In April 2023 I spotted a worktop going free in a neighbours garden. It has been sitting patiently behind our sofa until this moment. I asked Chris if he would help me make a bespoke jewellery bench for Christmas and he said yes! So instead of resting, we used some of the quiet time between Christmas and New Year to get making!! This an insight into day one:

The used but free worktop in my neighbours front garden. Luckily it was only a couple of doors down, so we could just pick it up and carry it home - it's very heavy!

Clearing the space where my new bench will go. Saying goodbye to a small desk and my first proper jewellery bench as pictured above. This was given to me by Mariko Sumioka in 2015 so has served me very well! I've happily passed it on to another jeweller at Cockpit.

The worktop in the new space - fits pretty well really! We lay it down like this to help visualise it and plan what to build. I'd done a very loose sketch of what I wanted and we measured in the space to work out what would actually work. Chris then drew a detailed plan on graph paper so we knew exactly what we were making and the additional wood to buy.

Marking out the semi-circle using string.

A successful trip to the DIY store. We hired a van for a couple of hours to make things easier.

Sanding back the used side of the worktop made a big difference, this side will be the bottom of my bench as the other side is cleaner.

We used a jigsaw to cut out the semi-circle.

Working outside in the sunlight (and cold). Really grateful that Cockpit have an outside space and plug socket - it saved lots of dusty work from happening in the studio.

A selfie in the lift. Moving operations inside as the light faded.

Marking out all the cuts to be made on the wood for the legs and frame. I tried to remember the phrase 'measure twice, cut once' whilst doing this.

That'll do for day one. Home for some Christmas chocolate.