Intermediate Furniture Making

Chairs are a very particular and challenging woodworking ey require the same core skills, techniques and considerations as many constructions but must also be dictated by the body of the sitter and the function of the usage. If you have done basic furniture making or any wood working, making a chair with guidance and expert instruction in our fantastic workshops is a really worthwhile and rewarding way to extend and broaden your experience. This course is designed to extend furniture-making skills that have been acquired on the Introduction to Furniture Making course.

More about this course:

This course is designed to build your confidence in using hand tools, give you an understanding of construction and introduce you to basic safe use of fixed machinery and portable power tools.

On the course we will be making simple, functional and versatile chairs according to a design selected by the tutor in a hardwood of your choice from our stock. This will require a good standard of wood working and wood machining skill which will be the focus of the time we spend on the project. At the end of the course everyone will have a completed (or close to completed) chair that they are proud of to take home but more importantly they will have tackled the trickiest kind of furniture making. Classes will be less lecture based but will feature a lot of demonstrations, information sharing, handouts, recommendations, advice and food for thought (and future projects).

The project will be within everyone’s capabilities, but be challenging enough to stretch those woodworkers who have already built good basic skills. There will be a set project like the Introduction course, but with some room for your own interpretation.

It will give you the opportunity to:

• acquire the new skills and techniques necessary to be competent in furniture making
• undertake hands-on practical sessions to create a finished product
• build upon your previous knowledge

It will involve all stages of production including:

• making cutting lists
• preparing materials
• adapting/reading drawings to construction
• surface preparation
• hand finishing

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• use a broad range of Wood machinery safely and effectively
• load tooling, set and use a range of available portable power tools
• select, use and sharpen hand tools to a good standard
• identify and produce a range of woodworking joints by hand and machine
• understand construction requirements and the suitability of forms of joinery
• read and make useful working drawings for personal projects

You will be producing work that you can take away at the end of the course.