Thread: spare parts

Gabbett machinery in Morningside are SCM agents. Talk to Marco.

Mick

What is the difference betwween solid timber machinery and cabinet making equipment

Originally Posted by China

What is the difference betwween solid timber machinery and cabinet making equipment

China,
for cabinetmaking I use a panel saw, edgebander, hinge borer/inserter, C bradder, staple gun and cordless drill. For solid timber work I use/have the panel saw, jointer, thicknesser, double drum sander, spindle moulder, slot morticer, morticing machine, router table, a bunch of routers, a few different sanders, a few hand tools and lots of clamps. If I was really flash I'd have a tennoner and a four sider and a pneumatic clamping table.

Mick

PS I say "use/have" because some of the machines are stored away in a shipping container as there's not enough room to set them up until I extend the shed.

Ok I was just trying to make a point people are loseing sight of what a Cabinet maker does, Cabinet makers use "Solid Timber Machinery". Cabinet Makers make freestanding funiture ( as appposed to built in) The making of built in furniture i.e kitchen units etc is technicly the job of a Joiner. Yes I know that most Cabinet Makers are making built in furniture, but that is not what they learnt during 4 years at trade school. I get a get a little bit peaved when I tell someone I am cabinet maker and they think all I can do is assemble sheets of white partical board that has been dimentioed on a computerised saw. yeh i know I've hijacked the
post, just gets under my skin sometimes

The ozzie cabinet maker has evolved into a chipboard jockey

The joiner has virtually dissapeared, the term joiner vanished from apprenticehips for years. Even carpenter's skills are sliding away into the olden days with the use of steel and trusses and prebuilt wall frames etc. And how many modern chippies or cabinet makers or joiners could tell a higher grade piece of timber if there is no grading number stamped on it

The nearest term to describe the old skills of the craftsman cabinet maker & joiner would be "Furniture Maker" which has never been an apprenticed trade in oz.

China, yer becoming a dinosaur

Exactly my point, as for becoming a Dinosaur I'm starting to understand how my Father and Grandfather must have felt

Hang in there China. People will see the advantage of have someone with your skills. Not everyone buys crap.

hi thanks about gabbets but I have dealt with them before and found they are very expensive and have found aftermarket prouducts in New Zealand.

As for the eternal question of joiners cabbies and furniture makers the true art of working with solid timber is a trade that is slowly disappearing
through economics and a lack of interest and patience from the younger generation. My father and I have worked with solid timber for many years,
and even with our workshop at full capacity with no shortage of orders,we found that by setting up second workshop catering for kitchens, builtins and furniture made from hmr mdf and laminate, many designs were achieveable in a shorter turn around and at price many people could afford.By using these so call fake materials our profits were 5 times that of the solid timber workshop.

My father has since past away but like my father I am a Purist and keep my solid timber workshop and try to pass some skills on to the next generation.

Its a subject I could talk about for hours and how joiners are just box makers and with the introduction of computers to machines ,the lack of
understanding of how their machine really works and how it talks to you when something is wrong.

Its an issue that has plagued many old professions through history and
woodworking is no different.

Originally Posted by Toy shop

hi thanks about gabbets but I have dealt with them before and found they are very expensive and have found aftermarket prouducts in New Zealand.

As for the eternal question of joiners cabbies and furniture makers the true art of working with solid timber is a trade that is slowly disappearing
through economics and a lack of interest and patience from the younger generation. My father and I have worked with solid timber for many years,
and even with our workshop at full capacity with no shortage of orders,we found that by setting up second workshop catering for kitchens, builtins and furniture made from hmr mdf and laminate, many designs were achieveable in a shorter turn around and at price many people could afford.By using these so call fake materials our profits were 5 times that of the solid timber workshop.

My father has since past away but like my father I am a Purist and keep my solid timber workshop and try to pass some skills on to the next generation.

Its a subject I could talk about for hours and how joiners are just box makers and with the introduction of computers to machines ,the lack of
understanding of how their machine really works and how it talks to you when something is wrong.

Its an issue that has plagued many old professions through history and
woodworking is no different.

The reality today is the Cabinetmakers and Furniture makers of skill are for the most part without qualification and mostly self taught. Now while a few "Qualified" tradesmen might not like that idea that these untrained craftsmen calling themselves Cabinetmakers etc but the fact is those people are the only ones likely to be able to pass those skills on to the next generation.
You only have to see the work of some forum members to know that nobody graduating from any kind of current TAFE course is in the same league an no number of years working in the commercial world will give them the same skills or knowledge.

Ross

I'm a self taught carpenter-joiner, or at least I didn't do an apprenticeship but eventually got my trade papers as a carpenter-joiner. Along the way I've built a few houses (one really flash one) done millions of dollars of fit out work on boats, built interesting and challenging stuff like curved stairs, aquarium cabinets, stage sets and display cases. I've also fitted skylights and whirlybirds, pitched roofs, stood trusses, and hung plasterboard, layed parquetry, built fancy timber feature ceilings, hidden doorways and concealed hidey holes. I've done all sorts of interesting work.

A few years back, because of my wife's ill health I had to be home most of the time so I started building kitchens (I'd done a number of them before) I used a cutting service and just assembled them. Three years later I have a full size panel saw, two edgebanders and two borer/inserters as well as being able to afford a few dust collectors, a 10" jointer,800mm drum sander, and a whole heap of other gear. Yeah, building kitchens is repetitive and not challenging on the aesthetic or technical front but I make more money with less stress than I ever did doing anything else.

Yes, it would be nice if I could build custom furniture for a living, but when it's all said and done, it's a job. I owe it to myself and family to work at something that keeps me sane, healthy and brings in the money. I reckon I've got enough interesting stuff to build for my house to keep me satisfied on the creative front for the rest of my working life. Do I care that I'm merely a chipboard jockey? Not in the slightest.

Mick