Meet the Team

A man wearing safety glasses and a vest is using a power tool to drill into a round metal object, generating sparks and wood shavings.
A woman smiling and shopping for nail powders in a store aisle, holding small containers of various nail powder colors with shelves full of nail powder bottles behind her.

Martin
Saban-Smith RPT

Martin has been turning since may 2014 and was accepted onto the Register of Professional Turners in November 2018.
A creative/artistic turner, he shares a lot of his turning and work on social media.
Aside from The Woodturning School, Martin started the Hampshire Sheen brand of finishes in 2015.

Natalja
Saban-Smith

Martin’s wife Natalja is co-director and is an absolute diamond.

Two smiling men standing close, one with glasses hanging from his shirt and arms crossed, the other wearing a hat and a black leather vest with patches.

Les
Thorne

Although not employed by The Woodturning School, Les is an integral part of life here.
He has been a professional turner for 25 years and is highly experienced teacher and demonstrator.
He runs his own production turning business from the workshops and teaches here, too.