Furniture Making and Repair

Learn to make and repair furniture - wood, metal, plastic and other materials, upholstery and more.
● Learn to work with Furniture
● Understand the manufacturing process
● Understand repair and renovation of damaged or degraded furniture
● Understand different materials, including upholstery
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.

Course Outline

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Nature & Scope of Furniture MakingIntroduction - 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.
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, clamps, spirit level\drills, drilling machines, sawing machines, specialised tools for metal furniture - centre punch, die grinder, drill bits, specialised tools for plastics - acrylic cutter/knife, countersinks, cutting mats, drill bits.
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.
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.
5. Metal Furniture
   Introduction, Types of metals, welding metals, fusion welding, arc welding - TIG, MIG etc, gas welding - 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.
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.
7. Other Materials
   Introduction, glass, fibreglass, ceramics, concrete, design considerations, how to make furniture with other materials finishes.
8. Covering Materials & Upholstery
   Nature of upholster, types of upholstery - traditional, moden, 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.
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.
10. Furniture Care & Maintenance
    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.

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

Get your free info pack today!