About the workshop
Two people who didn’t want to build furniture any other way.
Sable & Oak started as a one-man shop cutting joints by hand in a rented bay off Albert Road. Sixteen years on, it’s five people in Woodstock, still cutting most of those same joints by hand, because a dovetail glued up wrong doesn’t announce itself for a decade, and by then it’s someone’s dining table.
Founder & Bench Lead
Daniel Sable
Trained under a shopfitter in Paarl before opening the first bay in 2009. Still cuts the tails on every dovetailed piece that leaves the workshop.
Head of Design
Thandiwe Oak
Joined in 2017 from a restoration studio in Observatory. Runs client site visits and draws every piece before it’s costed.
How we work
Three rules the workshop doesn’t bend on
Solid stock, always
No MDF cores, no printed veneer. If a client sees oak, it's oak all the way through.
One drawing per project
Every commission gets a measured shop drawing before a single board is cut, the client signs off on it, not on a mood board.
Site-fit, not shipped-and-hoped
Fitted work is scribed to your actual walls and floors, on site, so gaps and level don't become your problem later.
Sixteen years, briefly
Workshop timeline
2009
Founded by Daniel Sable in a single-bay workshop off Albert Road, building furniture for neighbours on weekends.
2013
Moved into the current Roodebloem Road workshop and took on the first fitted-kitchen commissions.
2017
Thandiwe Oak joined as head of design, bringing restoration work and finer joinery into the shop's regular output.
2022
Grew to a five-person bench, still every piece cut and assembled on site in Woodstock.