Lethenty Cabinetmakers

There’s something special about collaboration.
Whenever we partner with another creative craft businesses the results are always seem to end up becoming something far more than either of us could create on our own.

We recently had the great good fortune to work on a small project with the metal workshop https://www.instagram.com/themetalworkshop/ at Newton Dee – part of the Camphill Community https://www.newtondee.co.uk/

Graeme commissioned them to create three pieces of copper repoussé work for a very special lady.

Repoussé is a metalworking technique where a malleable metal sheet is hammered and pressed from the reverse side to create a raised, low-relief design on the front.
The design features a pair of trumpeting angels, heralding the rising of the sun.
The angels were made by Davin and Elizabeth and the sun was made by Ruairidh.
The finished pieces are beautifully made - showing great artistry in design and exquisite workmanship.
Seeing them close up is breathtaking. Mastery of an art like this takes thousands of hours.

Our part in this piece was quite small. Cabinetmaker Sam made a triptych from three small Oak frames with ovolo mouldings. Woodfinishing maestro Steve stained them a deep ebony.
The picture of Davin shows her with a copper angel and the last picture shows Graeme with Ruairidh and Elizabeth holding the completed artwork.

The Metalworking Workshop at Newton Dee produces a wide range of handmade items, mostly in brass and copper.
Email them at [email protected] to discuss a commission. They make beautiful house signs….

A major influence on my kitchen design work has been the English designer Johnny Grey.

Back in the 1990s he pioneered the concept of “Soft Geometry” – introducing curves to soften the pathways around the kitchen space.

As Grey puts it in “The Art of Kitchen Design, “People move around a kitchen a bit like water flowing around a rocky river bed; they divert themselves around the obstacles”.

A kitchen designed with the principals of soft geometry in mind is a more relaxing and ergonomic space to live and work in.

An oval or circular central island for instance, just feels more natural and pleasant to move around compared with a rectangle.

Of course, a rectangular shape is easier to build and therefore more economical compared with curved cabinets but as these pictures show, the curves can completely transform the look and feel of the most intensively used room in your home.

Ten years ago today, our workshop was destroyed in a huge fire.
I got the call at 5.00am and remember driving the short distance to Lethenty Mill with a sick feeling in my stomach.
As I reached the crest of the Chapel hill, all I could see was an enormous pillar of dark smoke billowing up in the early morning sky.
There was no point in hurrying – I could see it was already too late to save anything.
All our stocks of timber, all our machines, our hand tools and all the furniture projects we were working on at the time.
The five of us could do nothing but watch the orange flames destroy everything we had created over the past twelve years

As we watched it burn, we knew that our workshop was far more than just a production space. it was home for our small team of craftsmen.
Full of noise, creativity, dust, sweat, smoke and laughter.
It was also part of a community of small businesses - six of them lost their livelihood that day.

But even as our business was turned to ashes, we knew it was not a time for feeling sorry for ourselves.
Before the dust settled, we were already thinking about the future.

The local paper ran an article about us and so many kind people contacted us about empty buildings.
We looked about twenty potential workshops, came up with a shortlist of four and ended up at Cairntradlin Farm.

We had a lot of work ahead of us to convert an empty agricultural shed into a modern and efficient workshop.
We were keen to get started and worked long hard days. Everything was done on a tight budget.
We insulated every wall, fitted new roof panels, built a showroom, a mezzanine floor, timber racking and a spray booth.
The entire building was rewired and we fitted a large dust extraction system and restored a fleet of old woodworking machines.

Six months later…… we were able to open our doors and resume production.

We absolutely would not have survived that setback without a little help along the way.

The Cabinetmakers of Lethenty are very blessed to live and work in such a supportive community.
We are now stronger than ever before, in a fantastic manufacturing facility and a bright future ahead of us.

Cabinetmakers in the Cathedral.
We recently received an unusual request from The Captain of the Tower.
We were asked to supply some precisely dimensioned straight grained Ash posts for the bell tower of St. Machar’s Cathedral in Old Aberdeen.
The eight bells of St Machar’s are fitted with hardwood stays to prevent the bells from rotating too far. Sometimes these bell ringers get a bit carried away….
We were happy to oblige as we keep good stocks of 3” Ash but we made it a condition of the sale that we got the opportunity to climb up the bell tower to see the bells in person.

