About Me

At ‘Neil Hines Woodworking’ I create wooden cosplay and theatre props as well as wood furniture and ornaments.

As early as I can remember I have been making things. One of my earliest memories of this is when I was 6 and hid from my teacher while the class went to PE just so I could make Mini Christmas crackers to put on the school tree.

As I grew up I continued making gifts for birthdays, Christmas and anniversaries. In my adult life I became a Primary school Teaching Assistant and loved the rewarding job but when the Year 6 end of year play and the Christmas Nativity production came around each year that’s where I really began to shine. Making props from everything in the school and capturing the imagination of the children was so heart warming. From making basic wooden swords to 7 ft cardboard castles for the Reception class’ role play area I found another passion in life and a real skill that would make children’s time in school even more memorable.

Slowly over a few more years my hobby of playing video games and watching movies and Anime merged with my passion for creating props. I learnt more advanced woodworking skills from my carpenter brother and started to create and Gift things like a replica of ‘The Back to the future’ hoverboard and a laser rifle from the Video game ‘Fallout’. People started telling me that I had a talent for it and that I should start up a business. Thankfully, I listened. This is when ‘Ziekaru’s Workshop’ was born. In 2017 I began to sell props and deliver all over the world. For my props I try to use recycled materials as well as recycled composite wood materials to try and reduce my eco footprint.

As my confidence grew with woodworking I began to appreciate the natural material that wood is and decided to start making things that would complement this Idea. This is when The woodworking side of the business began. I started making items like wooden stools and decorative ornaments as well as hand carved spoons and rustic wooden cabinets.

To this day I passionately pursue both sides of the business equally and find joy in the idea that my creations are going around the world bringing smiles to the faces of the wonderful people who are kind enough to support my small endeavour.

My Ethos

Why Wood?

I work with wood for many reasons. Wood is lightweight, strong and arguably one of the most potentially sustainable materials in the world. For making cosplay props it is an ideal material to work with as it is sturdy and is easily cut and carved into complex shapes allowing me to replicate intricate designs from the videogame and movie props I am inspired by. Wood and MDF are also convention safe allowing my customers to take their loved props with them to their favourite cons.

There is also the aspect of general safety to my customers. I am often asked if I can make replicas with metal blades and I must decline. The majority of bladed weapons are illegal in the UK regardless of them having a sharpened edge or not and I would hate for there to be an accidental injury involving one of my items. The worst you’ll get with a wooden sword is a splinter or a bump on the head!

More environmentally friendly than plastic and safer to work with than metal I feel that wood is a superior material in almost every aspect.

What’s up with the Frankenstein style packaging?

Most items are delivered with no postage or packing fee. This is because that is partly factored into the price of the item and due to the fact that wherever I can, I recycle and reuse packaging materials from other larger businesses (which would only be thrown away or recycled anyway) This is why if you buy an item from my shop it will come in a reused/ repurposed box normally with another company’s logo on it. I do this to save costs for both the customer and ourselves and to reduce our carbon footprint.

What materials do you use?

Every item I make is made with either recycled or locally sourced and sustainable materials obtained within the UK wherever possible. This is done in an effort to both support the British economy and to help prevent the unnecessary pressure on the lumber and logging industry.

The two materials I use most are MDF and Natural wood which is hand collected from various sustainable sources.

Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) is a composite wood material and is considered ‘green’ or sustainable as it is made from processed scrap wood and other recyclable materials. It is both strong, dense, lightweight, free of knots and imperfections so it makes a perfect material for making swords and other props.