Ursa fab. - handcrafted in Norwich, UK.

Existing at the juncture between garage industry and large-scale fabrication, we aim to make high-end metalcraft as accessible as possible to artists, creatives, homes, and small businesses. Whether you have a fully-fledged design, a sketch of an idea, or just a problem to solve, we can make your projects a reality in almost any material - using the best possible manual welding and machining equipment, precision fixturing, in-house design and selected supply partners.

Ursa fab. is the professional expression of myself, Tom van Baalen - a resident of Norwich since 2008, studying at the University of East Anglia. Grown from a love of traditional crafts, heritage industry, and the natural world beyond and behind us; it is, I hope, a vehicle to make long-lasting and beautiful things for the people that appreciate them.

Leaving a past life in fields and laboratories as a technician, I seized an opportunity to retrain as a metalworker, and I have been incredibly lucky to learn from some extraordinary colleagues and friends. From a crash course in all the fundamentals of materials prep, design, machining, welding and finishing in the workshop of Sam Fish (an enormously skilled and patient craftsperson to whom I am forever indebted), I dove into the deep end of the welding and fabrication industry, primarily working on sports car subframes and fuel tanks, and honing my skills on stainless steel hygenic fixtures and fittings. Surfacing on the other side to start my own workshop in spring of 2024, I now follow my own path making things that are, I hope, interesting, creative and wanted.