Proskills: Making Skills Work

Typical Tasks

General Skills required

Experience requested

Qualifications

• Care and repair of furniture.
• Remove accessories such as knobs or hinges.
• Prepare timber by smoothing with abrasive paper either by hand or machine.
• Mix solid colour/stains to the desired colour and apply them to the timber by spraying or by hand.
• Colour match paint and stains.
• Add a grain filling mixture to the surface.
• Spray on lacquers, two pack finishes and hot lacquers.
• Remove old finishes by stripping, scraping sanding or applying solvents or paint strippers.
• Apply varnish and polish with French polish, wax or lacquer.
• Bleach timber though application of lime finishes.
• Make minor repairs to damaged furniture.
• Maintain furniture polishing equipment.
• Work within environmental, health and safety regulations.
• Can also involve woodturning and at an advanced level Gilding and Marquetry.

• Ability to perform manual tasks
• Normal colour vision
• Good communication skills
• Capable of understanding written instructions.
• Have an eye for quality and attention to detail.

• Before starting a career in Restoration, you will need to have gained a number of years of experience in Furniture Making, Upholstery and French Polishing.
• An understanding about the history of furniture would be useful.
• Knowledge of specialist techniques used within the restoration industry would also be an advantage.

There are no fixed entry level requirements.

Qualifications valued by employers may include:

• GCSE’s, ideally grade A to C
• A Level’s
• NVQ L2/L3 in Furniture Production.
• NVQ L2/L3 Making & Installing Furniture.
• NVQ L2/L3 in Furniture Restoration.
• HNC/HND Furniture Making.
• Furniture Apprenticeship and Advanced Apprenticeship.