The Heavy Life

Furniture made by hand in a small workshop on the Bellarine. Classical Chinese joinery, marquetry, parquetry — in Australian timbers, made the way it's worth making, or not at all. Writing about every joint, every jig, every failure and every success.


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Latest

Happy Burniversary

There's a thing people's faces do when you tell them you spent two weeks in a burns unit. They start arranging their features into something sympathetic before you've finished the sentence, and then they

13 September 2026 · 5 min read

Happy Burniversary Happy Burniversary The desk is done. The desk is done.
The first time a chisel bit into a piece of timber the lie of the digital world was exposed.
Read the manifesto →

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Bench Mark

Deep workshop writing on Chinese joinery, marquetry, furniture design, and the pieces I'm building.
What the Fú?
10 Jul 2026 · 6 min read
Bench Mark: So What the Heck Is an Àn Table, Anyway?
15 May 2026 · 6 min read
Bench Mark: Eight Millimetres
17 Apr 2026 · 3 min read

Essays

Longer pieces on whatever's on my mind. Sometimes the workshop, often not.
Happy Burniversary
13 Sep 2026 · 5 min read
Craft in the Age of AI
7 Aug 2026 · 8 min read
What the Poo?
17 Jul 2026 · 5 min read

Dispatches

Weekly letters from the workshop.
The desk is done.
11 Sep 2026 · 2 min read
What the Poo?
17 Jul 2026 · 5 min read
Disptach: Sanding, sanding, sanding.
3 Jul 2026 · 2 min read

Brush Notes

Quick notes from the bench. Short, unpolished, honest.

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