Questions from and for cabinet making apprentices.
I'm six months in and all I do is edge banding and sanding. Is this normal or am I being used as cheap labour?
Both things can be true, but mostly it is normal. Every cabinet maker did their time on the edge bander, and repetitive work is how your hands learn accuracy. The test is whether it is changing over time: by the end of first year you should be assembling carcasses, using more machines after inductions, and getting the odd install day. If you are still only sanding at 18 months, and TAFE units are being signed off for skills the shop never lets you touch, raise it with your boss, then your TAFE teacher, then your apprenticeship field officer. That is exactly what they are there for.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified cabinetmaker
My shop is all melamine kitchens and I wanted to build furniture. Should I quit and find a furniture shop?
Do not quit in a huff, but do steer your ship. Kitchen shop skills, accuracy, machine work, reading drawings, install, transfer straight into furniture work, so nothing is wasted. Pick furniture electives at TAFE where you can, build pieces at home or in the shop after hours if the boss allows it, and start meeting the custom shops in your area. Custom furniture spots are scarce, so most people finish their ticket in a production shop, then move across with a folder of photos of their own work. A finished apprenticeship plus a portfolio beats an unfinished apprenticeship every time.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified cabinetmaker
The older guys never wear masks around the MDF saw dust and give me grief for wearing one. Am I overreacting?
No. Wood dust is a known carcinogen, and MDF dust also carries formaldehyde from the glue. The blokes ribbing you grew up before anyone took it seriously, and some of them will pay for it later with their lungs and their hearing. Wear the P2 mask, wear your earmuffs, and use the extraction every time. Nobody at 55 with occupational asthma wishes they had worn less protection. If the shop's extraction is genuinely broken or missing, that is a safety issue you can raise with your state work safety regulator without losing your job.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified cabinetmaker
I'm 28 with a mortgage. Is starting a cabinet making apprenticeship realistic at my age?
Realistic, but go in with a plan. As an adult apprentice (21 or over at the start) you are on adult apprentice rates, which are better than junior first-year money, and some employers pay above the minimum for a reliable adult, so put your exact situation through the Fair Work Pay Calculator and build a real budget. Ask shops about competency-based progression, because prior hands-on experience can move you up faster. Employers honestly like mature apprentices: you show up, you do not wrap the ute, and you finish. The first two years are lean; the trade behind them is stable.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified cabinetmaker
Should I learn the CNC and CAD side or stick to the tools? The programmer at our shop barely touches timber anymore.
Learn both, and do not fear the machine. The trade is heading further into CNC and nesting software, not away from it, and the person who can program the machine and fix a job on the tools when something goes wrong is the most valuable one in the shop. Volunteer for the CNC when the chance comes, do the CAD units at TAFE properly, and keep your hand skills sharp on installs and custom jobs. Tools-only limits your options; screen-only makes you replaceable by the next software update. The combination is where the pay and the security are.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified cabinetmaker
