# Hi to everyone from Sweden..



## Snickare85

Hi Guys,
my name is Mauro,i'm 28 and i'm a furnituremaker and a carpenter in Sweden,i'm actually Italian but i moved to Sweden 3 years ago;i'm sure i will find in this forum a resource of valid info and professional people for exchange of ideas and suggestion..:thumbsup:


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## Reg

Welcome to the boards Snickare85! Post some of your pictures when you get the chance. Share good Italian - Swedish woodworking tips when you have them. You'll find plenty here as well.


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## MarkJames

Welcome!


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## TimelessQuality

Välkommen


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## Snickare85

Thank you for the welcome,i will share some pictures of my work,unfortunately i don't have so many pictures,expecially about more complex work i did,but anyway..i'm actually in the process of learning about stairmaking and framing skills,i'm very interested in learn from you people with more experience.


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## Snickare85

Tack så mycket Timeless Quality..have you worked in Sweden or do you have Swedish roots?


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## Snickare85

and little more pictures..maybe these pictures are not so impressive,but i will tell you guys something that maybe will impress you..in my shop i have a Delta tablesaw,a Delta Milwaukee 14 inch bandsaw and a Delta Crescent 8inch Jointer..all made in USA!


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## TimelessQuality

Snickare85 said:


> Tack så mycket Timeless Quality..have you worked in Sweden or do you have Swedish roots?


No, just live near a concentrated settlement of Swede's... 

I do have a Dala Horse hanging outside:thumbsup:

Would love to see your country someday


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## Snickare85

TimelessQuality said:


> No, just live near a concentrated settlement of Swede's...
> 
> I do have a Dala Horse hanging outside:thumbsup:
> 
> Would love to see your country someday


AHAAHA funny place..!i actually live now in a place very close to Dalarna,the place were the Dala horse come from,here the "Träslöjd " is quite an art..(Sloyd=i don't know if whittling is the right translation,anyway you get it..) where did you find your Dala Horse?


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## Snickare85

this is some example of Träslöjd that i did some time ago in my .Träslöjd school.how you can see is quite fun and is about also making classic swedish woodenware,for example spoons,boxes and working with green wood and only hand tools(axes,knives planes ecc..) the fish box it was actually a piece that come from a poplar trunk that we putted down in the forest,after that it was allowed to dry very slow with the amazing "rubbing potato"technique..


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## TimelessQuality

Snickare85 said:


> where did you find your Dala Horse?


They actually hand carve them at the Dala horse factory in Lindsborg Kansas. Lol. 

They call the town 'little Sweden'

Nice carving work there... Is the fish a chest?


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## Snickare85

Hi again,curious that they make Dalahorse in Usa,the name of the town also,Lindsborg..sounds very swedish..the fish is a little box,yes,practically,it was carved all in on piece,except for the tail that stick out from the fisherman's box..most of the work was done with the knife..another thing that we learned in school is also how to make your whittling knife,and how to sew the cover for the blade in leather..i will take a picture of my carving knife the next time..i talked about the method for drying the wood preventing cracking..this is maybe interesting for you guys..practically you boil a potato and you rub the piece of wood with this boiled potato..the moisture will penetrate much less allowing the wood to dry much slower..an alternative is put the wood in a plastic bag with wood shaving..it takes quite long time..


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## PrestigeR&D

Welcome,:clap:


Very nice work.....:thumbsup:


By the way,....
I love your meat balls......:thumbup:....:laughing:




B,


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## Snickare85

HI Prestige,
i must say...i hate the swedish meatballs(köttbullar in swedish) i think my italian roots are pretty conservative about food..


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## Reg

Your work is fantastic. Clean. Such nice lines. Tell us, how does it work in Sweden if one wants to become a master carpenter? What is the process?


