Disappearing acts revisited

Geoffrey Preston, a decorative plasterer, at his studio in Exeter, Devon
Photograph: Jim Wileman

Stucco, or hand-modelled plasterwork, is not so much a disappearing act as a reappearing one – at least for the time being. Preston, along with the handful of people he has trained over the past two decades, are pretty much the only people doing it [Audio slideshow]
Photograph: Jim Wileman

The process of making a wooden carriage wheel at Mike Rowland & Son, wheelwrights and coachbuilders, in Colyton, Devon
Photograph: Jim Wileman

You need to know your wood, to understand stresses and strains and to work with extraordinary accuracy, for unlike an ordinary joiner, a wheelwright uses no glue [Audio slideshow]
Photograph: Jim Wileman

Calligrapher Paul Antonio working at his studio in Clapham, London
Photograph: Graham Turner

Antonio charges by word and by script (some in the range he offers are more time-consuming than others) and can write every item individually or do one and print any others required [Audio slideshow]
Photograph: Graham Turner

Stonemason Mark Cutler sculpting stone at CWO's workshop in Chichester
Photograph: Sam Frost

Carvers model cut stones into flowers, foliage, birds, animals, human figures or more abstract designs. Theirs is perhaps the most exacting work, blurring the border, as it often does, between craft and art [Audioslideshow]
Photograph: Sam Frost

Violin repairer and bowmaker Matthew Coltman
Photograph: Graeme Robertson

The wood, costing £120-plus per bow, is planked and shaped carefully into blanks on a fine-toothed bandsaw. These sticks are left to season, sometimes for years. Then each has to be planed down and tapered in precise gradations so it flexes evenly. [Audio slideshow]
Photograph: Graeme Robertson

Craftsman Peter Martin makes an oar at J Sutton, Windsor, Berks
Photograph: Graham Turner

To make an oar (operated by one oarsman with both hands) or scull (used as a pair), sitka spruce is cut on a circular machine saw into 20mm "fronts" and 15mm "backs" (the backs being thinner than the fronts because they will later take an additional 5mm layer of ash) [Audio slideshow]
Photograph: Graham Turner

Behind the scenes at tiemaker Michael Drake's business in London. The company is the last British manufacturer of hand-fashioned silk ties.
Photograph: Martin Argles

Drake began his tie, scarf and gentlemen's accessories business in 1977. His designs mix the classic and quirky to produce "the English look, the way the Italians imagine it" [Audio slideshow]
Photograph: Martin Argles