Jim Light Woodcrafts and Jim Light Designs

A lot of our wood comes from off-cuts from cabinet makers, what is an off-cut to them is some earrings to us! This ties in with our environmental approach, the offcut from the cabinet maker is used and not thrown away, the small amount of our waste timber is burnt in a log burner and the ash goes onto the garden. This means that nothing is wasted and also that we can keep our prices low for our customers.

The photo's in the product pages may contain several examples of the same item, unless otherwise stated the prices refer to one item.

With miniatures this was something that Jim got into by accident. One day at the lathe turning a batch of items, he was left with a small stub of wood in the chuck. Just for the technical challenge he turned a few tiny bowls. At the next craft fair these were on the table, not for sale but as a point of interest, possibly to give to children of a "buying family". However, lots of people wanted to buy them and they sold quickly. From then on they were a standard item. When a specialist miniaturist shop opened in Exeter some bowls were sold there. Whilst in the shop Jim's eyes were opened to the world of dolls houses and miniatures, and an extended range of 1/12th scale and even some 1/24th scale items were produced. Several specialist shops have sold Jim's work and he has exhibited at shows and given talks to various groups.

Our website is linked to PayPal and so we can accept on line payments from all major credit and debit cards. At shows and fairs we accept cash and cheques in pounds sterling, and depending on the exchange rate we will consider euros.

There are craftspeople making and selling metal jewellery and wooden jewellery but not many that combine both materials. This approach means that no two items are exactly alike and we have found that if we can keep to broadly similar designs and sizes, but be unique with hand turned exotic timber inserts, that customers like this. Some wooden jewellery makers only turn wood or have non turned wood, we can and do, both (sometimes on the same piece!) We don't confine ourselves to using exotic timbers, indeed many are English, for example a piece of Yew or Laburnum carefully cut to have some darker heartwood and some lighter sapwood can well rival some of the foreign exotics.

Our aim is to provide well made, unique and affordable items, this is why most of our sales are either on line or at fairs, in order to keep our prices as low as we can.

We have been asked why we like working with wood so much. The rewards are many, the sense of wonder when cutting open a branch and being the first person to ever see the inside of something that has been growing for many years is something that never goes away. (Apart from the rare occasion when we hit a stone or a nail and blunt a blade!) The beauty of the grain, the colours and above all the tactileness of it, most people want to pick it up and feel it.

We would welcome the opportunity to earn your trust and deliver you the best service in the industry.

Commissions.

If there is something you would like for yourself, or to give as a present, which is unique and hand made, we can carry out commissions. It may be similar to our range but with a subtle change, one customer asked if we could make a square pendant with the turned circular lines in it, we made a square one and a square one on its side and she was delighted and bought both. If we cannot do something or if it will cost a lot to do then we will tell you but if you don't ask then you won't know! One of our sayings is"everything is possible - it's just that some things take a bit longer and cost a bit more!" If there is a liking for a darker or a lighter wood then please ask. Some customers like to see knots and some don't, fortunately we are not all the same! Even if there is something we haven't tried to make before it's worth sending us an e-mail, it may be that we just haven't thought of it and it could become a new best selling line in time! We welcome approaches from individual customers, groups such as miniaturist clubs and from shops / galleries. All of our work is made to our own designs.