Wooden stencils, offcuts, and carvings line every wall, worktop, and any available space as dust settles on the latest jigsaw created in a small workshop in Weymouth.

At the Old Brewery Workshops in Brewers Quay, Dave Evans, from Weymouth, is showing how he creates his unique masterpieces – traditional handmade wooden jigsaws.

“I started making jigsaws when I was 15, at Palmerston Road in Boscombe.

“I actually wanted to be a pilot but when I went to the school optician she said I needed spectacles so I went to the youth careers office, and saw there was a jigsaw-making job and that interested me.

“Ten of us started on a Monday, and by the Friday, only two of us were left.

“You have to have a knack and flair for it, you see, and in my best week I cut 112,000 pieces.

“We were paid per piece so that was important to be good at it.”

Although Dave has proven to be a master of the trade, and holds world records in jigsaw cutting, at one point he left making jigsaws to be a professional boxer.

“I was boxing at the time and wanted to go professional.

“Making jigsaws wasn’t so good for you with all the dust so I packed it in and drifted in and out of jobs which would allow me to do boxing.”

With his boxing days behind him, Dave said it was a book he found on collectable jigsaws 20 years later that made him think about returning to a workshop.

“I realised if I could get some old pictures, there could be a market for genuine reproduction of wooden jigsaws.

“That started things and then I started creating personal jigsaws “Everything I do is personal for people.”

Showing how he works, Dave picks up a picture to prepare making another jigsaw.

“I use birch pine wood, it’s traditional and brilliant wood to work with as it doesn’t splinter or shatter.

“I love the smell of it.”

The air in the workshop smells of the freshly cut jigsaw, a piece with a wartime picture and poppy to commemorate the First World War.

“Preparing a printed picture, I stick it onto a wooden board using a water based adhesive and use a roller to make sure it is smooth.

“Once it’s dry I apply a lacquer to preserve the picture, and then I begin cutting.”

Most jigsaws have conventional interlocking jigsaw pieces, but some have bespoke shapes and designs making the jigsaws harder to piece back together.

“All jigsaws have my signature piece, which is a dolphin, I started using the dolphin when I lived in Poole and it stuck.

“If the jigsaw has a sea theme or blue water, I put the dolphin in the water so it doesn’t get dehydrated!”

Coming back to cutting, Dave’s hands move so fast with the wood near the blade, it’s hard to see how he has any fingers left.

“I’ve only seriously cut my finger once, when I was 16, it was sliced right down the middle of my nail and I needed five stitches.

“I was back in work the next day.

“It’s all about control, you end up being ambidextrous and always need to be flexible.

“I’d say I’m probably the best jigsaw cutter in the world, and the fastest and I want to create a legacy.”

Dave, not content with believing he is the best, has gone on to prove it to the world too.

In 2013, Dave received a Guinness World Record for the biggest hand-cut puzzle in the world, for a 40,756 piece jigsaw made to mark the Diamond Jubilee that famously collapsed on camera.

The video of the collapse went on to appear on Have I Got News For You and was viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube.

This year, Dave is planning to beat his own record and create a 50,000 piece jigsaw puzzle to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday.

“The last record became less about my legacy and more about the video that went viral.

“It has 150,000 views now, but I am doing the new jigsaw to create the legacy of my cutting and me.”

Dave has produced a film on how to cut jigsaws for anyone who wants to learn the art.

Admitting this year he could retire if he wanted, Dave explains why he won’t.

“Why would I retire? I’m the best at what I do and I’m the fastest.

“The dust here doesn’t affect me, I’ve never had nothing wrong with me.

“I went to the doctor 15 years ago for a check-up, the doctor said I was fine and I’m still alive, so I’ve never been back.”

Dave Evans is looking for sponsors to support his next world record.

For more information contact jigsawshop@ gmail.com or call 01305 784515