Handmade : Britain's Best Woodworker
I was a contestant in a television series called 'Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker'. The 6 part series aired weekly from Thursday 21st October 2021 on Channel 4 at 9pm.
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It all seems so surreal now. It was filmed in the Autumn of 2020 (as the second covid19 lockdown began,) in Mid Wales. We formed a bubble and the competition began... But how did I, a woodcarver rather than a woodworker, come to be in this series?
I was encouraged by a fellow wood fanatic to answer a call to apply for an audition to take part in a program called 'Good With Wood' as it was originally called. Whilst it is true that most of my work with wood has been purely carving, I have turned my hand to such things as a complicated 3 tier curved garden decking and a workstation for my workshop. So... not one to back away from a challenge, I thought I would give it a go, not really believing I would be selected or indeed fully understanding what was involved. The process was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. To say that I was nervous as we started filming episode 1, would have been a great understatement.
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I quickly discovered that I wasn't alone in feeling a bit out of my depth. The contestants are a very diverse bunch of people with such different backgrounds in working with wood. Our shared love of working with wood made it feel less like a competition at times and more of a shared experience. Whilst it is cliché to say "I feel like I have made friends for life in the other contestants" it is so true.
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It was an extraordinary experience that took me well beyond my know-how as predominantly a carver of animals. I still prefer working with hand tools especially in working fine details and finishing but there is a great deal to be said for power tools as labor / time saving devices getting to that point!
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Here are the big builds that I made on the series in just 18 hours each!
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Many thanks to the production team, the techy team and my fellow competitors for all their support.