Cabinet Maker
We might live in the machine age but the best furniture is still made by hand, according to International Conservation Services cabinet-maker Warwick Bailey. Bailey reproduces antique furniture, a painstaking job with some pieces taking more than a year to complete.
"You can use machines to do a lot of what we do but the end result is very precise and it's almost too good," he says. "When you employ hand techniques the subtle differences you get give a better result."
Bailey does use modern furniture-making techniques when necessary.
"We are working on a table and the size of it means we have to fabricate a steel frame to give it enough strength to support the top," he says. "So the combination of that and using traditional methods to make it look like the real deal means it has taken more than a year to finish."
While he focuses on furniture, cabinet-makers can also specialise in kitchens and built-in wardrobes. Bailey also does a lot of restoration work.
"If a chair has a damaged leg it might require remaking the leg and fixing it on or just glueing back on a piece that has come off," he says. "A lot of it is hand-skills based. So there is some carving involved, hand-laying veneers using animal glue and there's making mouldings using hand tools."
Despite enjoying wood tech class at school, Bailey enrolled in an architectural draftsman course after finishing his HSC.
"It is basically a lot of computer work and I got a bit bored of sitting behind a computer and decided I would rather do something with my hands," he says.
"Cabinet-making seemed like a logical step because it is something I always enjoyed doing."
Bailey completed a Certificate III in furniture-making (cabinet-making) and says the course provides a good grounding in using hand tools.
"They are really big on starting off with your hands and then using machines later on," he says. "You might be doing a job on site and don't have access to machines but if you have hand skills you can do any job anywhere."
Good cabinet-makers need to be able to pick up new techniques and skills easily because no two jobs are the same, he says.
"You're always having to pick up new techniques so you can finish things faster because that's how you make money," he says. "Also, you need a good eye for detail and a bit of creativity doesn't go astray."
Bailey eventually wants to make his own furniture. "You want to put your own ideas out there," he says. "If I was to do my own designs they would be a lot more modern."
LOVE YOUR WORK
How did you get your job?
I started at a place that did mainly shop fittings and kitchens and that allowed me to enrol in the TAFE course in cabinet-making.
Upside?
It's always different. Especially with antique-style furniture, there are just so many different designs and styles.
Downside?
You use a lot of hazardous substances and working with machinery can be quite dangerous.