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## Snickare85

HI Reg,
thank you so much for your compliments,i worked a little more with curved stuff in the past but unfortunately i don't have any pictures,but i can say that these clean proportions and lines are quite common in the swedish woodworking style,expecially in the old furniture that were a relaboration of italian and french style(the swedish barock and rococo are quite different from the french and italian for example),but with cleaner lines and without so much fuss (carving,marquetry),i actually learned my trade in a 5 year apprenticeship in a small furniture shop in Italy,we were only 2 people,me and the master,so it was easier to learn,after i moved to sweden and i did 2 years of school specialized in swedish furniture reproduction were i learned carving marquetry and woodturning,after that i did a 1 year of Traslojd school,for learning traditional swedish woodenware,the next year will be my last year of school,and i'm going to study and practicing only woodcarving(8 hours a day woodcarving for 1 year..i hope i will survive);how you can see the system in Sweden offer a great variety of choice,here the university is totally free,no money are payed for studyng,but there is no such test that you must do like in the US or Canada for become master carpenter or furnituremaker,here is mostly about high schools and university and after that you go to work and make experience,there are high schools with different branches(electrician,plumber,carpenter,concrete,furnituremaking ec..)and you can choose..i had the luck personally to work also for a short time with restoring old traditional log building,very tough work,and most of that is by hand,using axes,drawknives and so on,but my back said no..you can't..i learned anyway how to restore,making and glazing sash windows with linseed oil putty ..it is all about experience..


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## Calidecks

Welcome, nice work! Your going to fit in just fine around this place.


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## Calidecks

What time is it there?


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## kambrooks

Californiadecks said:


> What time is it there?


 It's probably 9am- have some friends there


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## Snickare85

kambrooks said:


> It's probably 9am- have some friends there


Hi Kam and Kaliforniadecks,
it was actually 8:30am,so you were quite right..do you have friends in Sweden?in what town?is quite difficult making friends with Swedes,they are quite close and reserved..now is almost 6 PM and the day is finished here..it is quite dark..i will sent a picture of my hometown in Italy so you can understand how difficult for me is living here!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Terracina-vista01.jpg


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## kambrooks

Snickare85 said:


> Hi Kam and Kaliforniadecks, it was actually 8:30am,so you were quite right..do you have friends in Sweden?in what town?is quite difficult making friends with Swedes,they are quite close and reserved..now is almost 6 PM and the day is finished here..it is quite dark..i will sent a picture of my hometown in Italy so you can understand how difficult for me is living here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Terracina-vista01.jpg


 Really!? They quite loved me the two trips I made over there. Maybe I was lucky. Karlskrona and Gothenburg, that is where my friends live.


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## Reg

Snickare85 said:


> HI Reg,
> thank you so much for your compliments,i worked a little more with curved stuff in the past but unfortunately i don't have any pictures,but i can say that these clean proportions and lines are quite common in the swedish woodworking style,expecially in the old furniture that were a relaboration of italian and french style(the swedish barock and rococo are quite different from the french and italian for example),but with cleaner lines and without so much fuss (carving,marquetry),i actually learned my trade in a 5 year apprenticeship in a small furniture shop in Italy,we were only 2 people,me and the master,so it was easier to learn,after i moved to sweden and i did 2 years of school specialized in swedish furniture reproduction were i learned carving marquetry and woodturning,after that i did a 1 year of Traslojd school,for learning traditional swedish woodenware,the next year will be my last year of school,and i'm going to study and practicing only woodcarving(8 hours a day woodcarving for 1 year..i hope i will survive);how you can see the system in Sweden offer a great variety of choice,here the university is totally free,no money are payed for studyng,but there is no such test that you must do like in the US or Canada for become master carpenter or furnituremaker,here is mostly about high schools and university and after that you go to work and make experience,there are high schools with different branches(electrician,plumber,carpenter,concrete,furnituremaking ec..)and you can choose..i had the luck personally to work also for a short time with restoring old traditional log building,very tough work,and most of that is by hand,using axes,drawknives and so on,but my back said no..you can't..i learned anyway how to restore,making and glazing sash windows with linseed oil putty ..it is all about experience..


