The skills of cabinetmaking are alive and well, with a big future ahead of them, according to the team behind a north-east business which survived a fire and moved into a new workshop during 2017.
Graeme Winram, owner of Lethenty Cabinetmakers said yesterday the business – now based at Cairntradlin, near Blackburn, in Aberdeenshire – was thriving.
He added: “We hope to be able to work on a greater number of bespoke kitchen commissions as these are among our most professionally satisfying projects.
“Now that we are fully up and running again, we have been able to focus our energies on what we produce, rather than where and how we produce it, so existing and future clients can expect some exciting new developments.
“For instance, we are developing a range of very special whisky cabinets made exclusively in Aberdeenshire oak and elm for collectors of fine malt whiskies.”
Mr Winram and his four-strong team work mainly with locally sourced hardwoods, using oak, elm and ash logs from farms and estates. After sawing the logs into boards, they carefully stack them to air dry – usually for several years – before final conditioning in a kiln.
The resulting products are much in demand. Customers include some of the most prestigious houses in Aberdeenshire, including those owned by the National Trust for Scotland.
Mr Winram said: “It’s so satisfying to me to see the whole process through from a rough heavy log in a farmer’s field to a shimmering surface of a beautifully-made piece of special furniture.
Lethenty Cabinetmakers – widely regarded as a centre of woodworking excellence – moved to its current workshop after a fire burned down its previous home.
It was one of at least six businesses affected by a massive blaze at Lethenty Mill, near Inverurie, in April 2016.
