Learn to work with Furniture
- manufacturing and repair.
- all types of furnishings
- indoor and outdoor
- different materials from wood and metal to plastics and fabrics.
Course Content
Ten lessons as follows:
Lesson 1. Nature & Scope of Furniture Making
- Introduction - types of furniture for sitting, lying, tables, desks & storage
- Materials
- History
- Evolution of Manufacturing
- Design and Designers
- Scope of Furniture Making - contemporary, flatpack
- Small business opportunities- making, selling, repairing
- Measurements and drawings
- Taking measurements
- Measurement Equipment - tape measure, rulers, marking gauge, square, combination square, bevel, spirit level
- Understanding technical drawings - scale, lines on drawings
- Types of drawings - sketches, sections, elevations, detailing
- Making drawings for clients
- Drawing instruments
Lesson 2. Tools and Equipment
- Furniture making workshop
- Assessing & setting up the space
- Ventilation
- Workshop safety
- Workbenches - bench dogs, holdfast, planing stop, vices
- Tool store and organisation
- Toolboxes
- Hand tools
- Measurement
- Clamps
- Spirit level\Drills, Drilling machines
- Routers
- Sawing machines - bench saws, types of saw blades, band saws
- Specialised tools for wood furniture - cutting, mitre saw, saw stool
- Shaping
- Drills
- Finishing
- Specialised tools for Metal Furniture - centre punch, die grinder, drill bits, English wheel, saw blades, welders, welding magnets
- Specialised tools for plastics - acrylic cutter/knife, countersinks, cutting mats, drill bits, router bits, saw blades
- Tools for other materials -fibreglass, carbon fibre, resin
Lesson 3. Wood Furniture – Indoors
- Timbers for indoors - solid hardwood and softwood
- Composites
- Design considerations
- How to join wood - joints, glues, nails
- How to make wooden furniture
- Common finishes on indoor furniture
- Filling holes, sanding, cleaning, use of primers, using colour in design, varnishing paint, surface preparation
- Applying primer then varnish, varnish/ glaze, lacquer
- Applying a veneer using an iron
Lesson 4. Wood Furniture – Outdoors
- Introduction
- Timbers for outdoors
- Design considerations
- How to make wooden outdoor furniture -step by step
- A seat
- BBQ Cart/Table
- Common finishes on Outdoor timber
Lesson 5. Metal Furniture
- Introduction
- Characteristics of metals
- Types of metals
- Welding metals
- Fusion welding
- Arc welding - TIG, MIG etc
- Gas Welding - Oxy acetylene, Oxy hydrogen, Low temperature gas welding
- Resistance welding - spot welding, seam welding
- Solid state welding - Forge welding
- Shaping metals - casting, shearing, rolling, punching, bending
- Assembling metals - brazing, soldering, riveting, bolting
- How to make metal furniture
- Common finishes on metal furniture
- Lesson 6. Plastic Furniture
- Introduction
- Pros and cons of plastic furniture
- Plastic types - acrylic, polycarbonate, polythene, etc
- Design considerations
- Construction Methods - 3D printing, moulding plastics, using recycled plastics
- How to make plastic furniture
- Common finishes
Lesson 7. Other Materials
- Introduction
- Glass
- Fibreglass
- Ceramics
- Concrete
- Design Considerations
- How to make furniture with other materials
- Finishes
Lesson 8. Covering Materials & Upholstery
- Introduction
- Nature of Upholstery
- Types of Upholstery - traditional, modem, commercial, marine, automobile
- Upholstery fabrics - natural vs synthetic fibres
- Natural fibres - leather, wool, cotton, linen, silk, others
- Synthetics - polyester, nylon, rayon, acrylic, velvet, microfibre, polypropylene, vinyl
- Classification of fabrics
- Fabric rub tests
- Thread count
- Fire resistance
Lesson 9. Upholstery Work
- Introduction
- Upholstery tools
- Materials and equipment - upholstery tacks, nails, nail strips, gimp pins, staples, webbing, springs, snuffing/ wadding, linings, etc
- Choosing appropriate fabrics
- Deciding whether to Reupholster
- Step by step basic upholstery
- Reupholstering a chair
- Upholstering without springs
Lesson 10. Furniture Care & Maintenance
- Introduction
- Care and maintenance of timber furniture
- Waxing
- Polishing
- Care and maintenance of Metal furniture
- Care and maintenance of other materials
- Care and maintenance of furniture fabrics
- Fibre structure and appearance\The effect of moisture
- Chemical properties
- Resistance to insects & microorganisms
- Electrical properties
- Sunlight effects
- Thermal properties
- Upholstered students
- Cleaning