Damn! That's nine years of schooling. One whole year at woodcarving?! I am jealous. Do furniture makers in Sweden (or Italy) have a guarantee on their work? My old boss who grew up in Germany said if a piece breaks up to 30 years from the time they buy it, the master craftsman must repair it. Sounds like a whole different ball game in Europe than it is here. 

We are not big in to apprenticeships anymore in America but I've always been sure that if a kid walked in to a cabinet shop without any experience and offered to work for low wages to learn, many cabinet shop owners would say yes if the time was right. That is how I did it. I worked the crappiest jobs, cleaning the dust filters, sanding hours on end, getting the shop warm in the morning etc... but I looked at it like I was getting paid to learn.


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## Snickare85

Reg said:


> Damn! That's nine years of schooling. One whole year at woodcarving?! I am jealous. Do furniture makers in Sweden (or Italy) have a guarantee on their work? My old boss who grew up in Germany said if a piece breaks up to 30 years from the time they buy it, the master craftsman must repair it. Sounds like a whole different ball game in Europe than it is here.
> 
> We are not big in to apprenticeships anymore in America but I've always been sure that if a kid walked in to a cabinet shop without any experience and offered to work for low wages to learn, many cabinet shop owners would say yes if the time was right. That is how I did it. I worked the crappiest jobs, cleaning the dust filters, sanding hours on end, getting the shop warm in the morning etc... but I looked at it like I was getting paid to learn.


Hi again Reg,
yes it is 9 years that i'm doing this,but that because i want to get better and try to learn as much as possible,my situation is not the rule,usually people after a high school for tradethey just go to work or maybe they go to a university program for another couple of years,i almost forget,but for some trade like blacksmith and furnituremaker for example,there is actually a national exam,called gesällprov (read ieselprov),practically you can copy a piece of furniture or drawing and making your own piece of furniture,you must make a CAD or a hand drawing and send it to a commission of 5 master furnituremaker,that must have at least 20 years of work in the trade,when they approve your drawing they will also tell you how many hours you have for finish the project,that depends if the project is "easy" or more difficult,if has marquetry or carving for example,after that you can start to build and in the same moment you must also write an essay where you must describe the process and analize your choices,when the project is finished the commission come to your shop or in your school and they start to check everything in the furniture,for example they have thickness gauges for see if the gap of every door and drawer are the same and so on,if the result is positive you got a point and eventually a silver medal,and a diploma,if you manage to get this,you are a very rispected craftsman here..you can decide anyway if doing the test or not,is not obligatory..my 5 years in Italy were not a part of a school system,after high school i just ask if i could work and learn there,and the master agreed,but i didn't get any salary,and i swept a lot the floor,at least the first year,it was quite tough,in Sweden also the apprenticeship doesn't exists anymore,because the school system now teach almost everything you need to know(not the experience of course,that can't be teached..)what i see is that the guys are very prepared to work in a big industry,but i don't know how they will adapt in a small shop,that because here in high school often they learn to use CNC and Cad,and the workshop often has every machine you can think about,they cost so much money,but often i met guys that they didn't know for example how to change the knives in a jointer or how to fix a handplane..the chain job of an industry is quite different from a small craftsman shop,where you must be able to do everything..this is the reason why i want to continue to expand my knowledge and continue to study every branch of the craft..plus i think in this way..Sweden is not my country,here i'm a foreigner,and there are many good craftsman,and for sure a Swede between me and another Swede,will probably choose the Swede,but if my product and my knowledge is better than many Swedes,now who they will choose..?!i hope at least..:thumbup: about your question on guarantee,i don't know exactly,but is quite normal here,but maybe also in the States,that if you make something and the client needs some sort of assistance he will call you and not another craftsman,so it is a good idea always do the best job you can..


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## Calidecks

kambrooks said:


> Really!? They quite loved me the two trips I made over there. Maybe I was lucky. Karlskrona and Gothenburg, that is where my friends live.


Wow, nice Vacation Kam. I would love to go there. I'm sure it's a beautiful country. Nice having people you know to show you around?


