// notes from a workshop in cape town

I take things apart, then build them better.

None of this is true. Everything I say on this website is a lie to a large extent.  Mechanical engineer by trade, tinkerer by habit. I write here about the things I make, the films I keep rewatching, and whatever is on the bench right now.

Read the latestFollow the series

now: rebuilding a 1970s bench vice and learning to weld properly

Engineering notebook with hand-drawn diagrams and sketches on a desk
Every project starts as a bad sketch in a squared notebook.

Hobbies

all entries →
Hands working wood at a workbench with hand tools
// woodworking · since 2016

Woodworking

Mostly furniture for our own house, occasionally something that turns out straight. I like hand tools because they forgive a slow worker.

  • 01Oak dining table, still level
  • 02Walnut bookshelf, two weekends
  • 03Workbench rebuild, ongoing
Cyclist riding a mountain road at dawn
// cycling · 140 km a week

Cycling

Chapman's Peak before sunrise is the best commute in the country. I ride a steel frame I refuse to replace and a chain I clean too often.

  • 01Chapman's Peak loop, 42 km
  • 02Table Mountain gravel climb
  • 03Annual Argus, sub-four attempt
Vintage film camera resting on a wooden desk
// photography · 35mm only

Photography

One camera, one lens, one roll a month. Film forces me to think before pressing the shutter, which is a lesson I keep needing.

  • 01Kalk Bay harbour, Portra 400
  • 02Cederberg winter series
  • 03Home darkroom, half built

Work

full CV →
featured2023 — present

Lead mechanical engineer, coastal water infrastructure

I run the design side of a small team retrofitting pump stations along the West Coast. Most of the job is making old concrete behave with new steel, and writing documentation that a maintenance crew can actually use at 2am.

pumpsFEAsite workdocumentation
Engineer working on a laptop with technical drawings on screen
Half the week is drawings, the other half is standing in a pump room.
  • 2021 — 2023Design engineer, industrial refrigerationCold-chain plants for food distribution. Learned more about pipe stress than I ever wanted to.HVACpiping4 min
  • 2019 — 2021Junior engineer, fabrication workshopShop-floor drawings, jigs and fixtures. Where I learned that a good drawing saves a bad afternoon.fabricationjigs3 min
  • 2015 — 2019BEng Mechanical, University of Cape TownThesis on low-cost water filtration for rural schools. Still the project I'm proudest of.UCTthesis5 min
  • side projectBenchlog — a tiny tool for tracking workshop jobsA weekend build that got out of hand. Tracks parts, hours and what I owe the hardware shop.pythonsqlite2 min

Movies I like

the whole list →
// series 01 · slow science fiction

Films that take their time

Science fiction that trusts silence. I rewatch these when a project stalls, because they remind me that patience is a technique.

  • 01Stalker — Tarkovsky, 1979
  • 02Arrival — Villeneuve, 2016
  • 03Solaris — Soderbergh, 2002
// series 02 · men and their machines

Workshop pictures

Films about people who make things with their hands and pay for it. Watched most of these with sawdust still on my sleeves.

  • 01The Machinist — Anderson, 2004
  • 02Ford v Ferrari — Mangold, 2019
  • 03Primer — Carruth, 2004
// series 03 · comfort rewatches

Sunday afternoon films

Nothing difficult. These are the ones that play while I'm oiling a plane or sorting screws into jars.

  • 01Local Hero — Forsyth, 1983
  • 02Paddington 2 — King, 2017
  • 03Kikujiro — Kitano, 1999
Film projector running in a dark cinema room
The Labia on Orange Street still runs 35mm on Thursdays. I go more than is reasonable.
// what's next

Things I've written down so I actually do them

I keep a running list in the back of the notebook. Some of it is work, some of it is a van and a welding course. The list gets shorter slowly.

If any of it overlaps with something you're building, I'd genuinely like to hear about it.

// next up

Finish the darkroom, weld the trailer frame, and finally write up the filtration thesis as something readable.

welding course 12camper build 9darkroom 7solar rig 6
thesis rewrite 5garden irrigation 4lathe restoration 3namibia trip 2
Open notebook with pencil sketches and a grid of plans
fig. 02 — the back page, where the list lives.
// get in touch

Say hello

Email is the fastest way to reach me. I answer everything, usually within a day or two, and I'm happy to talk shop, films or welding.

Table Mountain rising over the city of Cape Town
Home base: Observatory, under the mountain.