Learn to work with Furniture
- Understand the manufacturing process
- Understand repair and renovation of damaged or degraded furniture
- Understand different materials, including upholstery
Chairs, tables, cupboards and other furniture can be made from different types of wood, metal, plastic, fibreglass, fabric and other materials. The ultimate durability, aesthetics, function and maintenance needs of any item of furniture will always depend upon the materials it is made from, the way it is designed and the craftsmanship used to make it. This course provides a foundation in all those things. Study and then build your expertise on a solid foundation to become an expert and become better working with furniture whether making, repairing, maintaining, marketing or doing anything else with it.
Lesson Structure
There are 10 lessons in this course:
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Nature & Scope of Furniture Making
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Introduction - types of furniture for sitting, lying, tables, desks & storage
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Materials
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History
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Evolution of Manufacturing
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Design and Designers
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Scope of Furniture Making - contemporary, flatpack
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Small business opportunities- making, selling, repairing
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Measurements and drawings
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Taking measurements
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Measurement Equipment - tape measure, rulers, marking gauge, square, combination square, bevel, spirit level
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Understanding technical drawings - scale, lines on drawings
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Types of drawings - sketches, sections, elevations, detailing
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Making drawings for clients
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Drawing instruments
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Tools and Equipment
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Furniture making workshop
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Assessing & setting up the space
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Ventilation
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Workshop safety
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Workbenches - bench dogs, holdfast, planing stop, vices
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Tool store and organisation
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Toolboxes
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Hand tools
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Measurement
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Clamps
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Spirit level\Drills, Drilling machines
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Routers
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Sawing machines - bench saws, types of saw blades, band saws
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Specialised tools for wood furniture - cutting, mitre saw, saw stool
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Shaping
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Drills
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Finishing
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Specialised tools for Metal Furniture - centre punch, die grinder, drill bits, English wheel, saw blades, welders, welding magnets
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Specialised tools for plastics - acrylic cutter/knife, countersinks, cutting mats, drill bits, router bits, saw blades
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Tools for other materials -fibreglass, carbon fibre, resin
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Wood Furniture – Indoors
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Timbers for indoors - solid hardwood and softwood
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Composites
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Design considerations
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How to join wood - joints, glues, nails
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How to make wooden furniture
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Common finishes on indoor furniture
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Filling holes, sanding, cleaning, use of primers, using colour in design, varnishing paint, surface preparation
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Applying primer then varnish, varnish/ glaze, lacquer
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Applying a veneer using an iron
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Wood Furniture – Outdoors
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Introduction
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Timbers for outdoors
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Design considerations
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How to make wooden outdoor furniture -step by step
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A seat
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BBQ Cart/Table
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Common finishes on Outdoor timber
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Metal Furniture
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Introduction
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Characteristics of metals
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Types of metals
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Welding metals
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Fusion welding
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Arc welding - TIG, MIG etc
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Gas Welding - Oxy acetylene, Oxy hydrogen, Low temperature gas welding
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Resistance welding - spot welding, seam welding
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Solid state welding - Forge welding
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Shaping metals - casting, shearing, rolling, punching, bending
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Assembling metals - brazing, soldering, riveting, bolting
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How to make metal furniture
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Common finishes on metal furniture
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Plastic Furniture
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Introduction
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Pros and cons of plastic furniture
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Plastic types - acrylic, polycarbonate, polythene, etc
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Design considerations
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Construction Methods - 3D printing, moulding plastics, using recycled plastics
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How to make plastic furniture
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Common finishes
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Other Materials
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Introduction
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Glass
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Fibreglass
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Ceramics
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Concrete
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Design Considerations
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How to make furniture with other materials
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Finishes
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Covering Materials & Upholstery
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Introduction
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Nature of Upholstery
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Types of Upholstery - traditional, moden, commercial, marine, automobile
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Upholstery fabrics - natural vs synthetic fibres
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Natural fibres - leather, wool, cotton, linen, silk, others
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Synthetics - polyester, nylon, rayon, acrylic, velvet, microfibre, polypropylene, vinyl
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Classification of fabrics
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Fabric rub tests
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Thread count
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Fire resistance
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Upholstery Work
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Introduction
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Upholstery tools
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Materials and equipment - upholstery tacks, nails, nail strips, gimp pins, staples, webbing, springs, snuffing/ wadding, linings, etc
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Choosing appropriate fabrics
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Deciding whether to Reupholster
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Step by step basic upholstery
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Reupholstering a chair
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Upholstering without springs
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Furniture Care & Maintenance
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Introduction
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Care and maintenance of timber furniture
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Waxing
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Polishing
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Care and maintenance of Metal furniture
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Care and maintenance of other materials
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Care and maintenance of furniture fabrics
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Fibre structure and appearance\The effect of moisture
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Chemical properties
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Resistance to insects & microorganisms
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Electrical properties
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Sunlight effects
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Thermal properties
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Upholstered students
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Cleaning
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Who Should Study this Course?
Anyone who works with or wants to work in the furniture industry
- Tradesmen or amateur crafts people seeking to broaden their skills (eg. A carpenter or metal worker looking to diversify into furniture making).
- Renovators, investors, contractors
- Interior designers, furniture salespeople, architects, landscape architects wanting a better understanding of furniture
- Repair Services - learning to repair, add value and recycle old furniture
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