This page holds notes, not a shop. It marks a practice still taking shape, called Hollow Bench, built around leather, patience, and plain tools. The words here describe habits more than plans: how things are cut, how they are kept, how a room settles into use over time.
Light and Hours
The room faces open light through most of the day, no lamps needed until late. Work follows the light rather than the clock. Mornings suit cutting, afternoons suit stitching, evenings suit nothing sharp. The room stays quiet either way.
Tools and Their Care
A few knives, awls, and edge tools stay in daily rotation. Each has a place on the bench, wiped clean after use, oiled before storage. Nothing sits idle long enough to dull without notice. The fewer the tools, the more attention each one gets.
From Drawing to Finish
Work starts on paper, a shape before a cut. Patterns move to card, then to hide, checked twice before the blade moves. Edges get finished last, once the form holds. Each stage waits for the one before it to settle.
What Gets Kept
Offcuts go into a box, sorted loosely by size. Samples sit on a shelf, unlabeled but remembered. Notes go into a folder, mostly measurements and small corrections. Little is thrown out here; most scraps find use somewhere later.
On the Shelf
- Vegetable-tanned hide, various weights
- Waxed thread, several spools
- Edge paint, small jars
- Beeswax block, half used
- Card stock for patterns
Notes from the studio
DrawingThe slowness at the start is deliberate and saves time at the bench later. Most of the work here starts on paper, with loose sketches and a few measurements. A shape that is hurried at the sketch stage tends to stay hurried all the way through. A drawing is redone until the proportions read cleanly from across a room.
MaterialsEvery batch of finish is labelled with the day it was mixed and the wood it was tried on. Offcuts go into small studies instead of the bin. Materials are kept simple and local where the supply allows it. Sheet brass is left to darken on its own rather than lacquered.
RoomRain on the roof is loud enough that the radio stays off on wet days. The building has kept its skylights and a concrete floor that stays cool in summer. The kettle, the sharpening stones and the glue pot share the corner nearest the door. One project is laid out at a time, and the bench is cleared before the next one begins.