Twelve Month Furniture Making Course
This one year full time furniture making course is ideal for those who have made the decision to change career and step into the world of professional fine furniture making.
The course offers almost 2000 hours of full time training. It aims to equip students with the necessary skills, techniques and experience in organising, planning and making fine furniture projects to a high level of craftsmanship in a professional workshop environment.
Through a carefully structured series of projects and practical training, you will learn fine woodworking techniques and methods, with an emphasis on outstanding hand skills, material preparation, joinery, hand tool selection, organic shaping by hand, steam bending, laminating and veneering.
You will be trained to work with woodworking machinery in our fully equipped machine shop. Machine based projects such as cabinet and chair making will develop both your project planing and batch furniture making skills, whilst transferring the ethos of fine hand skills to the machine.
Regular mentoring, will further develop your confidence and ability to work in an increasingly independent and professional manner. This is also an ideal point to think seriously about how you want to make use of your skills and experience – maybe in an employed role, or perhaps setting up your own business.
With these course objectives, time, practice and commitment, you will have the necessary skills to organise, plan and make complex fine furniture, from concept to delivery.
To ensure individual attention, there are never more than five students in our woodworking class.
I am very happy to discuss your specific 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
- 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, designer makers and furniture workshops, exhibitions.
Veneering: selection, matching, jointing techniques, inlaying, flattening, veneering of curved panels.
Parquetry
Marquetry
Laminating: wood laminates, curved panel laminating, mould and form making, man-made board laminating.
Curved work and organic shapes: steam bending, advanced hand shaping techniques.
Ironmongery: selection, preparation and fitting.
Power Tools: router, router table, domino jointer, sander, drills and pillar drill, sander, plunge saw, grinders.
Machine Shop Health & Safety
Woodwork Machinery: methods, procedures and techniques, machine shop workflows, maintenance, jigs, batch production techniques.
Machine Joints
CAD: 2D CAD and 3D modelling.
Project management: CAD-generated cutting lists, project costing sheets.
Advanced Glue up: complex sub-assembly glue-ups, pre-finishing glue up techniques.
Cabinet Construction
Prototyping and advanced jig making: Chair making
Batch production runs: jig making (short and long-life), pre-finishing.
Seat Weaving: Danish cord, cane.
Advanced Material Science
Advanced project management: project planing, cost estimating, client customer service.
Course fee: £19,500
Next intakes:
For on-site accommodation, please contact us directly.
