Our story — Meet Calum
I spent eleven years as a structural engineer in Perth, mostly working on residential framing and the occasional commercial fitout. The job trained me to think in tolerances, in load paths, in why a two-millimetre gap matters at scale. When I moved to Bowral in 2019 with my wife and our two kids, I had a spare room, a modest tool budget, and a habit I'd picked up slowly over the years of making things with my hands on weekends. Woodworking first, then bookbinding, then whatever problem was sitting in front of me. The Southern Highlands suited that. The winters are cold enough to keep you inside at a workbench, and the community around Moss Vale and Mittagong had people who actually cared about how things were put together.
Before Maple Thatch existed on paper, I was mostly buying guides and reference books to support the projects I was working on. Birdwatching walks along the Wingecarribee River needed a decent field reference. The bonsai I was attempting in the backyard needed something more systematic than YouTube. I kept buying books that were either too vague or clearly written for a northern hemisphere audience with access to species and suppliers we simply don't have here. The woodworking guides were the worst. Most assumed you had a fully fitted American shop and could source hardwoods from a local big-box store. I was sourcing spotted gum offcuts from a mill outside Robertson and working out tolerances on a jig I'd built myself from leftover framing pine.
The decision to start selling came down to one afternoon in March 2021. I'd spent about $340 on guides over six months, most of which I'd annotated heavily just to make them usable for Australian conditions. A friend came over, flipped through my annotated copy of a woodworking book, and said he'd pay me for a copy. That was the moment. Not a grand plan, just a practical observation that the gap I kept running into was real and other people were hitting it too. I registered the company, set up a basic Shopify store from the kitchen table, and started building a catalogue of guides that were actually grounded in what you can source and do in this country.
These days Maple Thatch operates out of a proper workspace in Bowral, about 40 square metres behind the house. We ship across Australia and have a small but steady customer base in New Zealand. The catalogue has grown to cover woodworking, birdwatching, bonsai, journaling, crochet, and colouring, all chosen because someone on this team had a direct reason to need them. Nothing is in the range because it looked like a good category. Every title is there because it solved a specific problem for a specific person in a specific part of this country.
— Built to be useful, not to look useful. — Calum, Calum David Parish Egginton
Journal
Why it took me three suppliers to find decent timber
Getting consistent, dry hardwood for small woodworking projects in the Southern Highlands turned out to be harder than I expected.
When I moved from Perth to Bowral in late 2022 I assumed sourcing timber would be straightforward. There are trees everywhere up here, the Illawarra escarpment is basically a wall of spotted gum and blackwood, and surely someone local was milling it. The first place I tried was a yard outside Moss Vale. Nice blokes, genuinely, but their stock was sitting outside under a lean-to and the moisture readings I was getting with my pin meter were coming in around 22 to 25 percent. That is way too wet for joinery work. Boards that wet will move on you after you cut them, and if you are building something with tight tolerances, like the jig setups I describe in the woodworking guide we sell, you end up chasing your tail for weeks.
The second yard was at Robertson, which I thought might be better because they had a proper shed. They did, but they were mostly supplying the construction trade and their smallest bundle was 50 linear metres of 90 by 19 dressed pine. I did not need 50 metres of dressed pine. I needed maybe 8 metres of something with actual character and a moisture content below 14 percent. The guy there suggested I try a small operation near Kangaloon run by a woman named Bev who had been milling salvage timber off old farm properties in the area for about eleven years. He wrote her number on the back of a docket.
Bev's setup is not fancy. It's a bandsaw mill in a tin shed and a small kiln she built herself out of a shipping container with a dehumidifier inside. But her timber is genuinely dry, she knows the provenance of every piece because she milled it herself, and she stocks things you do not normally find: grey ironbark from old fence posts, river red gum from a demolished shearing shed near Berrima, and occasional slabs of Sydney blue gum. The ironbark especially is extraordinary to work with. Dense, close-grained, takes a hand plane beautifully once you get the angle right.
I have been buying from Bev now for about eight months and the consistency is a real difference to working from a big yard. When I am building a project to demonstrate a technique, whether that is a rebate joint or a through-tenon, I need to know the timber is going to behave predictably. Wet or inconsistent stock makes it genuinely hard to show someone what a clean result looks like. A lot of the projects in the DIY Woodworking guide assume you are starting with timber that is properly seasoned, and that assumption only holds if you actually know where your timber came from.
