About

I'm Stephen. I make furniture with wood and epoxy at Falling Tree Studio.

How I got here

I trained as an academic. I spent a career as a software architect. Woodworking came late. I grew up in the UK, lived in Boston for years, and now I'm retired in Thailand with a shop full of slabs and a lot of sandpaper.

I never went to trade school. Nobody apprenticed me. I learned by wrecking pieces and then not wrecking the next one the same way. I have never finished a project without at least one small mess-up. That's not humility theater. It's just what happens when you work by hand.

Boards first

I started with charcuterie boards. Sold them nearby. Watched what people actually picked up and paid for. That feedback was better than any plan I could have drawn.

I was lining up to sell on Etsy when I built my first table. When it sold, the path got clearer.

YouTube

I learned almost everything from YouTube. Techniques, mistakes to avoid, courage to try a pour I had no business attempting on day one. The woodworking people posting long, boring process videos saved me years. I don't pretend otherwise.

Shipping

Getting furniture from here to a customer's floor was harder than making it. I learned to build crates. Corners, live edges, glass-smooth epoxy: all of it has to survive freight. A cracked river on arrival means I failed, even if the shop work was fine.

The wood

I buy lumber from Berkshire Products in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts. Good stock is half the job. Cheap mystery wood becomes expensive scrap once you've poured resin into it.

Now

Boards, tables, custom work. Still learning. Still sanding. If you want something made for your house rather than pulled off a showroom wall, I'm the person at the other end.