Joe Gomm | Bespoke Furniture

From time to time we like to share the hidden talents of our brilliant makers, so meet Joe Gomm, one of our vacuum casting technicians. In his spare time he makes beautiful bespoke furniture like these rather striking coffee tables. We asked him more about how he makes his furniture and what inspires him.

Inspired by working knowledge and techniques

Joe says he gets a lot of ideas for his furniture when he’s out and about on his bike or having a run, two of his other hobbies (oh and surfing and football makes four). He also says his working knowledge and experience as a vacuum caster helps him with his craft.

The outer of the blue table is Welsh ash and the centre is an epoxy resin. The hairpin legs are made from stainless steel, while in the other table ‘castle joints’ are used to join the legs to the table top (all made of sycamore). In other pieces Joe says he likes to experiment with oak, elm and maple because he likes to see which woods are easier to use with the resin, which he also uses in different colours.

Just for fun, we asked Joe what you might give a bespoke furniture maker like him for Christmas. Apart from the usual tools to build his collection, he said a ‘festool orbital sander’ as he has to sand down every bit of furniture to create the finish he wants. Now that’s what we call a proper pressie.

More about the day job

Joe is one of our vacuum casters working with our teams that create moulds and casts that can be used as prototypes or fully functioning products (amongst other things). He joined as an apprentice after leaving school as he saw an opportunity to work with a company where he could develop his creative skills. He has since completed his level 2 NVQ in mechanical manufacture engineering, which meant he got to learn how to use things the lathe and milling machines.

See more of Joe’s work on social media where he goes into detail about all the materials he uses:

Instagram: joegommfurniture
Etsy: JoesworkshopByGomm

You might also like this article about the wooden guitar made by our very own Matt Quick.