# Curvy Wood Shelves

**URL:** <https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/curvy-wood-shelves/51855>\
**Category:** Projects\
**Tags:** woodwork\
**Created:** [26 August 2026 16:18 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/curvy-wood-shelves/51855 "2026-08-26T16:18:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![minashi](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/letter_avatar/minashi/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@minashi](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/minashi)\
**Post date:** [26 August 2026 16:18 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/curvy-wood-shelves/51855/1 "2026-08-26T16:18:17Z")

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Hi!

I’m really keen to start making some furniture that has an organic, asymmetric shape to it - in the kind of style you can see in the below picture.  
I’ve got some basic woodworking skills but this would be a new venture for me - from what I’ve seen it seems like a good way to achieve this kind of design is by buidling a frame of the object, then using an angle grinder to carve away material to create these curves.  
I was thinking of doing some wood shelves initially to start with something simple to get the hang of this process.

SO!

My question is: would I be able to use an angle grinder from the metal workshop in the woodworking section (happy to provide the carving discs myself), and is this something I’d be able to work on as a new joiner? I haven’t done any inductions yet.

Please let me know, or also suggest other ways of achieving these wobbly shapes!

Thanks,  
Will

 ![image](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/a/2/a2c4be813d311ebf4ea5757a53cf7e78393ba210.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![LouLou](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/loulou/32/27088_2.png) [@LouLou](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/LouLou)\
**Post date:** [26 August 2026 17:06 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/curvy-wood-shelves/51855/2 "2026-08-26T17:06:04Z")

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Hi,

This looks great!  
You wouldn’t be able to use anything in the woodshop without an induction but they are running quite frequently at the moment.

[@woodtechs](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/groups/woodtechs) should be able to advise further

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**Author:** ![asander1](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/asander1/32/14251_2.png) [@asander1](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/asander1)\
**Post date:** [26 August 2026 18:15 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/curvy-wood-shelves/51855/3 "2026-08-26T18:15:28Z")

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Definitely need a basic woodshop induction to do anything in there.

And, Unfortunately the previous discussions on wood carving came to a pretty hard no because of dust extraction and other safety concerns, and there is no risk assessment for that activity.

> [@Power Carving Wood](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/power-carving-wood/33096/12):
>
> Impression I got from Joe last time this was discussed was ‘not now, not ever’

If you are still keen, writing a risk assessment for it would be the place to start!

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**Author:** ![CriticalTolerance](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/criticaltolerance/32/3008_2.png) [@CriticalTolerance](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/CriticalTolerance)\
**Post date:** [27 August 2026 06:16 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/curvy-wood-shelves/51855/4 "2026-08-27T06:16:37Z")

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Hello!

Organic furniture forms are fun - but as noted this kind of angle grinding activity isn’t possible with the set up we have.

That said - it’s possible to make this kind of shelf using conventional tools, if a lot slower.

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**Author:** ![minashi](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/letter_avatar/minashi/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@minashi](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/minashi)\
**Post date:** [28 August 2026 15:10 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/curvy-wood-shelves/51855/5 "2026-08-28T15:10:36Z")

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Thanks everyone 🙂