Hardwood countertop over pale hardwood cabinetry
Corner Writing Desk & Hutch
Built-in · 2026
A two-tone corner desk — pale cabinetry under a dark hardwood top, built to the room it lives in.
View the piece
the same wood — before the lathe, and after
Riverside Woodworking · Miramichi, NB
Built from
the tree, out.
Bespoke furniture, built-ins, and turned vessels — handcrafted from raw lumber in a one-man shop, for the people who plan on keeping things.
Rough lumber goes in. Heirlooms come out. Nothing in between but sharp tools, patience, and a stubborn refusal to fake it — no stains that lie about the species, no screws where a joint belongs.
Selected Work
Pieces with provenance.
Built-in
Fireplace Library Wall
2026
Floor-to-ceiling shelving built around a fireplace — measured to the room, scribed to the walls.
View the piece Salvaged burls — maple, birch, and whatever the river offers
Turned Vessels — Burl Series
Turning · 2021 — ongoing
Bowls and vessels turned from storm-felled burls — the rawest wood in the shop becomes the most refined.
View the pieceUp Close
The parts you’d only
notice up close.
Nobody commissions a mitre joint. But the piece stands or falls on a hundred of them — so this is where the hours go.
The Workshop Palette
The woods we reach for.
No two boards are the same, but a shop keeps its favourites. These are the species that earn their place here — chosen for how they cut, how they age, and how they hold a joint.
- 01
Black Walnut
Juglans nigra
- Density
- 38 lb/ft³
- Janka
- 1010 lbf
Rich chocolate heartwood, stable and forgiving — the wood that makes a piece look serious.
- 02
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum
- Density
- 44 lb/ft³
- Janka
- 1450 lbf
Dense, pale, and hard-wearing. Birdseye and burl figure show up here when the tree has earned it.
- 03
Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis
- Density
- 43 lb/ft³
- Janka
- 1260 lbf
New Brunswick's own — tough, fine-grained, and often pulled green from along the river.
- 04
Black Cherry
Prunus serotina
- Density
- 35 lb/ft³
- Janka
- 950 lbf
Cuts clean and deepens to a warm amber over decades of light. It ages better than its owner.
- 05
White Ash
Fraxinus americana
- Density
- 42 lb/ft³
- Janka
- 1320 lbf
Open-grained and springy — the wood for steam-bending and anything that has to take a load.
- 06
Red Oak
Quercus rubra
- Density
- 44 lb/ft³
- Janka
- 1290 lbf
Coarse, strong, and honest. Quartersawn, it throws the ray fleck people pay extra for.
Commissioning
How a commission
works.
-
Write or call
Tell me what you’re picturing — or just what the room needs. A photo of the space helps. A sketch on a napkin counts.
-
We talk it through
Wood, size, and budget, in plain terms. If a design won’t hold up or won’t be worth the money, I’ll say so.
-
I draw, you decide
You get a drawing and a firm quote. Change it until it’s right. Nothing gets cut until you’re sure.
-
I build it
One piece at a time, start to finish. Good work takes the time it takes, and I’ll tell you honestly what that is.
the shop, mid-commission
Have a board, a sketch,
or just a hunch?
The shop takes a limited number of commissions each year, so every piece gets the time it needs. Bring measurements or bring nothing — the first conversation costs nothing and decides everything.
Commission a piece
Replies within two business days.