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Furniture polishers [French
polishers; Furniture Finishers] polish timber furniture and musical instruments by hand
or machine to give them a protective and attractive finish.
ANZSCO description:
394211: Applies finishes, such as stain, lacquer, paint, oil and varnish, to
furniture, and polishes and waxes finished furniture surfaces.
Alternative names: Furniture
Finisher
Specialisations:
Knowledge, skills and attributes
A furniture finisher requires:
- good eyesight to select
woods and look for surface imperfections
- good eye/hand
co-ordination, ability to colour match and manual dexterity
- ability to visualise a
finished product from drawings, blueprints or other specifications
- a desire to do a
precise and thorough job
- keenness to use tools
and equipment to perform tasks requiring precision
- the ability to follow
established procedures and solve problems by experimenting
- the ability to select
the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job
- good judgement and
decision-making skills - able to consider the relative costs and
benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one
- knowledge of the
history of furniture and the materials, methods, and the tools involved.
Duties and Tasks
 A furniture finisher applies
stain, lacquer, paint, oil and varnish to furniture, and polishes and waxes
finished furniture surfaces. Other tasks will be to:
Working conditions
A furniture finisher will need to have minimum allergic reactions to dust
and spirit based products such as turpentine and shellac. All timber
furniture finishers work indoors, generally in a shop environment, and are
exposed to a high noise level, some airborne sawdust and chemicals from
painting and stripping products. There is some risk of injury involved in
working with high-speed woodworking machinery. Furniture
polisher may be required to lift
equipment or supplies weighing up to 25 kilograms.
Furniture polishers work in workshops, which may be noisy due to the
operation of industrial machines and tools. They usually stand for most of
the day and wear protective masks as some of the lacquers give off
unpleasant fumes.
Tools and technologies
Furniture finishers use a variety of tools and materials including: wax;
shellac; nitro cellulose lacquer; stain; paint; solvents; bleach; sanding
blocks; steel wool; rags; brushes; automated sprays; stripping tools; wood
fillers; dip baths; nails; screws and tacks; hammers; chisels, screwdrivers;
planes and saws. They may also use wood lathes, drill presses, routers and
other machinery.
In mass production many of the traditional hand processes are automated and
include a conveyer or overhead conveyer system.
Education and training/entrance requirements
To become a furniture finisher, you usually need to complete an
apprenticeship. A timber furniture finisher apprenticeship takes 36 months
to complete and is available as a school-based apprenticeship.
Did You Know?
French polishing is a wood finishing technique that results
in a very high gloss surface, with a deep colour and chatoyancy.
French polishing consists of applying many thin coats of shellac
dissolved in alcohol using a rubbing pad lubricated with oil.
"French polish" is a process, not a material. The main material is
shellac, although there are several other shellac-based finishes,
not all of which class as French polishing.
French polishing became prominent in the 18th century. In the
Victorian era, French polishing was commonly used on mahogany and
other expensive woods. It was considered the best finish for fine
furniture and string instruments such as pianos and guitars. The
process was very labour intensive, and many manufacturers abandoned
the technique around 1930, preferring the cheaper and quicker
techniques of spray finishing nitrocellulose lacquer and abrasive
buffing.
(Source:
Wikipedia)
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