A small workshop where furniture is still drawn before it is cut.

Joltwave Bespoke was founded in 2013 on a single bench in Taman Industri Cheras Indah. Today the workshop is six people, three benches and a finishing room — deliberately the same scale we started with.

Wide view of the Joltwave Bespoke workshop floor in Cheras with three benches and timber stacked along one wall

Origins

From a Muar apprenticeship to a Cheras bench.

Our founder, Hisham bin Ariffin, grew up in Muar — the Johor town that has supplied much of Malaysia’s furniture trade for three generations. He trained for seven years in his father’s shop before moving to Kuala Lumpur in 2002 to work for a contract joinery firm that fitted out office towers and luxury condos.

By 2013 he wanted to work directly with people rather than through specifications — sitting in their rooms, drawing their tables, building pieces he could explain end to end. He opened a single-bench workshop in Cheras and took the first three commissions through word of mouth. Joltwave Bespoke has not advertised since.

What we believe

Four principles we have not changed in thirteen years.

No subcontracting

Every cut, every joint, every finish coat is done at our Cheras bench by the people you meet at the consultation.

Stocked timber, ready to draw

We keep two months’ worth of kiln-dried chengal, kempas, merbau, meranti and rubberwood on the rack so drawings can be finalised against actual boards.

Drawing before quoting

We never quote from an inspiration photo alone. Every quotation is tied to a measured drawing, so the price reflects the piece you will receive.

Aftercare is part of the job

We oil tables, re-fit drawer slides and refresh finishes on past commissions for a small call-out fee — even pieces from years ago.

Stacked rough-sawn hardwood boards drying on a steel rack inside the Joltwave workshop

Materials

Timber we know by sight, smell and weight.

We buy from three licenced yards: two in Selangor, one in Pahang. Boards arrive rough-sawn and rest on the rack for at least eight weeks before being sized for a commission. We air-condition the workshop continuously so timber acclimatises to roughly the same humidity it will live in once installed.

Chengal handles structural members and outdoor seats. Kempas takes a knock and finishes warmly — our favourite for dining tables. Merbau has the deep amber colour clients ask for in feature pieces. Meranti is the workhorse for fitted joinery: stable, gentle on tools, friendly under finish. American black walnut and white oak come in for clients who specifically want them.

The team