Made with Mettle

A series of hand tools inspired by my ancestors who travelled from Bohemia (now The Czech Republic) in 1863 to settle in and build the town of Puhoi, north of Auckland. They were confronted with dense bush on arrival and had to literally carve out a life for themselves.

Their slavic language is the origin of the saying ‘Up the boohai without a paddle’, since they couldn't correctly pronounce the Māori word ‘Pūhoi’ which describes the ’slow, sluggish’ river. I am following in the footsteps of my grandfather who was a carpenter and wood artist.

These tools are homage to him, history and hard mahi.