For shopfitters, fit-out teams, stand builders & producers
The made elements, ready for your install week.
Turned and machined components for commercial interiors — bar and counter detail, display and exhibition elements, reception and feature pieces, props and event builds. Made to your drawing, to your programme, and delivered to site or to your workshop.
Send a drawing → What we can make- We supplyComponents and made elements — we do not run the fit-out.
- Run sizeOne to several hundred. Runs get cheaper per piece.
- QuoteFixed price, normally within two working days.
- Made inBirmingham, England, and delivered to site.
Where we sit on your job
You have the contract. We have the lathe.
Commercial interiors run on dates. The design is signed, the programme is fixed, and somewhere in the package there is an element nobody stocks — a turned bar front detail, a run of matched spheres, a counter terminal, a feature piece for a reception, a hundred identical bosses. That is the part that goes wrong, and it is the part we make.
Farwinger is a small Birmingham turning and machining workshop that works almost entirely to other people's drawings. Our customers are shopfitting and commercial joinery firms, fit-out contractors, exhibition and display builders, prop makers and event producers. We are a supplier inside your package, not a competitor for it: we do not tender for fit-out, we do not run sites, we do not install, and we have no interest in your client relationship. We make the thing, box it, and get it to you.
One repeat account sends us a purchase order number and a revision letter, and that is the whole conversation.
That is the working relationship we are set up for. Send a drawing with a revision on it, tell us the date, and get back a fixed price and a date we will hold — and a warning before it slips rather than after, because on a fit-out a late part is worse than an expensive one.
Specification
What we make for commercial interiors, and how big it goes.
Real limits, not marketing ones. Where an element is beyond the lathe we say which of the three routes past it applies — a partner workshop with longer capacity, a cored-and-veneered build, or a rib-built form from CNC-cut laminated board — and what each costs, at quote stage.
| Element | Size | Material | Run size | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turned spheres and half-spheres — counters, bar fronts, feature walls | 300 mm one-piece; 450 mm dome; to ~2 m rib-built from CNC-cut laminated board | Softwood, oak, walnut, tulipwood; paint-grade for sprayed finishes | 1 to several hundred | 2–3 weeks from approval |
| Turned legs, posts and table bases | 700 mm between centres × 250 mm dia in house; longer via partner or built | Redwood, oak, tulipwood/poplar, walnut | Runs of 180 have been priced | Quoted per run |
| Counter, bar and reception detail | Reeded, fluted, staved and curved elements; cored-and-veneered cylinders to any diameter | Ply core with real-wood veneer; solid for smaller sections | 1 upwards | Quoted per piece |
| Display, plinths and exhibition elements | Turned plinths and bases to 450 mm dia; built plinths to your drawing | Timber, ply, veneer; sprayed or lacquered finishes | 1 upwards | 2–3 weeks |
| Props, scenic and photographic pieces | To drawing or to a reference image with dimensions on it | As specified; paint-grade where it will be finished on site | 1 upwards, including duplicates and multiples | Quoted against your shoot or build date |
| Giant games and event joinery | e.g. a 1,200 mm seven-piece cube in 12 mm birch ply; a 1,500 mm split table on a welded steel frame | Birch ply, solid timber, steel frame powder-coated | 1 upwards | Quoted per build |
| Matched runs across multiple sites | Any of the above, made to one setup so every site matches | As specified | Roll-outs quoted per phase | By programme |
Runs get cheaper, and the reason matters. Setup is the expensive part of turned work — the blank preparation, the story stick, the first article. Once that exists, the second and the two-hundredth piece are quick. So tell us the true quantity at enquiry stage even if it is phased, because a hundred priced as a hundred is a very different number from a hundred priced as one, ten times over. Blank thickness comes in multiples of 70 mm, and a slender section over a long run needs designing around rather than hoping about — both are worth knowing before the drawing is issued.
Actual orders, not a wish list
What has gone out to commercial jobs.
Described by what was made rather than by who bought it — we do not publish a client's name without asking them first, and where something was quoted rather than delivered we say so.
- A joinery and shopfitting contractor — perch table turnings, on a repeat purchase order Two matched sets in American tulipwood, each a 290 mm ball and a 360 mm half-ball, turned to a revision-C drawing and delivered to site. The same account had previously taken a 270 mm softwood sphere and a 350 mm hemisphere, each with a 42–44 mm internal square bore, paintable and flat-ended.
- A furniture client — 16 five-ball-stack table legs, then 24 ten-ball-stack legs Softwood and redwood, turned in matched sets. The second run went DDP to the United States by air freight and cleared US customs in May 2026 — so the export route is proven, not theoretical.
- A design studio — 75 presentation bookends 120 mm wide × 150 mm deep × 180 mm high, ebony-stained hardwood with a turned judge's gavel and a brass collar, individually packed and insured. A single order of seventy-five identical finished objects, not components.
- Priced, not delivered — a 180-piece run of turned table bases 250 mm diameter × 630 mm high, turned in one operation from a glued-up tulipwood blank with a 20 mm threaded stud fitted to each. The quotation expired without an order. It is here because it is the honest measure of the run size this workshop prices for, and pretending an expired quote was a delivery would be the sort of thing that gets found out on site.
