New Zealand Centre for Fine Woodworking

Explore the virtual tour of Centre for Fine Woodworking 2022/23 Exhibition at Parker Gallery, 90 Achilles Avenue, Nelson.

New Zealand’s premier furniture making, woodworking & design school
Welcome to the Centre for Fine Woodworking, a not-for-profit school of excellence dedicated to offering the highest quality of tuition available in fine woodworking, preserving and passing on the time-honoured craft to future generations of craftspeople.

The school is located in beautiful Nelson and offers an unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself in the art and practice of fine woodworking, in a world–class facility under the guidance of highly experienced tutors and internationally renowned woodworkers.

We take pride in offering a wide selection of courses suited to all skill levels. We offer weekend workshops, project-based short courses for beginners and intermediate level, an 8–week Beginners’ Intensive, Master Classes and a full time Furniture Makers’ Programme.

Please contact us if you are interested in any of our courses – we’d love to see you here in our workshop.
“the best little woodworking school in the Southern Hemisphere”

We pride ourselves on small class sizes which enables our students to quickly gain an extremely high skill base in a short space of time. Our short courses typically run for between 2 and 15 days and offer a variety of technique based projects and up-skilling options.

Short Courses

Dovetail Box-Making

This 6 day course will focus on learning to cut dovetails by hand, and incorporating them into an elegant box.
Beginners Intensive Programme

This intensive 8-week programme covers a wide variety of skills and techniques where a range of set projects are created giving students a solid foundation in fine woodworking.

The Furniture Makers’ Programme

The Furniture Makers’ Programme is a 32-week intensive course designed and developed by practising furniture makers and teachers intended for the serious woodworker.
No prior woodworking experience is necessary to participate in this programme and applications are welcome from those interested in attending individual term(s) where places are available.

RESIDENCY

The Centre for Fine Woodworking offers the highest level of tuition in fine woodworking available in New Zealand. The school offers an unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself in the art and practice of fine woodworking, in a world–class facility under the guidance of highly experienced tutors and internationally renowned woodworkers.

Our ongoing commitment is to continue to offer an annual Residency Programme each summer, and although this is currently on hold we are delighted to announce that we have invited Michael Fortune in 2022 and Aled Lewis in 2023 to run this programme.

Click here to find out more…