Nick Thwaites - Designer-Maker of Fine Furniture

Nick Thwaites is an established, Devon-based designer and maker of contemporary bespoke furniture, creating exquisite pieces for clients across the UK and overseas.

This video talks you through his process and inspiration for his furniture, hopefully giving you a clear idea of what it's like to work with Nick.

Nicks website:

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Social

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[colinchesbrough]

If I weren't a fine furniture maker myself, I would pick you to make a piece for me. Beautiful work

[chm]

Very nice indeed. The workshop looks super nice and airy, the furniture looks exquisite, and Nick has a nice range of hybrid tools too, which I’m a fan of - although I do like hand tools, this way is much faster.

I was also curious to see who he trained under, and from what I can see and work out, I think it’s Christopher Faulkner, based in Totnes. At £13.5k (it is a 38 week long course), his course is a little out of reach for me, but to be able to make beautiful furniture and sell it, is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Keep up the great work, Nick.

[theofarmmanager]

It was a nicely produced video. I’ve been woodworking for over 45 years now and think I could make just about anything if I wanted to. But I think very carefully about design and what contributes and what does not.

It’s been my experience that prospective owners/buyers of bespoke furniture do not care about dovetails. Maybe that’s not quite true because the only comment I had about dovetails was when a lady asked me what those funny arrow things were in my sketch and did we have to have them as they clashed, she thought, with the overall design.

I realised then that she was right and I was including dovetails because I could. Because it was a sign to another woodworker, but not the owner, that the maker could make good dovetails. In other words, it was an ego feature.

Function and design. Are dovetails necessary? No. These days our adhesive are superbly strong and a mechanical joint is rarely needed.

Just because you can, doesn’t man you should. Just because you can make a dovetail or a castle joint or whatever, doesn’t mean that you should and doesn’t mean it will elevate the design.

I do include dovetails if I feel that they add to the design. This usually means either they are exaggerated houndstooth or they have protruding tails and pins (as shown in the video and as Greene and Greene).

There are many very good makers out there in the UK. Many people who are far better craftsman than me. In fact, there are too many chasing too little work. The major issue for most craftsmen is finding people who are willing and able to pay a lot of money for a heritage piece. Many would like to have a bespoke piece but when you talk in the thousands for a fairly average sized table, then suddenly budget and desire go in different directions.

Any maker must really gear themselves to ask very early in the conversation what the prospective client’s budget is. And, if that budget is just daft, walk away. Do not cut your price; do not diminish what you need to live on just to fit a budget which is too small.

If Nick Thwaites has a clientele sufficiently large, existing or expanding through word of mouth, to keep himself busy and earn a return on his investment in that nice workshop and machinery, then congratulations. I truly mean that. If they are allied to his previous profession, then well don’t for using that database to start with. For most people, finding those clients to start with is the really difficult bit

[obedecilo]

Love your work sir !
I really like furniture design, but there is no way I can be like you .. wish I could study the same thing as you

[kristian]

Awesome vid. Whats the name of the tool at 1:54? Thanks

[AJstanton]

No woodworker dresses like that when in the shop

[jimmytwizzle]

An interesting video but invariably I find them pretentious in the assumption of over importance that is assumed in these roles usually to justify self Importable or inflated prices. Simply put. You are a carpenter that makes furniture that is all.