Lethenty Cabinetmakers

12/06/2026

The Timber Twelve

We were very pleased to welcome the current members of The Timber Twelve and their guests for a short tour of our workshop and timber yard last week.
The Timber Twelve is a 130 year old organisation that exists to promote the use of timber and the continuation of the craft of woodworking.
Once a year the group head out on tour and each of the twelve members bring along a guest.

Graeme spent some time explaining the history and the ethos of Lethenty Cabinetmakers. We showed the group some examples of our work and toured the workshop.
Out in the timber yard, we looked at how we mill and dry our own hardwood logs.

We spent some time discussing the economics of running a small scale craft based business with the group.
Times are changing and there are not so many smaller timber workshops left now.
Making objects of integrity to a high standard is unavoidably time consuming.
But Aberdeenshire is a good corner of the world to work in and we've always managed to find the clients who value our services.

At the end of their visit, we presented each of our guests with a sample of Burr Elm from Kemnay.
This was inset with an engraved square plaque made of Banchory Sycamore.

All hail the Timber Twelve!

05/06/2026

Videography by Jake Irvine

29/05/2026

On Tuesday this week it was unusually quiet in our workshop.
The electricity network had overhanging trees to fell so the power was cut for eight hours.

Our workshop is normally like a living organism with the hum of machinery pumping the lifeblood of creative endeavour.
When there's no electricity, there's no noise, no lights, no chattering internet, no rumbling dust extraction, no hissing compressed air, no screeching routers, no Neil Diamond singing Sweet Caroline.
With the power off, the place feels lifeless. You realise just how dependent we've all become.
The floors are already swept clean, the chisels are sharp, the timber stacks are neat and tidy, there's not much we can get on with without power.

So we decided to take the day off. It was a beautiful May morning and we thought we'd tackle Bennachie - Aberdeenshire's Magic Mountain.

Pictured on the top (left to right) is Alex Cryle, Milo, Steve Gordon, Phil Pratt, Sandy Raffan, Graeme Winram and Sam Morrison.

14/05/2026

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….

08/05/2026

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.

01/05/2026

28/04/2026

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.

24/04/2026

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.

17/04/2026

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…..