Unveiling the Graham Tilly Woodworking Library

One of the nice things about starting this business has been the amount of people who have reached out to us to donate old tools and bits and pieces.

By far the most significant of these benefactors has been Graham Tilly.

Graham was a passionate and skilled woodworker and tuner who sadly passed away last week at the age of 92.

In the months before his death Graham gifted us an abundance of woodworking tools and machines including a bandsaw, drill press and lathe and numerous hand tools that are used in the courses we run each week. The Stanley shooting board and plane he gave us is a thing of beauty and on most days is my favourite tool in the shop.

I’ve known Graham since I was a kid so it was a great privilege to spend some time with him at the end of his life to discuss tools and woodwork; a shared passion.

Graham also donated to us his extensive woodworking reference library. I got chills when he gave it to us (and still do sometimes) thinking about all the potential wrapped up in those books. If there is something you want to make from wood but aren’t sure how, the answer lies somewhere in that collection, or is at least a nudge in the right direction.

Today we unveiled “The Graham Tilly Woodworking Library” in his honour. The public are welcome to come into perouse the library at their leisure and it gives us great pleasure to see Graham’s collection continue to be used by the community.

Graham died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, his woodworking legacy living on.

– Written by Luke Mitchell