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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business

Disappearing acts revisited

Disappearing Acts: Geoffrey Preston, a decorative plasterer based in Exeter
Geoffrey Preston, a decorative plasterer, at his studio in Exeter, Devon
Photograph: Jim Wileman
Disappearing Acts: Geoffrey Preston, a decorative plasterer based in Exeter
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
Disappearing Acts: The process of making a wooden carriage wheel at Mike Rowland Wheelwright
The process of making a wooden carriage wheel at Mike Rowland & Son, wheelwrights and coachbuilders, in Colyton, Devon
Photograph: Jim Wileman
Disappearing Acts: the process of making a wooden carriage wheel
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
Disappearing Acts: Master calligrapher Paul Antonio in his calligraphy studio
Calligrapher Paul Antonio working at his studio in Clapham, London
Photograph: Graham Turner
Disappearing Acts: Calligrapher Paul Antonio with pens ink and paper in his studio
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
Disappearing Acts: Stonemason Mark Cutler at work sculpting stone at the workshops of CWO
Stonemason Mark Cutler sculpting stone at CWO's workshop in Chichester
Photograph: Sam Frost
Disappearing Acts: Stonemason Mark Cutler at work sculpting stone at the workshops of CWO
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
Disappearing Acts: Violin bow maker and violin repairer Matthew Coltman
Violin repairer and bowmaker Matthew Coltman
Photograph: Graeme Robertson
Disappearing Acts: Violin bow maker and violin repairer Matthew Coltman
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
Disappearing Acts: Master craftsman Peter Martin makes an oar at J Sutton, Windsor, Berks
Craftsman Peter Martin makes an oar at J Sutton, Windsor, Berks
Photograph: Graham Turner
Disappearing Acts: Master craftsman Peter Martin makes an oar at J Sutton, Windsor, Berks
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
Disappearing Acts: Tie maker Michael Drake and his company
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
Disappearing Acts: Tie maker Michael Drake and his company
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
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