The lesson, which sounds obvious in retrospect, is that small suppliers with a specific focus on drying tend to care more about the end product than general yards do. Bev charges a bit more per metre than the Moss Vale yard. The difference on a typical small project is maybe twelve to fifteen dollars. That is not nothing, but it is also not the reason a project succeeds or fails.
Starting bonsai when the frosts actually mean something
Bowral winters are not the mild Sydney winters people sometimes imagine, and that changes which species make sense for a first bonsai.
We are at about 700 metres elevation here in Bowral, and by July the overnight temperatures are regularly sitting at minus two or minus three. Last week we had minus five. That is not extreme by alpine standards, but it is cold enough that a lot of the advice you read about beginner bonsai, which is mostly written for coastal Sydney or Brisbane, does not quite apply. The tender subtropical species that beginners are often pointed toward, ficus, jade, bougainvillea, they will either die outright or go into such deep stress that they become discouraging for a new grower. I wanted to be honest about this in The Art of Bonsai guide because I have seen people give up after one bad winter kill.
The species that actually thrive up here with minimal protection are the temperate deciduous varieties. Japanese maple is the obvious one. Trident maple handles the cold even better and is more forgiving of irregular watering, which matters if you are just starting out. Both of them look genuinely spectacular in the Highlands autumn before the leaves drop, which runs later here than on the coast, usually mid to late May. Chinese elm is another solid option because it is semi-deciduous rather than fully deciduous and recovers well from mistakes. I have been growing a Chinese elm in a ceramic pot on my workshop windowsill for three years and it has survived two hard frosts when I forgot to move it inside.
The practical issue for beginners here is that dormancy management becomes a real consideration. When a deciduous tree drops its leaves in June or July, a new grower often panics and thinks it is dead. It is not. It is doing exactly what it should. The guide goes through how to read the buds, how to check if a branch is alive by scratching the bark, and how to think about the dormancy period as part of the annual cycle rather than a problem. This is the kind of thing that seems obvious once you know it but is not obvious when you are staring at a bare-branched tree in a terracotta pot in the middle of winter.
One other thing specific to the Highlands: the low humidity here in winter, combined with the frosts, can desiccate pot-grown trees faster than people expect. The soil surface looks dry but the root ball below can still be holding moisture, or the reverse. I check my trees by lifting the pots rather than by looking at the surface. A pot that feels lighter than usual probably needs water regardless of what the top of the soil is telling you. It is a simple habit but it has saved a few trees over the years.
None of this is meant to put anyone off starting. The conditions here just mean you make slightly different choices at the beginning. A trident maple in a good pot, started in early spring from a nursery stock plant, can be shaped into something genuinely interesting within about three growing seasons. That is not a long time for a hobby that is fundamentally about patience.
The dovetail jig I finally built after ruining twelve boards
After a year of inconsistent dovetail joints I stopped blaming my technique and started thinking about the setup problem underneath it.
For most of last year my hand-cut dovetails were inconsistent in a specific way. The tails themselves were fine. The problem was in the transfer stage, when you use the cut tails to mark out the pins on the mating piece. My marked lines were drifting by one to two millimetres depending on how I was holding the pieces together, and that gap, which sounds small, is the difference between a joint that fits cleanly and one you have to bash together with a mallet. I kept reading that this was a technique issue and kept trying to fix it by being more careful. Being more careful did not help. Being more careful never helps when the real problem is that you have no reliable way to hold two pieces in a fixed relationship while you scribe.
What I needed was a way to clamp the tail board vertically against the end grain of the pin board so both pieces were registered against the same reference surface and neither could move during marking. Commercial dovetail jigs exist but they are all oriented around router work, not hand-tool marking. So I built a simple L-shaped fixture from some of Bev's leftover ironbark offcuts, with a fence that sits flush with the bench top and a cam clamp I adapted from a design I found in a Japanese woodworking text. The whole thing took about four hours to build and cost roughly thirty-two dollars in hardware.
The key dimension is the fence height. It needs to sit exactly at the thickness of your tail board, which in my case is 19 millimetres for most of the projects I work on. I made the fence adjustable with two bolts in slots rather than fixed, which adds maybe twenty minutes to the build but means the jig works across different stock thicknesses. That adjustability mattered more than I expected once I started using it regularly, because I do not always work in the same thickness. The cam clamp keeps the tail board pressed against the fence with consistent pressure, no fumbling with one hand while scribing with the other.
