Three Month Furniture Making Course

This full time furniture making course introduces students to the fundamental hand skills in fine furniture making. In line with the philosophy of Learning by Making you will undertake real projects from the very start, working to a high standard and making items to take away with you.

Through a carefully structured series of projects and practical training, you will learn core fine woodworking techniques, hand skills and processes, including material preparation, joinery, hand tool selection and preparation, as well as wood science.

At the end of this 3 Month Course students will have covered the fundamental skills needed to draw, plan and select materials in order to make solid wood furniture by hand.

To ensure individual attention, there are never more than five students in our woodworking class.

I am very happy to discuss your particular situation and aims to find the best course fit and available intake dates.

Additional evening classes are also offered (subject to availability), for example:

• Drawing and sketching
• Watercolouring in Furniture Design
• Sketchup for Furniture Makers
• CAD for Furniture Makers
• Chair Seat Weaving (Cane, Rope, Splint)
• Photography for Furniture Makers

Course Details

Hand Tool preparation and selection: Hand tool fettling, second hand tool assessing and restauration, new tool selection, maintenance, storage.

Wood preparation by hand: principal fundamentals (flat, square and straight)

Sharpening: blade sharpening, sharpening geometry analysis, saw blades.

Hand Cut Joinery: joint selection and application, weaknesses and strength analysis, marking and laying out, jointing techniques and methods.

Abrasives: selection and correct application.

Wood finishing: choosing a wood finish, oils, waxes, lacquers, hand application and spray applications. Creating own wood finish.

Adhesives: selection and correct application.

Solid Wood Material Science: timber identification, moisture content and wood movement, timber drying (kiln drying processes, etc.), timber selection and timber defects.

Personal timber library

Glue up: preparation and clean-up.

Project management introduction: cutting lists, ironmongery selection, time management.

Workshop Health & Safety

Workshop drafting: technical drawing by hand, rod layout.

Social Media

Visits: timber yards.

Course fee: £7,850

Next intakes:

Monday 6th January 2025 (full)

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 (full)

Monday 14th July 2025 (full)

Monday 1st September 2025

Due to the duration, this course may be suited for students who require a Visa. You can find further information here

For on-site accommodation, please contact us directly.

Moroubo Woodworking Bench

The Moroubo woodworking bench is the product of 8 years of working behind my old workbench - hastily put together when I set up my workshop. Old, worn and abused as it looked, it was time for a new and improved ‘mark II’. I knew exactly what I wanted, a result of years of refining my own style, techniques and identifying the furniture range and style in which I would be specialising.

My Original Woodworking Bench

Made from 4 sheets of 18mm birch ply (2400mm x 1200mm), pressed together to form the top, and a large 5x3 oak under-carriage complete with a pattern-makers vice. This met my original needs perfectly as it was used mostly for large furniture and doubling up as a flat top for glue ups. As I progressed to smaller, more intricate designs, I adapted my bench size down to 2400mm x 700mm. Over time I have come to this key conclusion: The more space you have on your desk, the more tools end up cluttering your woodworking bench and the less productive and efficient you end up being as a result! So take heart, those of you still sneaking the use of your dining room table or kitchen counters while your other half is away; you don’t need a massive or complicated bench. While I still make use of my original woodworking bench, it is for less refined work. I’ve come to the conclusion that the ideal woodworking bench size is about 1800mm x 600mm and the ideal height is relative and personal to the user. And what you want is a good, solid bench, you trust to be flat, that presents your tools to you within easy reach and forces you to keep disciplined in putting those tools back where they live.

Bench Requirements

These are the main requirements I identified for a woodworking bench:

• Sturdy, solid and stable – enough for all hand tool techniques including hand-planing and sawing to fine furniture tolerances.
• Easy to dismantle and transport – a desirable for me but an essential for many woodworkers out there short on space or working from areas with poor access and skinny door frames.
• Integral work holding – an effective woodworking bench should help minimise the number of clamps you require.
• Practical and simple – as few components as possible to minimise hassle of transport.
• Allow for add-ons if required.

