Role at Indigo: Cabinet Maker.
Location: Tansley Workshop, Derbyshire.
Time worked at Indigo: Seven Years.
Favourite Indigo product: The Crossley
Table, made here in our workshop at Tansley,
Derbyshire. It really shows the beauty of
natural oak.
MEET Sam
What first made you want to work with furniture?
I suppose a lot of people would say their dads or grandads got them interested in making furniture but for me it
was my Mum. She’s into antiques and restoration, and as a kid at weekends we’d go round fairs
and auctions and she’d pick bits up to restore and sell on.
How did you first learn to create with wood?
The one thing I remember that’s always been present in my life is mum’s shed at the bottom of the garden. Full of
tools like planers, screwdrivers, saws that sort of thing - always something I could pick up and play around with.
What is your history with wood work?
At school I made a wooden monster truck with working parts and a dumper that moved up and down. I’ll have to
ask Mum where that it is now! Likely in the shed with all her other bits and bobs.
How did you start professionally?
After college I got an apprenticeship with local property developer, I liked seeing a project come together
but part of me missed the finer work.
Why did you return to making furniture?
I wanted to return to what I’d been doing as a kid and get back to the bench. I love taking the raw material, the
rough hewn oak, and crafting it into a table like The Crossley. Some people might look and think ‘that’s just a pile
of oak’ but I see the finished piece, what I can do with the natural character to make it into a feature.
What sets Indigo apart?
Building the mortise and tenon joints - like they’ve always been through years of woodwork. I like to get my
hands on the reclaimed wood as well, seeing that through from start to finish. Taking it from a stack of wood
riddled with metalwork from some old building and making it into someone’s bed. I get a buzz out of that.
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