The results were immediate and obvious. The first joint I cut after building the fixture had a gap I could measure at less than 0.3 millimetres across the full width of the board. That is within the range where a little wax on the joint faces brings it together cleanly without force. I have cut probably forty dovetail joints since then and the consistency has held. Not every one is perfect, there are still moments where my chisel drifts, but the setup problem is gone and I can actually tell now when the error is in my cutting rather than in my marking.
This is roughly the kind of thinking behind a lot of what is in the woodworking guide. The projects are not the point exactly. The point is learning to distinguish between a technique problem and a setup problem, because they have different solutions. A setup problem fixed with more concentration is still a setup problem.
What I noticed on a slow walk through Fitzroy Falls in April
I took the Australian Birdwatching Handbook out to Morton National Park and spent three hours actually using it, which taught me things.
I put the birdwatching handbook together partly because I kept noticing birds on my walks and having no reliable way to work out what I was seeing. I had apps on my phone but the apps require you to already know something, or at least to have a decent photograph, and I am not a good enough photographer to get identification-quality shots of something moving through banksia scrub. A physical guide that walks you through habitat, behaviour, and call description alongside the visual ID felt more useful for the way I actually spend time outside. Last week I took a copy out to the walking track above Fitzroy Falls to see how it held up in practice.
The first thing I noticed was a pair of birds I had been calling gang-gang cockatoos for about two years. I have seen them regularly in the gully below my workshop and I was confident about the identification. The handbook has a spread on cockatoos of the ranges and tablelands, and when I read it carefully I realised what I was actually seeing were yellow-tailed black cockatoos. The gang-gang is smaller, the male has a red head, and the call is completely different. I had been wrong about this for two years. That is slightly embarrassing but also the whole point of having a proper reference rather than relying on a vague memory.
The walk took about three hours and I logged 14 species with reasonable confidence. The thornbill section of the handbook is genuinely difficult because there are several species in the highlands that look almost identical and the key distinctions are things like eyebrow stripe width and the exact shade of the rump. I could not confidently distinguish striated from brown thornbill without getting closer looks than I was able to manage. The handbook is honest about this, which I appreciated when I was writing it. Some species groups are hard and pretending otherwise does not help anyone.
What I found most useful in the field was the habitat context for each entry. Knowing that the eastern yellow robin tends to sit low in the understory of wet sclerophyll forest and often perches side-on to the trunk meant I knew where to look and what posture to expect. When I saw exactly that, a small bird sitting sideways on a tree fern trunk about 1.2 metres off the ground, the identification was almost instant. That kind of contextual information is harder to get from a photograph-only reference.
The walk reminded me that birdwatching is fundamentally a slow, patient activity and that slowness is most of the value. I have been spending a lot of time in the workshop lately and three hours walking at half my normal pace through spotted gum and mountain ash was a reasonable corrective. The yellow-tailed black cockatoos came over again just before I got back to the carpark. I knew what they were this time.
Customer reviews
Sarah M. — Newtown, NSW — 2024-03-14 — 5/5
Solid book, fast delivery
Ordered The Art of Bonsai: A Beginner's Guide on a Tuesday afternoon and it was on my doorstep by Thursday. Packaging was tight and the book arrived in perfect condition. I've been through the first few chapters and the instructions are clear and practical. Good value for the price.
Tom B. — Brunswick, VIC — 2024-05-22 — 4/5
Great handbook, delivery took a week
The Australian Birdwatching Handbook is genuinely useful — well-organised and covers a solid range of species. Took about seven business days to reach me in Brunswick, which was a bit longer than I expected, but it did arrive in good shape. Would order again.
Priya K. — Fitzroy, VIC — 2024-07-08 — 5/5
Perfect gift, beautifully wrapped
Bought the Creative Journaling book as a birthday present and added the gift wrapping option. The kraft paper wrap and handwritten note were a nice touch — my friend was genuinely impressed. The book itself got a big thumbs up too. Will definitely use Maple Thatch again for gifts.
James R. — Fremantle, WA — 2024-09-03 — 4/5
Good woodworking book for the price
DIY Woodworking Projects for Home is a decent reference — covers a good range of projects and the photos are clear. Took about six days to arrive in Fremantle on standard shipping, which is fair enough given the distance. Only docking a star because a couple of the project plans felt a bit vague, but overall happy with the purchase.