So in a bid to thwart my osteopath, who I am sure smiled inwardly to himself when I recounted my need to shift 5 x student benches around the workshop, I set out to find a design which could feasibly allow a student to easily dismantle, load into a little Ford KA, carry home with a beam of pride about his/her face, sneak into the house, and annex the spare bedroom, allowing for continued evening and weekend progressive work. So, I called on the different strengths of existing designs.

Moravian Woodworking Bench

The first was the Moravian bench brought back to modern existence by a faithful reproduction by Will Myers. It dates back to the 17th century when Moravian craftsmen emigrated to the USA. These craftsmen moved from house to house to work on the interior joinery and they needed a woodworking bench that was easily portable (bearing in mind these were horse and cart days). These were easy to set up but also substantial enough to take the heavy stresses and strains involved with all of the hand woodworking techniques. You can imagine those heavy wooden jack planes of their time shaving large pieces of roughly sawn board down to finished components.

Roubo Woodworking Bench

The second was the Roubo bench, a design from the French cabinet maker André Roubo. So many variations of this type now exist and I literally lost days of my life looking at the endless stream of these on the net. Some of these, to me, are works of art and while I admire the craftsmanship in these, I still believe a workbench is just another tool in your arsenal – it should be practical, fine-tuned, beautiful in its own right but it is predominantly there to allow you to create furniture. In this design, I admire the robust and tank-like solidity with the thick top and heavy set legs, as well as some of the practical features including the modern split top variation. For my needs the smallest of these benches would be too heavy so I concentrated on combining the best of the two.

The Moroubo Bench

This bench was designed with fine furniture makers and students in mind. I wanted to remove an obstacle for those people with limited space and access, allowing them to continue learning and practicing at home. It is also useful in a busy workshop, to be able to move benches around at will to make space for larger projects. All this without sacrificing the required structural integrity. This has the under carriage of the Moravian bench, allowing for the combination of portability and stability (which is far better than any previous bench), the split top of the Roubo bench (a central divider that doubles as a tool holder and work stop allowing for additional support for hand planning), and a 90mm thick bench top on both sides of the divider creating additional stability through gravitational force on the splayed legs, as well as maintaining a dead flat surface. The tool holder is particularly important to me, as when I am hand cutting joints I like to have my Dovetail saw and my Gent saw, along with a selection of chisels that I use regularly at arm’s reach, while still having maximum workable bench space free on which to move the work around. Unlike the Moravian bench, I chose not to have a tool well. I appreciate that the majority of hand skill work is done on the first 300mm of the bench, however, I have found that tool wells end up simply collecting tools (with better homes to go to) and dust/shavings. I would much sooner have the extra flat working area for glue ups. This affords me a 640 x 1850mm area for this function and I have found that most furniture items fit within this space.

The Vice

When choosing a vice I went for a reconditioned old Record No 52 with quick release. 5 more of these benches were required for the students in my workshop and more importantly, I want others to be able to build their own bench (without having to bargain off their first born) in order to obtain a suitable vice. I investigated numerous companies and modern vices during my planning and found that even some of the new contemporary models are not up to the task for which they are required. The old record vices however, while not the prettiest show horse in the stable, I know to be hard working and hard wearing beasts (the shire horse of the vice community if we stick with the horse analysis) and can be picked up second hand for very reasonable prices. The tail vice, I felt, could be an optional add on at a later date, should it be required. I have found the option of using the Veritas® Wonder Pups® alongside the standard 19mm bench dogs to be more than adequate. With an increased budget, the way forward would definitely be a wagon wheel vice. However, having spent an unhealthy time drooling over the Benchcrafted versions I realised this doesn’t fit with my pricing criteria. Watch this space for a crafted wagon wheel vice and design.