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## Snickare85

Swedes love american culture and people,in tv they show a program called allt for Sverige(everything for Sweden) were a bunch of americans with swedes roots,came to Sweden for know the story of their family before they emigrate to US..


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## PrestigeR&D

Sweed,

I am not being critical with you here but it makes it easier to read if you break up your paragraphs ........

I did the same thing when I joined a few forums......:laughing:




JMPOV,




B,:thumbsup:


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## Snickare85

PrestigeR&D said:


> Sweed,
> 
> I am not being critical with you here but it makes it easier to read if you break up your paragraphs ........
> 
> I did the same thing when I joined a few forums......:laughing:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JMPOV,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> B,:thumbsup:


Oh,sorry..i didn't realise was so bad..i should see it coming..:thumbsup:thanks for the tip Prestige:thumbup:


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## chewy

I had a Swedish forefather who used to run a barge across a river during prohibition times getting the homebrew into the town from up in the bush. More recently I had a close Swedish friend who would drink handles of vodka and one night glassed a barman in the head… I'm big but this guy was a head taller than me, haha.


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## Snickare85

chewy said:


> I had a Swedish forefather who used to run a barge across a river during prohibition times getting the homebrew into the town from up in the bush. More recently I had a close Swedish friend who would drink handles of vodka and one night glassed a barman in the head… I'm big but this guy was a head taller than me, haha.



rule of thumb: never challenge a Swede with anything that involves alcohol..in Italy we use to drink some wine while we eat,here in Sweden people don't care about the eating part..


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## Calidecks

Snickare85 said:


> rule of thumb: never challenge a Swede with anything that involves alcohol..in Italy we use to drink some wine while we eat,here in Sweden people don't care about the eating part..


Damn I must be part Swede


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## kambrooks

Californiadecks said:


> Damn I must be part Swede


A bunch of girls drank me under the table at a Midsummer party :no:


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## Reg

Snickare85 said:


> Hi again Reg,
> yes it is 9 years that i'm doing this,but that because i want to get better and try to learn as much as possible


Well good luck to you and keep posting your photos. With that kind of experience, you will have a lot to offer in the world of woodworking. :thumbsup:

And we'll all say here, " we knew him when he was just a young whippersnapper, getting his chops on him." :laughing:


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## Reg

kambrooks said:


> A bunch of girls drank me under the table at a Midsummer party :no:


But were they Swedish girls?:drink:


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## kambrooks

Reg said:


> But were they Swedish girls?:drink:


As sure as I could be


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## Snickare85

kambrooks said:


> As sure as I could be
> 
> View attachment 106431


Yes..they look quite swedish..but i must say that even the most beautiful swedish girl looks like **** when is drunk.. i have seen a girl passed out in the snow in the winter..that was not fun.they are a little too much drama queen sometimes and alcoholism is a big problem here.


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## Calidecks

Alcoholism is a world wide problem. It's not discriminate


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## Calidecks

kambrooks said:


> As sure as I could be


Those are some damn cute friends you have there Kam.


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## Snickare85

Californiadecks said:


> Alcoholism is a world wide problem. It's not discriminate


I don't know about this,but i must say that in Italy we don't have a big alcoholism problem,is probably last of our problem i must say,but that is probably a culture fact,we are used to drink just while we eat most of the time,and never to arrive to pass out,it is not for say that we are perfect or we are special,absolutely not,but i want just say that in Italy we don't drink like the swedish.here in Sweden the alcohol can be bought only in special government regulated shops,and i think in the 70's you could buy just a certain amount of alcohol every month,this method,in their mind,should limitate the alcoholism problem..i must say..it didn't work at all..i have seen 14 yo guys and girls passed out and in theory they are not allowed to drink by law..


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## Calidecks

I'm an alcoholic that hasn't drank in 16 years and I can tell you I don't believe it's a learned behavior. I believe your either born that way or not. It's an addictive personality. I'm one of them. I'm one beer away from losing my kids, wife, home and business. There's a lot of theories on it, so this is just my opinion. I don't know if I'm responsible for my alcoholism but I am definitely responsible for my recovery.


