coffee table, it was one of the only projects that I was able to finish to a standard I would’ve been happy with at home.
-
If you're interested in watching my journey in the series, you can find it on channel 4 catch up or by click this link. [Britain's best woodworker 2023]
