Hi, I'm Tom. Also known as DaddyofKiwi.

I was born in the United States back in the last century to parents with a bad antique addiction. They finally decided that instead of trying to control their addiction they should just give in. They became antique dealers. I grew up counting the number of boards used to make the top of a table, measuring the top of a round table to tell how old it was, looking at the back of furniture and the bottoms of drawers to judge the craftsmanship. This upbringing gave me the appreciation of proper fit and the knowledge of design elements that hold up to the ravages of time and use.

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I worked plenty of service jobs before any of this. The lesson was always the same: take care of the customer, or don't expect to last long. It sounds obvious, but I would always shake my head at the number of businesses that just didn’t get it. When I moved to Germany, I was shocked at the level of service I saw every day. The people were far more knowledgeable than I was used to, but there always seemed to be more obstacles to dealing with the company than the product was worth.

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For a while I was a CNC tool grinder, which is a fancy way of saying I used a computerized machine to make the different cutters and such that other computerized machines needed to make things. It had the charm of sitting at a computer and the cleanliness of working a deep-fryer at McDonald's.

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In 2016, I decided to start making things with my hands instead, out of a material that actually feels warm and alive. That's how Brasswood Handwork started. These days my machines predate the microchip and my main material grew out of the ground instead of getting dug out of it. It's a lot dustier work. It also makes me a lot happier.

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Brasswood Handwork was always targeting the audience that wanted quality handmade products for their household, or to gift their loved ones. That meant dealing freezing temperatures at Christmas markets, and needing to explain to everyone's grandmas why goods in IKEA level prices were, frankly, not nearly as good as mine. So, in other words - Vanilla customers.

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So after seven years, I decided to make things for people who share my obsession with doing it properly, but who also know how to have more fun with it. People that understand the value in variety and are not afraid of setting their own standards.
That's where Kinkkwood came from: same stubborn insistence on real materials and real craftsmanship, aimed at people who'd rather own something built to last than something that breaks on its third use.

 

My wife/babygirl runs everything I'm bad at, which is most things that aren't a workbench, my two dogs are my only employees (I pay them above market average, in ear scratches) and together we've been slowly, happily corrupting our corner of the woodworking world ever since.

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Every piece here was designed and made by these two hands, from initial sketch to final finish. I pick the wood, shape every curve, sand every surface, and test it (on a punching bag, if the wife manages to run fast enough).

I hope using it brings you half as much joy as making it brought me.