Sturt School for Wood

Mittagong, NSW — Australia

Australia’s longest running fine furniture school

Tags: One year full-time · Certificate IV · Residential · Est. 1985 · 2027 Intake

Since 1985, Sturt has trained many of Australia’s most respected furniture makers. The year-long Certificate IV in Furniture Design and Manufacturing is project-led and hands-on, moving through hand tools, machinery, design and professional practice. The school draws visiting makers of international standing and has sat within a broader arts and culture precinct.

Note: The 2026 full-time course did not proceed. Sturt is restructuring as an independent not-for-profit entity and is accepting expressions of interest for 2027. Prospective students should confirm current status directly with the school.

Website: https://www.sturt.nsw.edu.au/sturt-school-for-wood

Centre for Fine Woodworking

Nelson — New Zealand

New Zealand’s premier woodworking school, with an international programme

Tags: 32-week programme · Short courses available · Residential (self-arranged) · Not-for-profit · Enrolling 2026

Based in Nelson at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, CFW offers a 32-week Furniture Makers’ Programme alongside a strong calendar of short courses, residencies and masterclasses with international makers. The programme has a strong emphasis on traditional hand skills and design development. Small cohorts, maximum eight students.

Cost: 2026 programme fee: NZD $30,000 · Short courses from approx. NZD $800

Australian connection: CFW has deep ties to the Australian craft world. David Haig has taught at Sturt School for Wood and CFC Maine. Lachlan Park of Newstead Wood School (Victoria) trained at CFW. Stuart Faulkner, former ly of Sturt and Heartwood teaches there regularly.

Website: https://www.cfw.co.nz

Center for Furniture Craftsmanship

Rockport, Maine — USA

One of the world’s finest woodworking schools, by any measure

Tags: Nine-month Comprehensive · Intensives (8–12 weeks) · Workshops (1–2 weeks) · Not-for-profit · Enrolling 2026

Founded in 1993 by Peter Korn on the coast of Maine, CFC operates year-round across multiple program formats — from one-week workshops to a nine-month comprehensive course. Faculty are drawn from across the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. The school’s range of formats makes it one of the few residential institutions accessible to makers who can’t commit to a full year.

Australian connection: Australian David Upfill-Brown led CFC’s flagship nine-month comprehensive course for five years. Neil Erasmus was a regular instructor over many years, as was David Haig. Richard Vaughan and Ross Annels (SkillBuild, Mount Egerton) have both taught there. The school has long had strong ties to the Australian and New Zealand craft community.

Website: https://woodschool.org

Rowden Atelier

Shebbear, Devon — UK

Precision, rigour, and the Arts & Crafts tradition in rural Devon

Tags: Twelve-month Professional · Six-month Professional · One-month course · One-week course · Residential

Set in a converted barn on the edge of Dartmoor, Rowden is known for an uncompromising standard of precision — students work to 0.25mm tolerance with both hand tools and machines. The twelve-month course covers design, CAD, drawing and professional practice alongside making. The one-month course is particularly well regarded for serious hobbyists who want professional-grade foundations without going full-time.

Website: https://rowdenatelier.com

SkillBuild Training — Serious Furniture Making

Mount Egerton, Victoria — Australia · Australian Alternative

Accredited, intensive, modular — designed around your life

Tags: Nationally Recognised (Cert II) · Six, 1 week-long modules · Max 6 students · April–September 2026 · ENROLLING NOW

SkillBuild’s program at Moonlite Studios in Mount Egerton is built for the maker who wants serious training without uprooting their life. Six week-long intensive modules run across four months — you work full days in a small-group studio environment, then return to work and family. The curriculum covers hand tools, bench machinery, joinery, solid timber and board, cabinetry and design. Teaching is led by Ross Annels — a maker and educator with over 25 years of professional practice, who has taught at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine, at the Jam Factory in Adelaide, at the Queensland College of Art, and at Sturt School for Wood.  The qualification pathway — Certificate II in Cabinet Making and Timber Technology — is nationally recognised under the AQF, with units drawn from the furniture making stream. Statements of Attainment are issued as you complete each module, so the credential builds as you go.

Cost: $7,500 + GST · Payable in three instalments · Includes tuition, assessment, studio access, core consumables

Website: https://skillbuild.edu.au/product/serious-furniture-making-training-without-leaving-your-life-behind/

Newstead Wood School

Newstead, Central Victoria — Australia

Intimate, philosophy-driven woodworking in central Victoria

Tags: Intensive courses · Six bench spaces · On-site sawmill · Visiting makers

Run by Lachlan Park — a CFW-trained maker — Newstead Wood School operates from a purpose-built workshop with an on-site sawmill and air-dried timber collection. The school’s approach is shaped by Krenov’s philosophy of thoughtful, materials-responsive making. It hosts courses with visiting international makers as well as Lachlan’s own intensive programs. Two hours from Melbourne; also accessible by train to Castlemaine.