Materials

I looked at various options for the materials. Beech and Ash, for the top and under carriage respectively, were cost effective yet pleasing to the eye. I quite liked the idea of reclaimed material for the under carriage too. After some searching, I found some pitch pine beams for sale near Oxford. Hefty beams, they were 14 x 15 inch and 3 metres in length. It was a bit of a story when it came to picking them up though. Having implied they would be cut to size, the seller demanded more money for the service and insisted on pay before viewing. I’m not a great fan of negotiation but neither am I going to roll over to this kind of individual so after some extensive ‘discussions’ we were back to the original price, paid in full on site and the materials cut to size. He then took great delight in telling me about the several Roman coins recently found in the area and the possibility of finding some hidden in the old beams. It was worth the hassle to watch his greedy little eyes widen when I pointed out that as I had already paid for the timber, that anything found within would belong to me! Unfortunately, my Irish heritage failed me that day and no gold was found.   For the top, I found a little timber yard in Peterborough called Mac Timbers. They were running an auction for two thirds of their stock and they had some very nice native logs planked up for five or ten years, air drying. Like a child in a sweet shop I rifled through whole trees of English Walnut, Monkeypuzzle and Brown Oak. I happened to win an auction for some slightly spalted Beech, Rippled Ash and Sycamore. More than enough to make my five bench tops. My first woodworking bench top was to be made with the Spalted Beech. Having planed the first couple of planks I realised it was better than just Spalted Beech, it was actually Flamed Beech with a slight hint of spalting in it. The board showed up the true intense colouring of the red and green hues with the black marble lines. The coloured faded a little, after a few hours of oxidising. I never cease to be amazed, every time I cut a new piece of timber, by what I find inside. It's one of the best things in furniture making and an element I try to preserve in the final object.

Bench Break down

The Moroubo bench spits into the following sections:

• 2 x leg assemblies
• 2 x leg rails
• 2 x bench top halves
• 1 x centre split top tool holder

The leg assembly feature bridle joints at the very top, mortice tenon joints at the centre and large dovetails at the bottom. These leg assemblies are bound together by the 2 x rails of Spalted Beech and fastened with removable Loose Wedge Tenons. These leg assemblies sit flush with the benchtop and use a series of dog holes and a holdfast to allow for the ability to secure larger panels. Speak to your local blacksmith or iron monger to see whether they can make these quick and handy holdfasts.

Art in Action and Workbench Making Course

I decided to use the Moroubo woodworking bench for a demonstration at Art in Action earlier this year where it received very positive feedback. The apparent demand got me thinking, and it was then when I decided to make this workbench available. I now include the Workbench Making Course as part of my different training modules. This way my students would have the option to create their own, benefiting both their skill progression and ability to continue their training at home. These woodworking bench will use the same Flamed Beech, Brown Oak combination but will have an alternative to the reclaimed Pitch Pine – possibly Douglas Fir.

Conclusion

A woodworking bench should never be a limiting factor when pursuing a dream of woodworking. Many a fine craftsman has started on a bench cobbled together with what was at hand. However, you may find that as you grow with experience and skill, your bench, like the shedding of a skin, will change with you. This bench is what I would consider finely tuned, and I am keen to share it with others.  

Our Furniture Making Blog Is Back

We have restarted our blog posts – intended to give you a taste of all the many things we are getting up to at the moment as well as some valuable tips, hints and insights into our fine furniture practices and methods. Recent activities have included the resurrection of an old barn into my new machine shop (try convincing your other half you need a barn), my rise to stardom on Channel 4, followed swiftly by my plummet from stardom (didn’t even give me a trailer!) a brand new workbench design and a number of commissions including a table for Her Majesty’s summer house, I thank you. A new beard has even been on the cards. ‘What about time for the tea and biscuits?’ I hear you cry. Well, exactly. These have been sadly lacking. So from now on, to give ourselves a chance for tea and biscuits, we are going to sit down as often as we can and write out a quick story on any interesting activities or ongoing commissions that we think you will enjoy or find useful. And, if after a while, you think, ‘Hey, you know what would be great? If these stories were delivered straight to my pigeon hole as soon as they were ready’, then good news, we will be releasing newsletters as well.

