Meet the Owner

My name is Finn Walker. After six years as an Engineer Officer in the New Zealand Defence Force I decided to embrace my passion for timber and establish a full time portable sawmill and bespoke joinery business based in Waikato.

I use a Wood-Mizer portable sawmill to mill wood, learning the skills from my father who has been in the forestry and portable sawmilling industry for over 20 years.

Spending time in the workshop was always an great release and passion of mine. After spending the majority of the day in an office, there was nothing quite like seeing something be crafted to life using my own hands.

The Dusty Carpenter vision is to better utilize natural resources and create heirloom furnishings from sustainable sources that last generations.

The Story

The Dusty Carpenter began as a hobby in a tiny one car garage, sharing space with storage boxes of books, bikes and shelves. It became a haven and a way of unwinding after a day in the office.

In 2019, friends and family started making requests for pieces of furniture or military ceremonial items, quickly snowballing it into a thriving side hustle. As business grew, so did the passion, until in 2022 a leap of faith was taken.

Deciding to take it a step further and expanding into sawmilling, aiming to collaborate with people and better utilise our available natural resources.  We want to reintroduce an appreciation for fine craftsmanship and high-quality service, providing the client with a rich and complete experience.

WoodMizer portable sawmill controls.
Stacked slabs.

The Philosophy

The Dusty Carpenter philosophy is to develop a forest to furnishing service. We aim to help you on your journey by providing a portable sawmill service, turning trees into usable lumber. We can then also help to craft something truly unqiue and meaningful through our bespoke joinery service.

This provides a very unique opportunity for clients. They can transform their own forests and trees into one-of-a-kind goods that they can pass down to future generations.

Man sanding table top.