Website: https://www.lpwoodwork.com/newsteadwoodschool

Phoebe Everill Furniture Making School

Drummond, Victoria — Australia

Personalised instruction in a spectacular rural setting

Tags: Intensives and fortnightly classes · All levels · Between Daylesford & Kyneton

Phoebe Everill runs courses from absolute beginner to advanced from her studio between Daylesford and Kyneton. A flexible, personalised approach — fortnightly classes run on a rolling basis, with intensives available for those wanting immersive blocks of learning. The setting and teaching style attract makers looking for something beyond a city-based evening class.

Website: https://www.phoebeeverill.com/furniture-making-school/

Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking

Melbourne, Victoria — Australia

Traditional craft skills in the city, taught to a high standard

Tags: Evening & weekend courses · Beginner to advanced · Est. 2007

Founded by Alastair Boell after graduating from North Bennet Street School in Boston, the Melbourne Guild teaches traditional hand tool and fine woodworking skills in project-based courses. Term courses run over 10–22 weeks as evening classes, making it well suited to working professionals. A respected institution for Melbourne-based makers who want rigour without full-time commitment.

Website: https://www.mgfw.com.au

Bern Chandley — Chairmaking

Brunswick, Melbourne Victoria — Australia

Australia’s foremost Windsor chairmaker, teaching up to eleven classes a year

Tags: Six-day chair making courses · Max 4 students · Steam bending · Windsor tradition

Bern Chandley is Australia’s most celebrated Windsor chairmaker — a carpenter and joiner by trade whose practice centres on contemporary interpretations of the Windsor tradition. He runs up to eleven six-day chair making courses a year from his Northcote workshop, covering chair geometry, steam bending, seat shaping, spindle making and assembly. His teaching pedigree extends internationally: he has taught at Peter Galbert’s school in the USA and assisted Christopher Schwarz’s Australian workshops (2025).

Website: https://www.bernchandleyfurniture.com/classes-1

Steel Road Fine Woodworking School

Yackandandah, Victoria — Australia (near Albury Wodonga)

Traditional skills with modern techniques in regional Victoria

Tags: Project-based courses · Est. 2013 (formerly Handsome & Co)

Run by Elliot Gorham in Yackandandah near Albury Wodonga, Steel Road teaches fine furniture making through projects of the student’s choosing. A well-regarded regional option for makers in Victoria or southern NSW.

Website: https://www.steelroad.com.au

Victorian Woodworkers Association

North Melbourne, Victoria — Australia

Not-for-profit eaching, all levels, student-chosen projects

Tags: Term-based · Not-for-profit · Meat Market, North Melbourne

The VWA School of Woodcraft has been running for over 20 years from the Meat Market building in North Melbourne. Students choose their own projects and work under the guidance of experienced makers. Not accredited, but a solid and affordable option for hobbyists who want structured time in a well-equipped workshop.

Cost: From $1,300 per term

Website: https://vwa.org.au/school/

Stuart Faulkner

Southern Highlands, NSW — Australia

Visiting teacher and Sturt-pedigree maker, now based in the Southern Highlands

Tags: Visiting teacher · Short courses · CFW Nelson · Sturt School for Wood

Stuart Faulkner is one of Australia’s most respected furniture making educators — a Sturt School for Wood graduate (1997), former Head of Design at Lidcombe TAFE, and former Director of the Sturt School for Wood. He ran Heartwood Creative Woodworking in Sydney’s Marrickville for ten years before relocating to Mittagong in the Southern Highlands in 2022. He now teaches as a visiting instructor at the Centre for Fine Woodworking in Nelson NZ, at Sturt School for Wood, and at the Woodworkers Association NSW. Contact via his website or Instagram for upcoming courses.

Website: https://www.heartwoodcreative.com.au

Richard Crosland’s School for Fine Furniture

Alexandria, Sydney NSW — Australia

Claimed to be the oldest furniture making school in Sydney

Tags: Weekday and Sunday classes · Est. 40+ years

This long-established school in Alexandria offers weekday and Sunday morning classes in fine furniture making. Classes focus on hand tools with a ratio of one tutor to every four students.

Website: https://www.croslandfinefurniture.com.au

Chisel & Dowel

Marrickville, Sydney NSW — Australia

Fine furniture making and hand craft classes in Sydney’s inner west

Tags: Hand tool focus · 10-week term classes · Short courses · 1:4 tutor ratio

Operating from Splinter Workshop in Marrickville, Chisel & Dowel is run by Brendan Cody and Orest Danylak. Focuses on hand tools and runs 10-week term classes as well as specialised short courses with one tutor to every four students.

Website: https://www.chiselanddowel.com.au

Illawarra Woodwork School

Woonona, NSW — Australia (near Wollongong)

A third-generation maker teaching in a remarkable industrial setting between escarpment and ocean

Tags: 10-week term classes · Weekend workshops · Chair making · Max 6 students · Est. 2005

Based in the repurposed grain silos of a 1970s malting factory in Woonona, the Illawarra Woodwork School occupies one of the most characterful teaching spaces in Australian craft education. Run by Stuart Montague — a third-generation furniture maker with a Fine Arts degree from the University of Tasmania and over 30 years of practice — and Ed Oliver. Term classes run 10 weeks (max 6 students, 3 hours per session); weekend and five-day specialist workshops cover chair making, spoon carving, greenwood furniture making and more. Stuart also founded the Illawarra Festival of Wood (now Woodfest), a beloved annual gathering of woodworkers at Bulli Showground.

