Peter Sefton runs the Peter Sefton Furniture School, which offers a wide range of woodworking and furniture-making courses. The main course is 35 weeks long and covers hand skills, machining and a lot more, it also offers specialist short courses and three-day machining courses on using bandsaws, planer thicknessers, table saws and spindle moulders, all carried out on a range of machinery from the Felder Group.
For the last 15 years Peter has been using machines from the Felder Group and is still using three of his original machines today. When he first started the school Peter purchased an A3-41 planer thicknesser, an N4400 bandsaw, an F3 spindle moulder and a K3 panel saw from Felder’s Hammer range. Since then he has added two AF 22 dust extraction units, upgraded his K3 to a K700 Professional as well as adding a second planer – the A 741 from the Felder range.
Commenting on why he chose machines form Felder, Peter says: “I had known of Felder for over 20 years and it’s great to see how they have progressed. I went to the headquarters in Milton Keynes and it gives you a great confidence seeing their set up, and the range is safe which is essential when running a school.”
Speaking about his machines, Peter says: “The N4400 bandsaw is essential; it has so many uses. We swap the blade two or three times a day: A little narrow blade for tight curved work, a wider blade for ripping, a medium blade for making tenons and dovetails. As the school became more popular, a queue for the A3-41 started to develop so I decided to add another planer, taking the step up to the Felder A 741.
“The quick-change knives on both the planers are easy to set up; I can teach someone in 15 minutes and be confident that they could go back to their own workshop and set it up.
Regarding his panel saw, Peter says: “The Hammer K3 did well and I had that for 12 years but we were ready for an upgrade. The bigger and more robust Felder K700 has allowed us to do such accurate work – fine cutting for inlays/veneers and a selection of different tasks that I can show the students, but most importantly is the increased safety.”
Peter then went on to say: “I wouldn’t have a workshop without a spindle moulder. In the past, they have had a reputation for being dangerous but the technology has improved so much and now it is much safer – as long as it is set up correctly – and you can do some really nice work.”
Peter now makes DVDs and digital downloads on each of the machines to spread his knowledge and experience and to keep people up-to-date with the safety regulations.
01908 635000
www.felder-group.co.uk
YouTube: Felder Group UK TV
