About Furniture Making and Restoration

Right from the outset it is necessary to clarify that there are different specializations in the field of woodworking. Generally, it can be safely stated that carpentry involves woodworking in the field of construction. The next specialization belongs to the cabinet maker (*) which, in the "new" meaning of the word, comprises the work of those involved in the production of precision kitchen cabinets and other cabinetry.  Following come the furniture makers and restorers of fine antique furniture, which requires a keen knowledge of furniture, its history, different wood species, materials used, and period methods, including the highly intricate and delicate woodwork and carvings found in irreplaceable high value furniture, often owned by museums. As regards the cost of making classic furniture, this is in direct proportion to the time involved and the experience of the artist, for, it takes many days of painstaking and delicate work to produce or restore furniture by hand to be true to the original piece, methods, tools and materials. Verily, many furniture reproductions are often made with power tools, staples, and so on, in large numbers at the lowest possible cost.

(*) In the old days the word "cabinet makers" described those involved in the art of furniture-making and restoration, insomuch that Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite were called cabinet-makers and , of course, they were artists to the Crown and the creators of the legendary Chippendale and Hepplewhite styles of furniture.