Company History & ethos
The Oak Frame Carpentry Co Ltd was set up in 1996 by Simon Eeles and Tim Potts, oak-frame carpenters with complimentary skills and many years experience in both the craft and the design of traditional structural timber building. Simon and Tim are passionate about timber buildings and structural carpentry, and this enthusiasm is shown within the company in an emphasis on the understanding of the vast resource of British timber frame buildings, and the use of traditional hand tools and techniques.
The cornerstone of our production process is English plumb-scribe carpentry, an ancient system unmatched in its ability to create accurate joints between uniquely shaped timbers.
In fact, the core processes carried out in the workshop of the The Oak Frame Carpentry Co Ltd would be entirely familiar to a medieval carpenter, although we make use of hand-held power tools where these increase our speed and efficiency and reduce the cost to our customers.
In an age that is becoming more aware of the impact that human activities have on our environment, structural carpentry is being rightly recognised as among the most sustainable building methods available.
We have always made it a very high priority to ensure that our company has the most positive environmental impact possible, and we also ensure that we maximise the social benefit available from our business operation.
The Carpenters Fellowship
Tim Potts, one of the two directors of The Oak Frame Carpentry Company, is a member of the Carpenters’ Fellowship Training and Standards Comittee. The Committee has recently completed the design and production of the Carpenters’ Fellowship Heavy Structural Timber Framing NVQ. This course has been adopted by the CITB City and Guilds, and is now available. Work continues on the design of the level 3 and 4 courses. This NVQ uniquely provides specific training and certification of the skills used within the Structural Timber Frame Industry in the UK and will eventually provide a basis for quality standards within the industry. For further details visit the Carpenters’ Fellowship website