Website: https://www.woodworkschool.com

Richard Vaughan — Classes in Fine Woodwork

Sumner Park (Brisbane), Queensland — Australia

One of Australia’s most celebrated designer-makers, teaching from his ‘shedudio’

Tags: Seven-week part time comprehensive course · Max 7 students · Longtime Contributor, Australian Wood Review

Richard Vaughan established his first furniture making workshop in Sydney in 1983, relocated to Brisbane in 2003, and has been running classes from his purpose-built workshop ever since. A long-standing contributor to Australian Wood Review, inaugural director of Studio Woodworkers Australia, and guest teacher at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine (2009). His seven-week woodworking course runs twice a week in his ‘shedudio’ for up to seven students. Typically attracts those aspiring to excellence.

Website: http://www.richardvaughan.com.au

Bywater Design School of Fine Furniture

Northgate, Brisbane Queensland — Australia

30 years of furniture making and teaching, with a distinctive Australian character

Tags: Weekend workshops · Two-day courses · Furniture making · Hollow board making · Est. 1986

Stuart Bywater trained at the Wood Workshop at ANU School of Art and has specialised in furniture design, making and restoration for over 30 years. Bywater Design in Northgate runs a well-regarded calendar of weekend and two-day workshops across furniture making techniques, with a distinctive addition: hollow wooden surfboard and paddleboard making courses that have attracted national attention. A longstanding Brisbane institution.

Website: https://bywaterdesign.com.au/woodworking-classes

Damion Fauser — Fine Woodworking

Darra, Queensland — Australia

Award-winning independent maker and educator

Tags: Group settings · Individual tuition · In-home instruction

Damion Fauser is an award-winning Brisbane-based furniture maker who teaches hand-tool and machinery essentials and joinery techniques in group settings, individual tuition or in-home instruction. Well regarded in the Australian craft community.

Website: https://www.damionfahser.com.au

JamFactory — Furniture & Woodworking Studio

Adelaide, South Australia (Kaurna Country) 19 Morphett Street, Adelaide SA 5000

JamFactory is a not-for-profit arts organisation founded in 1973, Its furniture studio operates from a dedicated space within the West End creative precinct of Adelaide city.

What's on offer

Short courses run across the year and include beginner-friendly workshops in hand-tool joinery, solid timber construction, and furniture making JamFactory — with recent offerings including a shaker-style side table in Tasmanian Blackwood, a wedged-tenon step stool, and a Japanese-style split-top bench. Full-term courses generally run 7–8 weeks across four terms per year (February–April, May–July, August–October, October–December). JamFactory Single-day intensives and weekend workshops are also offered throughout the year.

For those seeking deeper engagement, JamFactory's Associate Program provides career development opportunities for emerging artists and designers working in furniture, glass, ceramics, or jewellery/metal. JamFactory

Skill level: Beginner to emerging professional Course format: Single-day workshops, multi-week short courses, Associate Program Materials: All tools and materials supplied for short courses Ages: 18+

Website: http://jamfactory.com.au

Neil & Pam Erasmus

Perth Hills, Western Australia — Australia

Third-generation furniture makers, itinerant teachers, and long-standing contributors to Australian craft education

Tags: Visiting teacher · Sturt School for Wood · CFC Maine · ESCA School (formerly)

Neil Erasmus is one of Australia’s most respected furniture makers and educators — a third-generation craftsperson who emigrated from South Africa and built a distinguished practice in the Perth Hills over more than 35 years. He and Pam ran the ESCA School of Wood (Erasmus School of Creative Arts) from their purpose-built studio in Pickering Brook, and Neil became, as Australian Wood Review described him, “somewhat an itinerant furniture making instructor” — teaching across Australia, at Sturt School for Wood, and as a regular instructor at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine. The ESCA School is no longer operating; Neil has recently retired. He remains a contributing editor of Australian Wood Review and one of the field’s most generous voices.

Website: https://www.woodreview.com.au/news/neil-erasmus

Perth Wood School

Perth, Western Australia — Australia

Fine woodworking courses on the west coast

Tags: Courses for all levels

Perth Wood School offers woodworking courses for all levels in Perth. Verify current offerings and schedule directly.

Website: https://www.perthwoodschool.com.au

Castle Workshop

Nicholls Rivulet, Tasmania — Australia

Fine furniture making in a remote Tasmanian setting

Tags: Intensive courses · Small groups

Run by James Vaughan in Nicholls Rivulet in southern Tasmania, Castle Workshop offers intensive furniture making courses in a remote and beautiful setting. Tasmania’s timber heritage makes it a distinctive location for serious makers.

Website: https://www.castleworkshop.com.au