So, Graeme and his son Ewan delivered the Ash stays on Monday evening - when the bell ringers gather for their weekly practice.
We got to ascend up one of the iconic twin spires of St Machar’s. Up a tight spiral staircase then up a vertical ladder bolted to the stonework. Not for the faint hearted.
It was fascinating to see the huge bronze bells (up to ¾ of a ton each) supported by a beautifully engineered framework of heavy cast iron beams.
Each bell is perfectly balanced between bearing blocks and rotates on a shaft with a timber pulley the size of a large cart wheel.
The eight ropes pass through the floor to the chamber below where we were given a demonstration of the bellringer’s art.
It seems there’s a lot more to it than just pulling on a rope!
We’ve worked in many historic properties over the years and it always feels like such an honour to play even a small part in a tradition that goes back centuries.

Most woodworkers order their wood by phone.
It arrives on a lorry a few days later – shrink wrapped, square edged, consistent and efficient.
Tulipwood from America, Oak from Croatia, Maple from Canada, Sapele from Nigeria.

We buy imported wood too – sometimes it’s necessary to find the most economical solution
Our hardwood supplier is Paterson Timber in Glasgow – They’ve provided a great service to us for over twenty years.

But we do prefer making furniture and kitchens from our own stock of home grown timber.
At Lethenty Cabinetmakers, milling and drying local hardwoods has always been an important part of what we do.
Aberdeenshire Oak, Ash and Elm trees produce fabulous and totally unique timber.
It might not be so efficient as buying a lorry load of shrink wrapped Euro Oak but for us, using home grown wood is far more satisfying.

The pictures show the neat stacks of milled boards air drying in our timber yard.

One year for every inch of thickness…..

Here are some images from a recently completed kitchen project.
The design work was carried out in partnership with our regular collaborator, Zhanar Design.

Swipe through the photographs to see Graeme’s original design drawing for our Reuben Kitchen project.
You can then see Zhanar’s CAD render of the room, complete with lighting, furnishings and decorative details.
Lastly, there’s a photograph of the finished room so you can see how close the renders are to the finished room.

Our clients find this service to be a really valuable part of the design process.
We can use digital design software to experiment with different colours, flooring, handles, lighting, etc. before committing to expensive decisions.
By taking the time to work on the virtual design work at an early stage, we take the risk out of the process.
If we design every detail first, we can then move onto the manufacturing and installation with absolute confidence.

How do you create a beautiful kitchen when there’s a massive pillar positioned right in the middle of the room?

In this case, we used the pillar to anchor a large scale semi circular island with raised level curved seating on either side.
The island was made using our own stock of beautifully grained Aberdeenshire Elm with worktops made from unique Nero Marinace granite.
The two sides were clad with panels of painted steel so our clients could use them as magnetic message boards.
We positioned a convex breakfast cabinet on the back of the pillar. This was also made using local Elm – from Fetternear Estate near Kemnay.

This was our solution to what could have been a huge design problem but by incorporating the pillar into the kitchen design, the room feels lighter and more unified.
Careful design work with a mind open to innovative solutions – that’s what genuine bespoke cabinetry is all about.

No business exists in isolation.
In order to truly prosper, any enterprise needs to build a community of connection.
Connections with clients, with staff, with suppliers, with neighbours and with other businesses.
The Cabinetmakers of Lethenty are very blessed to live in an ecosystem of mutual support and collaboration.

Almost ten years ago, our old workshop at Lethenty Mill burned down in a terrible fire.
It took us over a year to re-build our workshop and get back on our feet again.
We absolutely would not have survived that setback without a little help along the way.
In order to mark the re-launch of our business, we invited some of our friends round to acknowledge our recovery and show off our new workshop.
It was such a lovely event – a true celebration of community! We felt raised up on a wave of support and goodwill.
Photography by the very talented and very lovely Mike Davidson of Positive Image Photography.