Building a Cabinet for Music Equipment with Alberto

 

There’s no doubt last year was full of difficulties. However, Woodwork Academy was glad to be able to contribute to so many inspiring projects! Alberto’s cabinet for music equipment was definitely one of them.

Alberto reached out to Lluis online to arrange a meeting, and the two gentlemen agreed to bring the idea to life. At that point, Alberto hadn’t done any of the WWA workshops so Lluis taught him everything from the very first step.

For this interview, we asked Alberto about the core idea behind his project, his experiences of working with Lluis and all the valuable lessons he took away from the learning process.

 

Tell us a little bit about this recent project that you have been building with Lluis and why you decided to do it.

First of all, I have always been fascinated by woodworking for some reason, but I could never gain any experience which frustrated me. However, the big push came when I spent some time during my holidays at the mountain hut that I co-own with my friends in Italy. I realised that it required renovation. 

In addition, I also needed some furniture quite promptly at home in Berlin so I decided to start as soon as I could.

How was your experience? What did you learn by building the project?

The experience with Lluis was so amazing that it exceeded my expectations. I knew nothing at all about woodworking, and all at once, I was building something for myself while learning a craft at the same time. It was pretty awesome.

The project I worked on was a difficult one though, not for beginners for sure. It was a big cabinet with drawers, but that was exactly what I needed. So basically, I was Lluis’ apprentice during the making of the cabinet with the invaluable advantage of his expertise. He explained to me each step of the building process and he guided me through the realization of the furniture. 

That meant I learned how to use the machines we needed and everything that came along with it. Some moments of the production were trickier than others. I really had to focus more on those, but Lluis made sure everything went smoothly. 

Without any previous knowledge, and since this was my first woodworking experience, there’s no way I could replicate anything like that on my own. After the  project, I decided to complete workshops so I did both the Beginners’ and Intermediates’ Workshops at Woodwork Academy.

Last but definitely most importantly, Lluis focused on safety before anything else. The machines in the shop are top notch and Lluis makes sure of the safe working conditions from the start. All in all, it was a great experience.

 

Any words of advice for other people interested in woodwork?

Yes, my advice is to find someone who can teach you. It is worth it to have somebody who is showing every step before your very eyes. So, if you are starting from scratch, I totally recommend having some first-hand experience with a teacher or a more experienced worker. 

I guess everybody needs to do a few guided projects before being able to stand on their feet and access the plethora of knowledge that is available today. And if you live in Berlin there is no better option than Lluis and Woodworking Academy.

 

If you’re ready to learn how to woodwork, you can create your own furniture at our Beginners’ Workshop! If you’re interested, follow us on Facebook or Instagram and we’ll let you know when you can sign up for the next one! See you there!