Hands on Traditional skills and where to learn them

Furnituremaking

What is it?A lot of the furniture we buy is made in factories abroad. Traditional furnituremakers, on the other hand, make and repair pieces of furniture, often by hand and using timber. Many of these craftsmen will also make bespoke pieces using age-old techniques.

How is it done?Often an item of furniture begins when a craftsman visits a timber yard or comes across a piece of wood he can see a use for. Craftsmen may look for a particular grain pattern or feature in the timber that will fit into an overall design.

The timber is generally planed and cut into pieces. Then a craftsman plans the joints that will fit, say, table legs to their tabletop. If a craftsman is making a set of drawers, he will use a dovetail saw to cut dovetail joints, a traditional technique that is too time-consuming to be used in mass-produced furniture; it creates a wedge effect that locks timber together. Other traditional tools, such as the spokeshave, which was used to make spokes on wheels, are also still in use.

How long does it take?This depends on the the type of furniture and the detail required. Tim Dunleavy, an award-winning Kildare-based furniture maker (dunleavybespoke.com), explains, "The last cabinet I made took three weeks to make. It could take twice that. There is so much of a variance, but usually you'd be talking a week to two weeks to make a bespoke piece of furniture from scratch."

Dunleavy says traditional furniture-making skills are being preserved thanks to a range of courses and to teachers who pass them on. “The traditional skills are still there. The college I went to tried to influence students and show them these techniques that have been passed down. At the same time, it doesn’t mean everyone uses them. There is a niche market in bespoke furnituremaking.”

Where do I sign up?Hill Picket Studio (0402-30581, hillpicketstudio.com), in Co Wicklow, runs short evening and weekend courses in a range of woodwork, furnituremaking and design classes, for all levels of experience.

Goose Island Workshop (066-7139896, gooseislandworkshop.ie), in Co Kerry, runs a variety of courses, from half-day introductions to more skilled classes over several days. An advanced eight-day course in chairmaking costs €800; two half-day stoolmaking courses cost €140.

Green Wood Chairs (028-21890, greenwood chairs.com), based in Co Cork, runs beginner’s courses in chairmaking over three days, or simpler day-long stoolmaking classes.