Little Machine Shop of Horrors

So, in order to allow more room to tackle bigger projects and to detach us from the dust, we looked into evicting our neighbours from their barn next to the workshop. These horses weren’t happy in the slightest and I think we will be walking the farm with sugar cubes and apples at the ready, watching our backs for months to come. The barn, which was surprisingly good at holding water, given its complete inability to keep water out, was housing another resident – overzealous wisteria had punched through the rear wall (with what looked like help from its friend ivy) and I’m pretty sure had begun feeding on the horse feed and perhaps small mammals and birds unwittingly wondering the area. The whole process of restoration was a mammoth task and I understand now why the farmer was chuckling when he walked away having agreed to me using it. Days of angry hacking and slashing like a scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, exposed the holes in the wall, and it was at this point that I thought I better ease the chainsaw away from Laura. A new concrete floor, some new wiring and lights and a bit of storage and we are finally there!

A table fit for a Queen

By far one of the most exciting and defining projects to date, the Coronation Table has been high on our agenda. The table was commissioned for the Summer House in Buckingham Palace. We intend to write a separate blog post covering the particulars of this and a summary video can be found here, however, I can say that it was extremely challenging, both in time and skill. To date it has been the most influential element of change in finding my design style and this has led to several other new and interesting designs, most notably, the Aestas side table and the Aestas Jewellery box.  

The Moving Pictures

Shortly after the presentation of the Coronation table, I was approached by Channel 4 to see if I was interested in a new TV programme presented by Monty Don. No, nothing like Gardeners’ World! It was aimed at promoting heritage crafts in the UK and, although I battled to envisage how weeks of labour could be reduced down into a 45min television sensation, if anyone could do it, Monty Don could. The idea of promoting heritage crafts during a prime time slot was, to me, an opportunity to add, to the already well-publicised romantic notion of furniture making, the demanding undertone, the work, the sweat, the tears, the satisfaction and the pride. If more people could achieve this appreciation, it may incentivise others to take up the craft Monty Don’s Real Crafts aired April 2014. The series includes Potters, Weavers, Glassblowers, Blacksmiths, Stonemasons and the succinctly titled ‘Wood’. So if you are looking for your next high paced, action thriller series…well, this isn’t it, but is still a good watch. It’s even a bit emotional at the end.

Teaching

Now onto the next really exciting bit: The whole experience of mentoring the trainees during the production brought into focus the severe lack of decent training in hand skills for aspiring furniture makers in the UK today. A number of good degree programmes exist but don’t often offer that particular and required focus. At the end of the day, if you can’t make furniture well, the best furniture designs can never truly be realised. Despite my stern demeanour for the camera (pre-beard days), I really enjoyed the experience of kindling these skills in enthusiastic fledgling designer-makers. So I decided to create a series of tailored training programmes on hand tool skills. I now run short furniture making courses for complete beginners and for more experienced makers who are looking for further refinement or to learn a particular skill or technique to add to their repertoire. There are now dedicated benches and fine cabinet making tools set aside to help trainees realise their potential.

My Pride and Joy

Well, yes, obviously Laura, but a very close second is my new Moroubo Workbench which has been designed solely with hand skills in mind. The inspiration for this bench comes from Moravian and Roubo workbenches, marrying the rock solid stability of the Frenchman’s workbenches with the portability of an on-site Moravian carpenters. The result is better than I had hoped and it quickly became a talking point at the recent Art in Action exhibition. It of course has a number of useful features which I will discuss in a dedicated blog post. This all may sound a bit boastful but the purpose of my telling you this is because I want to share this with you. I now have an additional course in place where we work together through the steps of making one of these benches (please make sure you discuss this with your other half first to avoid an awkward discussion on where the bench is going to live, on your return home.) Additionally, for those of you who would like to have a go at making one yourself at home, please drop me an email and I will be happy to send you the plans.

 

Please be sure to send us your comments, requests/ideas on discussion topics and for those of you with whom I’ve had the pleasure to work with, there is now a review capability on Facebook.  

Trial Day Keepsake Box

Espresso Cup

Aestas Side Table