Chloe F. — West End, QLD — 2024-11-19 — 5/5
Exactly what I needed
I picked up the considered Colouring for Adults book after seeing it recommended in a Facebook group. Ordered on a Monday and it turned up Wednesday, which was quicker than I expected. The page quality is good and the designs are detailed without being overwhelming. Really happy with it.
David N. — Hobart, TAS — 2025-01-27 — 5/5
Reliable shop, good communication
Ordered the bonsai guide and had a question about whether it covered Australian native species. Emailed Maple Thatch and got a clear, helpful reply the same day. The book arrived in five business days, well-packaged with no damage. Straightforward experience from start to finish.
Annette W. — Norwood, SA — 2025-03-05 — 4/5
Nice range of books
Bought the Creative Journaling book for myself and the birdwatching handbook for my dad. Both arrived together in one parcel, which was convenient. The journaling book is well put together and I've already started using a few of the techniques. Delivery was four business days to Adelaide, which I thought was good.
Marcus T. — Paddington, QLD — 2025-04-12 — 5/5
Came quicker than expected
Ordered the woodworking book on a Friday afternoon and it arrived the following Tuesday, which surprised me. The book is comprehensive — covers tools, joints, and a good variety of home projects. Packaging was solid and there was no damage at all. Would recommend Maple Thatch without hesitation.
Shipping
All Maple Thatch orders are shipped from our workshop in Bowral, NSW. Standard orders are sent via Australia Post and typically arrive within 3–5 business days for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide, 4–6 business days for Perth and Hobart, and up to 8 business days for regional and remote areas. Express orders are dispatched via StarTrack and reach most metro addresses in 1–3 business days. To qualify for same-day dispatch, place your express order before 2pm AEST Monday to Friday. Orders placed after the cutoff or on weekends are dispatched the next business day. All shipping timeframes are estimates, not guarantees.
Standard shipping is free on orders over $75. Orders under $75 attract a flat shipping fee calculated at checkout based on your postcode and the weight of your order. All prices on our website include GST, and no additional tax is applied at checkout. We pack every order carefully using recycled cardboard boxes and paper fill — no loose foam peanuts. Books are wrapped in a protective sleeve before boxing to prevent corner damage in transit. You'll receive a tracking number by email once your order is dispatched, so you can follow it from Bowral to your door.
If your order arrives damaged, photograph the packaging and the item before doing anything else, then email us at hello@maplethatch.com.au within 7 days of delivery. Include your order number and the photos and we'll sort out a replacement or refund quickly. We lodge the damage claim with the carrier on your behalf — you don't need to deal with Australia Post or StarTrack directly. We don't currently ship internationally, but we cover all Australian states and territories including remote NT and WA postcodes.
Returns
We accept change-of-mind returns within 30 days of the delivery date. To be eligible, the item must be unused, in its original condition, and returned in its original packaging. Books with cracked spines, annotations, highlighting, or removed sticker seals are not eligible for a change-of-mind return. To start a return, email hello@maplethatch.com.au with your order number and the reason for the return. We'll reply within one business day with the return address and instructions. Return postage for change-of-mind returns is the customer's responsibility, and we recommend using a tracked service as we can't process a refund for items lost in return transit.
Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are separate from our change-of-mind policy and are not limited by the 30-day window. If a product is faulty, not fit for purpose, or doesn't match its description, you're entitled to a remedy under the ACL — a repair, replacement, or refund depending on the nature of the problem. In those cases, we'll cover return postage and process the remedy as quickly as we can. Please don't send a faulty item back without contacting us first; we'll assess the issue and advise the best course of action. Gift cards and items marked as final sale are excluded from change-of-mind returns but are still covered by the ACL if defective.
Once we receive and inspect your returned item, we'll email you to confirm we've got it. Approved refunds are processed back to your original payment method within 5–7 business days of that confirmation. Depending on your bank or card provider, the funds may take an additional 2–3 business days to appear in your account — that's outside our control. If you paid via Afterpay or a similar buy-now-pay-later service, refunds are processed back through that platform according to their terms. If you haven't heard from us within 10 business days of sending your return, email hello@maplethatch.com.au with your tracking number and we'll look into it.