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## Snickare85

Californiadecks said:


> I'm an alcoholic that hasn't drank in 16 years and I can tell you I don't believe it's a learned behavior. I believe your either born that way or not. It's an addictive personality. I'm one of them. I'm one beer away from losing my kids, wife, home and business. There's a lot of theories on it, so this is just my opinion. I don't know if I'm responsible for my alcoholism but I am definitely responsible for my recovery.


I'm sorry if i started a discussion that maybe can remember you a difficult situation you had in the past,and i wish you to continue on the right way and recovery totally from this addiction,i guess we both have our opinions and probably are also based on different experiences,it is just that here is like the society cut you out if you don't drink,because the swedish people are quite closed,and for be happy and funny and understand jokes,they need to be drunk,this happens every weekend,and for personal experience,i can say that if they see someone that don't drink(in this case me) they ask you why you don't drink?!and if you say that i don't need to drink to get drunk and pass out for have fun they ask me,how you can have fun if you are sober?i think you understand how their society works from this short example..but..now we change subject..!are you specialized in decks and outdoor building Californiadecks?how is the business there?


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## roofex

Hi Snickar85

Business is good thanks.

We use all types of roof coverings here, from slates, stone, lead, tin, clay tiles etc.. But the most common covering is probably concrete tiles, mainly because it’s cheap and cheerful, my favorite roof cover is a slated roof.


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## kambrooks

Californiadecks said:


> Those are some damn cute friends you have there Kam.



Why thank you. Just booked a trip to Branäs, in February...gonna do some skiing, I'm stoked.


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## Reg

chewy said:


> Thats just us Southern men, North Islanders are a bit precious.


Chewy, where are you from? We had our kid in Christchurch and 16 years later, she is now a Rotary student in the North Island for a year. We are stoked she has dual citizenship. 



Snickare85 said:


> Working all the year around must be nice. expecially with that weather..at least you can jump in the ocean (if you leave near the ocean of course)after a day of hard work..do you have a big crew?how it works in Usa for a carpenter,do you guys own also a workshop or your shop is practically the job site?


It differs but subs usually have a truck/van as their mobil work shop. All their tools live in their truck and they can set up nicely at any job site with the chop saw, table saw, etc.... Folks like cabinet makers work out of the shop and haul the finished work to the site to install. Contractors may have a shop and many times their own garage is their shop. They too, usually have a truck full of tools as many of them work along side the subs. 

As far as your post count goes, each and every time you post something here, even if it's on the same thread, should up your post one more number.


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## Snickare85

Reg said:


> Chewy, where are you from? We had our kid in Christchurch and 16 years later, she is now a Rotary student in the North Island for a year. We are stoked she has dual citizenship.
> 
> 
> 
> It differs but subs usually have a truck/van as their mobil work shop. All their tools live in their truck and they can set up nicely at any job site with the chop saw, table saw, etc.... Folks like cabinet makers work out of the shop and haul the finished work to the site to install. Contractors may have a shop and many times their own garage is their shop. They too, usually have a truck full of tools as many of them work along side the subs.
> 
> As far as your post count goes, each and every time you post something here, even if it's on the same thread, should up your post one more number.


Hi Reg,
thanks for the complete picture,it is nice to know how it works there,actually i have my cousin that is a carpenter in Toronto(he is born there) but i never ask about this stuff to him..thank you also to explain how the forum works..:thumbup:


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## chewy

Reg said:


> Chewy, where are you from? We had our kid in Christchurch and 16 years later, she is now a Rotary student in the North Island for a year. We are stoked she has dual citizenship.


I came into this world at Christchurch womens hospital in 87 and moved to Wellington in 02. Dad flipped the worst houses in the best streets so we lived in Sumner, Riccarton, New Brighton, St Albans, the chateau blanc for 4 weeks while we were homeless then moved to Rangiora for a few years before moving up to the capital.


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