machine carpenter

As a wood machinist you manufacture things in wood using machinery — furniture windows doors stairs and building elements. You often work in a production company where you operate advanced wood processing machinery and make parts in both small and large series. You become a skilled worker who combines wood craft with modern machinery technology.

§What do you do in everyday life?

Your day is at a carpentry workshop or factory with saws milling machines planers and CNC machines. You read drawings select wood adjust machines and run items through. You assemble glue and finish surfaces and you constantly check that dimensions and quality match. Safety around machines is a fixed part of the work.

• 01You learn to operate woodworking machines, including CNC.
• 02You learn to read drawings and plan production.
• 03You learn about types of wood and their properties.
• 04You learn to assemble, glue, and finish surfaces.
• 05You learn to control dimensions and quality.
• 06You learn to work safely with machines and tools.

§How do you get started?

You start with a basic course and find an apprenticeship in a company that produces in wood. The main course alternates between school and practical training and you get trainee wages while you are an apprentice. In the workshop you learn from experienced joiners who know both the wood and the machines.

§The way forward

As fully trained you can work in the furniture windows and building elements industry or at carpentry workshops. You can specialise in particular machines or products and build further towards for example production or design.

“You make the machine turn wood into exactly what the drawing shows.”