Woodworker Peter Parfitt Finds Satisfaction in Helping Others

When renowned woodworker Peter Parfitt was six, growing up in Bournemouth, an English coastal town, his father gave him a piece of 2×4, a 4-inch nail, and an old hammer. With them, he made a pretend radio, beginning a lifelong passion for woodworking.

His father was a part-time carpenter who gave his son access to his small workshop, but Parfitt’s path to woodworking fame wasn’t a straight one.

“Initially, I didn’t follow a career in woodworking. I was a career soldier,” he says.

Still, woodworking was in Parfitt’s blood, and while he was a soldier, he took every opportunity to develop his skills.

He shared that love by teaching woodworking to soldiers and their families.

He also crafted dozens of jewelry and sewing boxes, letter racks, walking sticks, napkin rings, and other items to raise money for charity, which helped him improve and broaden his skills. He even made an old-fashioned curved signature blotter and hand-delivered it to the British Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.

After retiring from the military, Parfitt decided to dedicate his life to woodworking and to helping others enjoy making beautiful things with their hands.

“Nothing gives me more satisfaction than encouraging people to take it up either as a hobby or as a profession,” he says.

New Brit Workshop

His desire to introduce others to woodworking led Parfitt to create New Brit Workshop, a YouTube channel that helps woodworkers with product reviews, project ideas, and woodworking techniques. At the time of this interview, the channel had more than 21,000 subscribers, and he aimed to publish at least one product review video a month.

Parfitt prides himself on answering every subscriber question and acknowledging every comment on his channel.

“If I can provide help, I will. If not, I say so and try and point the person in the right direction.

“Some people find this hard to believe, but I have a ‘Golden Rule’ that will never be broken. I only produce videos about products that I am prepared to recommend to my very best friend,” he explains.

One product review that drew a lot of attention focused on moisture meters.

“I had started a series of special projects using American walnut and decided to take extra steps to check the moisture content of the sawn timber. This coincided with several requests from my YouTube subscribers asking about moisture levels in wood,” he says.

Since he had never owned a moisture meter, he spent several weeks researching and testing various products. Of all the meters he researched, the Wagner Meters MMC220* came out on top.

“I recommended it for several reasons. It’s a non-invasive pinless meter, so it won’t pierce or damage your wood to get a reading. This is critical when working with expensive wood.

“It’s also accurate and works fast, allowing me to check large batches of wood in just seconds. And, it comes with material settings for many tropical, softwood, and hardwood species, so it’s easy to select the species of wood you want to check,” he explains.

Parfitt admits that some of his earlier projects suffered when he didn’t account for moisture. He tried drying the wood, but the process wasn’t scientific and was rather hit-and-miss.

“I now much prefer the accuracy of a good moisture meter,” he says.

“I don’t see the point of spending many hours working on an item only to find it ruined a few weeks or months after completion. Sometimes it may be possible to correct the damage done by wood movement, like a small split or crack, but a twisted and distorted board can be very difficult to rectify.”

*The MMC220 has since been replaced by Wagner’s Orion^® line of moisture meters.

Advice for Woodworkers

Parfitt is a stickler for quality. He advises hobbyists and anyone getting started in woodworking to buy the best tools they can afford.

“And buy the best materials within your budget, whether it’s a stock of wood or fixtures and fittings like hinges and handles. They can make a huge difference to the look and feel of your work, so don’t take shortcuts.

“If you’re producing commercial work, then your reputation will stand on the quality of the products you make.”

Free Download – 6 Reasons Your Wood Project Failed

Shop Orion Moisture Meters

Ron Smith

As Sales Manager for Wagner Meters, Ron has more than 35 years of experience with instrumentation and measurement systems in different industries.  In previous positions, he has served as Regional Sales Manager, Product and Projects Manager, and Sales Manager for manufacturers involved in measurement instrumentation.

Last updated on October 9th, 2026