- Quoted for an events producer — a giant Soma cube and a maze table A seven-piece 1,200 mm cube, each piece a continuous closed hollow shell in 12 mm birch ply with internal corner blocking, all arrises rounded to 3 mm and three coats of waterbased acrylic; plus a 1,500 mm board split into two halves on pin hinges with registration dowels, on a welded and powder-coated steel frame with adjustable feet.
Themed entertainment and attractions. Our founding director previously ran operations at the Journey Group / Scruffy Dog Productions, who delivered numerous themed entertainments. We are currently working on the Birmingham Paddle Sportsground Project. Games, giant puzzles, teambuilding kit, event props and themed joinery are firmly in scope here — we make them; we are not a hire company.
Recent work
Commercial work, installed.
Photographs of elements made for bars, retail, hospitality, exhibitions and events.
How a contract order runs
Drawing, price, date, delivery.
| Stage | What happens | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Send the package | Drawings with revisions, the schedule of quantities, the finish spec and the date you need it on site or in your workshop. | Nothing |
| 2. We read it back | Sizes, species, finish, tolerances and anything that cannot be made as drawn — raised before it is priced, not after you have won the job on our number. | Nothing |
| 3. Fixed quotation | Price per piece and for the run, carriage as its own line, and a date we will hold. Normally within two working days. | Nothing |
| 4. A free visualisation | A rendered image of the element with a familiar object in frame for scale, before approval. Free, no obligation — and much better than a physical prototype for settling a shape argument early. A prototype is a separate priced stage, worth it on a long run or an untested detail. | Nothing |
| 5. Make | Turned, machined, built and finished to the drawing. Turned components typically two to three weeks from approval; a run or a build is quoted with its own date. | Agreed price |
| 6. Delivery | To site or to your workshop, boxed and protected, or collected ex works. International freight and any duty are separate priced lines. | At cost |
Related
Where to go next.
Straight answers
What contractors ask first.
Do you do fit-out, or do you supply the people who do?
We supply. Farwinger makes components and finished elements for commercial interiors and delivers them to your workshop or to site. It does not tender for fit-out packages, run sites, install, or take a principal-contractor role. Shopfitters, commercial joinery firms, fit-out contractors, exhibition builders, prop makers and event producers are the customers here — we are inside your package, not competing for it.
Can you hold a programme date?
Yes, and the date goes on the quotation before you commit. Turned components typically run two to three weeks from approval; a build or a long run gets its own date. If a date is going to slip you are told before the date, not after it — on a fit-out that warning is worth more than an apology.
How large a run will you take?
Larger than most people expect from a small workshop. Runs of 75 finished objects have been delivered and a 180-piece run of turned table bases has been priced. Setup is the expensive part, so the price per piece falls sharply as the run grows — give us the real quantity even if it is phased across sites.
The element is bigger than a lathe. Can you still make it?
Usually. A turned part is limited to about 700 mm between centres and 250 mm in diameter, with one-piece spheres to 300 mm and domes to 450 mm. Past that there are three routes: turning at a partner workshop with longer capacity, a cored-and-veneered build (which for a large plain cylinder is often the better answer anyway — stable, lighter, and it will not check), or a rib-built form from CNC-cut laminated board, which reaches roughly two metres. We tell you which route your element takes and what it costs at quote stage.
Do you make props and scenic pieces?
Yes — for film, television, theatre, live events, photography and content studios. Working from a reference image with dimensions written on it is normal, and so are duplicates and multiples where a production needs more than one. Tell us the shoot or build date rather than the delivery date and we will work back from it.
Do you make giant games and event pieces?
Yes, and confidently — giant puzzles, teambuilding kit, event props and themed joinery are proper work here rather than an oddity. Our founding director previously ran operations at the Journey Group / Scruffy Dog Productions, who delivered numerous themed entertainments, and we are currently working on the Birmingham Paddle Sportsground Project. We make these pieces; we do not hire them out.
Can you match across several sites or phases?
Yes — that is the argument for making a roll-out in one setup rather than site by site. The same story stick and the same blank prep produce elements that actually match, which is harder to achieve when phases are ordered months apart. If a roll-out is phased, say so at enquiry stage so the setup is priced once.
Will you work to our finish specification?
Yes. Paint-grade timber for anything sprayed on site, lacquered, oiled or stained here to a sample you send, or supplied bare for your own finisher. Oak, walnut and pine are held in stock; other species are bought in for the job, which affects lead time and minimum quantity, and we say so rather than substituting quietly.
Do you deliver to site?
Yes, UK-wide, boxed and protected, with carriage priced as its own line so you can see it. Collection ex works is fine too. Work has shipped internationally and cleared customs, with freight and any import duty quoted as separate lines rather than buried in the price.
Send the package.
Drawings, quantities, finish and the date. You get a fixed price and a date we will hold, normally within two working days.
- Fixed written price, carriage as its own line
- A free visualisation before you commit — no charge, no obligation
- Runs from one piece to several hundred
- Warned before a date slips, not after
Farwinger Limited, 123-131 Bradford Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B12 0NS. Registered in England and Wales, company 16047814.