Carpenter - Boat
Ben Wagstaff had no particular interest in boats until he took a job at a marine timber-decking company. Now the second-year apprentice wood machinist has developed a passion for them. It's not about getting out on the water and testing a boat's mettle; he'd rather stand back and admire the craftsmanship that has gone into the sleek vessels.
"I like the workmanship,'' he says. "I've gone out a couple of times and seen the finished boats and they look incredible.''
Wagstaff, 18, who works for Mona Vale-based timber and decking company Sydney Wood Industries, says preparing timber for decking on boats is a painstaking process.
"It's very time-consuming work because we've got to take every piece of timber out of the rack and select it by hand to make sure there are no blemishes in it,'' he says. "The grain has to be perfectly straight.''
The company sources its wood from Burma. It is shipped green and dried to order on-site in a kiln. Burmese teak is used for boats because of its natural waterproofing qualities.
"This timber is extremely resinous,'' Wagstaff says. "It is the perfect timber to use around water.'' Producing straight-grained timber without knots or blemishes isn't easy however and precision is paramount when using the machinery.
"If you don't know how to use the machines properly you could lose a limb,'' Wagstaff says.
The inherent danger of the machinery is underlined when the metal cutters occasionally hit a metal surface after cutting through the wood. "The cutters spin at 6000 to 10,000 revs per minute and when they hit metal they just explode in sparks,'' Wagstaff says.
From a young age he knew he wanted to work with wood and took a design technology course at high school. During the course he worked with many different materials, but enjoyed woodwork the most.
"I like the fact you can go out into the street and find a piece of timber that looks like it's nothing special and turn it into something really beautiful,'' he says.
It wasn't until he started TAFE that he realised he wanted to be a wood machinist.
"I fell into wood machining as a career,'' he says. "I wanted to do carpentry and finer woodwork, but I started an apprenticeship as a wood machinist and found I liked it.''
LOVE YOUR WORK
How did you get into your job: I found it through TAFE. I had left my other job and told them I was looking for a job. They suggested Sydney Wood Industries and I liked it straight away.
Upside: Seeing the finished product and being able to say to the guy that owns the boat that I helped build it.
Downside: I hate changing the dust bins at the end of the day. I don't like sweeping up either but they have to be done.
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