This is a fun activity in Harlesden, London
A day with hand tools. A piece to take home. No experience needed.
Over a full day, you’ll make a solid wood sushi platter and a pair (or more!) of chopsticks — choosing your timber from various species (walnut, beech, ash, oak), marking and cutting your own platter shape, and working the whole piece with hand tools. Use a jigsaw to rough out the form. Hand planes, rasps, spokeshaves, and sandpaper will bring it to a finished surface worth eating from!
This course is designed for people who’ve never picked up a hand plane — and for those who have and want a relaxed, enjoyable day to practice. You work at your own pace, make your own decisions about shape and edge treatment, and leave with something made by hand that you can use at home. Your teacher will guide you in how to properly use and get the best results from woodworking hand tools.
Across the day you’ll learn to:
- Choose and read timber: understanding how walnut, beech, ash, and oak differ in grain, density, and working character
- Mark out a platter shape: laying out your chosen profile on a wood blank — freehand or from a template; the shape is yours
- Cut and refine a profile: sawing to the line with a jigsaw, then sanding and spokeshaving the edges smooth
- Taper chopsticks with a hand plane: reading a taper, setting a plane, and working a fine section from a square blank
- Apply edge treatments with hand tools: chamfer, roundover, or combination — your decision, made with planes, rasps, chisels, and spokeshaves
- Add personal details: using the tools to bring your own character to the platter or chopsticks
- Drill a soy sauce bowl recess (optional): marking and boring a recess into the platter surface at the drill press to fit a small ceramic bowl
- Finish with food-safe oil: two coats across the platter and chopsticks, leaving the grain open and the surface ready for the table
