Sometimes things don’t quite work out as expected, and that’s when skill and ingenuity come in.

That’s a lesson that’s been learned by student Gianluca Caregnato, from near Milan in northern Italy.

He’s making an ash rocking chair, except that it didn’t quite rock as expected.

Gianluca’s solution was to add another section into the base of the chair, giving it more weight and balance.

It’s the kind of design challenge that all woodworkers face, and the trick is to find creative ways around the problem.

Gianluca’s elegant solution seamlessly fits into the overall design, proving that a design miscalculation can be turned to good effect.

It’s the kind of innovation we applaud because it’s much better to alter a design than to start all over again.

It’s also less wasteful of materials, although the Chippendale school does provide our students with all the wood they need as part of their course fees – something that’s not always the case with other furniture schools.

Gianluca came to us having been on one of our one-week introductory courses, which helped him to decide that a career in woodworking was for him.

The other advantage is that anyone who comes on a short course, and who then enrolls on the 30-week professional course, has the short course fees reimbursed in full.