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Woodworking still prized

By

DAVE WILSON

Wooden aeroplanes may have gone out of military fashion several decades ago, but cabinetmaking and the skills of woodworking are still prized in the R.N.Z.A.F., and at Wigram Gary Barnes has proof he is one of the best in his field. This week Gary was honoured by the New Zealand Furniture Industry Training Board as th'e top apprentice cabinetmaker for New Zealand. His win in the trade certificate cabinetmaking examination is the culmination of study at Polytechnic, as well as practical work

in the woodwork section of the Technical Squadron at Wigram, where he has been based for the last 11 years. In the Air Force, qualified cabinetmakers are known as planewrights, a legacy from the days when these men did indeed build aircraft and repair the major wooden components. Today the R.N.Z.A.F. pianewrights work in two mediums: wood and fibreglass. And the products that emerge from the woodwork shop at Wigram are unusual from a dais for speakers at official functions to honours boards and crests.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19880604.2.44

Bibliographic details

Press, 4 June 1988, Page 5

Word Count
173

Woodworking still prized Press, 4 June 1988, Page 5

Woodworking still prized Press, 4 June 1988, Page 5