Follow the journey Handmade in Lancashire · Est. 2024
Creating unique pieces handcrafted entirely from reclaimed wood. Supporting charities that help people build new lives.
Made Slowly, for a Richer Story.
01 — Story
Hello. I’m Steven - the original New Life Woodworker.
After spending 30 years sat staring at a screen, I left a successful career in advertising to find meaning in making. I’ve gone from sitting at a desk thinking to working at my bench. From just thinking about stuff, to actually making stuff. And I’ve not looked back.
I realised I was a human being that didn’t spend much time being human. We are blessed with five senses, and it’s the delicate dance between them all that defines us. Delivering knowledge work with digital tools I spent most of my day using 1 … maybe 1.5 tops.
So, I decided to re-assert my humanity and rage against the machine! … albeit gently and slowly from the quiet comfort of my workshop. The machine hasn’t noticed the difference. But I definitely have.
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05In the workshopMaking slowly, by hand, in Lancashire
02 — Behind the scenes
From rescuing an overlooked pallet to the final sweep of oil, the making matters. These short workshop films follow the real sequence: finding the timber, taking it apart, working it by hand, bringing out the grain — and finding a use for what remains.
Before there is a piece, there is a pallet worth carrying home.
Slow leverage and a little patience preserve as much useful timber as possible.
A hand plane, a sharp edge and full attention to what the timber is doing.
The finish reveals the colour, contrast and history already held in the wood.
Even the pieces too small to build with can still be given one final purpose.
Five short workshop filmsSelect a film to play · Presented without sound
03 — Sustainability
A pallet stamp, an old fixing hole, a change in tone: these are not flaws to disguise, but small windows into where the wood has been. Each piece is designed to preserve those traces and let its provenance become part of the design.
The timber might begin as a pallet, shelf, table, garden chair or fence board destined for the tip. It is dismantled, cleaned and prepared with care. The design follows the timber rather than forcing it into uniformity. Flat, square and true — never perfectly, but always humanly.
04 — Causes
Giving old wood new life is only part of the idea. Every piece also helps support organisations working with people who are building new lives of their own — and a wider invitation to rediscover what making can do for us.
New Life Woodcraft is a community interest company. A proportion of every sale supports “New Life” charities working across homelessness, mental health and migration. Pallet-to-Pounds asks: how much good can be made from one unwanted pallet?
The ambition is to share simple projects, work-along tutorials and welcoming community workshops — giving complete beginners the chance to make real things with their own hands.
Mindful making is an analogue antidote to the digital drudge: sight, sound, touch and attention brought together in the moment. A chance to get out of your head and closer to the material.
Use your hands.
Clear your mind.
Do some good.
05 — Commissions
Most pieces begin with a conversation.
Perhaps you need a table made for a particular space, a made-to-measure picture frame, a garden piece or a thoughtful gift. You might even have timber that already matters to you: one commission transformed childhood furniture into chopping boards for its original owners’ new homes. Old material can lead us somewhere more personal than anything bought new.
A few words, rough dimensions, reference images or a piece of timber with a history are plenty.
We will shape the design around its character, your space and the story you want it to carry.
Your piece is carefully crafted, finished with oil and beeswax where appropriate, and prepared for collection or delivery.
06 — Follow
The product and the process. The progress and the wrong turns.
Follow along for pallet rescues, design drops, mindful hand-tool work, workshop experiments and the honest business of learning in public. Making. Learning. Growing — one piece of old wood at a time.
07 — Commissions
There is no need for a perfect brief. Tell me what you would like to make, where it will live, or about the old timber you would like to preserve. We can let the idea — and the wood — develop from there.
