When woodworkers speak about the challenges they face, they normally mention something like cutting tight-fitting joints, selecting the proper wood and achieving a flawless finish. Now, imagine stepping up the challenge dramatically by working on a project entirely of curves, exposed to salt water and worth several million dollars.

That’s exactly what South African woodworker Francois Durocher tackles every day. Francois custom finishes the insides of expensive yachts with beautiful hardwoods, including teak, cherry and kiaat. His work is crisp, precise and accurate using skills he has honed for thirty years. “Way back in 1978, I helped my brother build a yacht. It took two years, and I learned a lot. After that, I moved to Durban and worked four years under a master craftsman from Hungary who really showed me the ropes.”<

Achieving these outstanding results takes time, patience and a lot of planning. After receiving the yacht’s unfinished hull, it is taken to the boatyard where it first has to be set perfectly level to help make the woodwork easier. Once set, measurements are taken, pencil is put to paper and the real planning work begins in earnest. It typically takes several months to arrive at a plan that is both workable and approved by the client.

Actual woodworking is done in a very methodical manner. Drawn plans are transferred to particleboard to make accurate patterns to fit the yacht’s curves. This way, all cuts can be carefully executed to ensure an absolute minimum of waste and a very tight fit.

With all of these curves, two tools are essential in Francois’ arsenal. “I’d really have a difficult time working without a band saw with a 6 mm blade and my router and bit collection. They give me the control and flexibility I need.”

Nearly every piece of wood, save some specialized molding, is milled on site, allowing Francois the ability to choose the right piece of wood for the job. “I look at each board’s grain, color and figure to make sure it’s right for the place I’m putting it. I like all of the wood we work with, but, by far, my favorite one is teak.”

While it’s difficult enough to cut the intricate pieces and ensure the client is satisfied, the job becomes even more challenging working around the other trades. “Electricians, plumbers, mechanics… it can get quite challenging trying to coordinate the timing of projects and making sure we aren’t running into each other.”

Finishing out a yacht can take more than two years from planning to her maiden voyage. And, as the process draws to a close, there’s satisfaction in even the smallest details. “I am so satisfied when I get the finish on the wood decks and put up the ‘No Shoes Allowed’ sign. I know that the end is in sight and we’re getting close.”

You might expect the owners of these hand-crafted beauties to forget who did all of the work once the yacht is delivered, but that’s not the case. When Francois finished a yacht called Pegasus back in 2005, the owner invited him out for the first cruise. “The day it launched, we fired up the engine and went for a test run. The next day we fitted all the windscreen wipers and then went to top up the tank with diesel. Now it was time to go deep sea far out for sea trials which took about 6 hours. It was awesome to say the least.”

I’d be willing to bet the owner felt the same way about the craftsmanship.

Look in most woodworking shops, and, no doubt, you’ll find a pretty oddball collection of tools. Sure, there are the basics – a table saw, band saw, router, you know, the usual.

But, I’d wager you’d also find a number of tools designed to accomplish some very specific tasks –hollow chisel mortisers, specialized miter sleds, heavy metal tennoning jigs. There is no doubt that these tools are very good at what they do, but some can be quite expensive. And, in some cases, they get used only a few times a year at most.

That’s why woodworkers typically build jigs to meet these needs. There are some standard designs out there, and many of these jigs are cobbled together for one-time use and later collect dust on an out-of-the-way shelf.

But, that’s not the case for Niki Avrahami. If you have ever visited the Woodworker’s Website Association, WoodNet or many other woodworking message boards, you may have read about the ingenious array of jigs made by the woodworker from Poland.

From some very humble beginnings as a woodworker (his first project was a tissue box holder for his wife back in 1995), Niki has expanded his knowledge of the craft, and has taken his ingenuity to new heights.

Small parts cutting jigs. Fence stops. Router lifts. If there’s a need, Niki has built a jig to satisfy it.

His thought process is very simple and straightforward. “Usually, I think of a jig because of three reasons; accuracy, repeatability and, last but not least, safety. That, in my opinion, is very important to any woodworker.”

The jigs he builds look somewhat complicated at first blush, but they are pretty straightforward and are made of readily available materials. While a typical jig takes Niki about three hours to construct, his meticulous photographic documentation adds considerable time to the process. “For a jig, I’ll take 50 to 150 pictures. Later, I’ll select the best of all of those for posting.”

His work is starting to catch the attention of woodworking publications. Wood magazine recently featured his 45 degree mitering sled as the best shop tip of the month. Previous editions have also featured some of the creative ideas to come from his simple garage shop.

Just as a proud parent won’t select a favorite child, Niki actually uses most of his jigs while building his projects. “What’s my favorite jig? That’s a difficult question. I think that I use all of them in almost every project because most of the steps are very repetitive. Wood preparation, cutting to dimensions, joinery, gluing etc. Because my machinery includes basic shop power tools, I think that every one of the jigs finds its place in a project.”

Just as with any typical woodworker, Niki always has his eyes on buying the newest and flashiest tools. Until he can afford them, Niki is making the most of what he has. “I’m happy with the tools that I have…the jigs are multiplying the possibilities of every tool.”

You can see a collection of Niki’s jigs at the following forums (Be sure to search for the poster name Niki):

• Woodworker’s Website Association How To
• WoodNet Woodworking Power Tools
• Woodworking Talk
• Ridgid Power Tool Forum
• Lumber Jocks