Who does what: Joiner/Cabinet Maker/Furniture Maker
Rather than posting in the Employment section, I'm hitting here in the hope of more viewers and input...
I've just finished a short pre-apprenticeship course in Carpentry, Joinery and Furniture Making to get some official recognition for what I can already do but I'm having trouble figuring out which trade does what jobs exactly (except carpentry) and where I should be looking for the kind of work that's going to satisfy me.
I would really prefer being able to work with natural timbers primarily and it's the kind of projects that appear in Woodsmith magazine that I REALLY would like to be doing at an apprentice/professional level - tables, benches, cupboards, bookshelves, chairs, beds, drawers, entertainment units etc.
I also wouldn't mind doing timber windows, doors and stairs. Heck, I could probably manage a few really fine kitchens or bathrooms a year too, but they're not something I'd like to be stuck doing for the rest of my life.
As I understand it at the moment, a traditional joinery/joiner does the latter, as well as laundries and storage cabinets (mostly with chipboard/laminate). But is it a cabinet maker or furniture maker that makes the prior "Woodsmith" items, or does some of that fall into joinery too? In my mind, there's a blurring between a joiner and a cabinet maker, and a furniture maker and a cabinet maker, but not one between a joiner and a furniture maker.
I know I don't want to get stuck making only CNC kitchens, laundries and bathrooms out of manufactured products so I've been avoiding sending resumes to dedicated kitchen center type joineries.
For what it's worth, the products shown on this site (and one of the places I could *definitely* handle working at) - Ballarat Furniture Company - would probably give me the ultimate job satisfaction. I LOVE their stuff. Sure, it's obvious it's a furniture place, but are the staff furniture makers and/or cabinet makers and would a joiner do that kind of work as well as the usual kitchen/laundry/bathoom/doors/windows/stairs?
Set me straight o' wise and experienced ones :U