i have been looking everywhere to find a carpentry/furniture making course. the trouble is simply that i have to work. my job is run on a shift system and doesnt pay much.
i found one course run by the bromley adult education college that was run at a time my boss said i could attend when my shift said i should be working.
this course was cancelled due to not 'enough learners'.
i just cant find a course and i promise you i have searched and searched. you either have to be employed as a capenter, take a year off work, be able to attend regular weekly sessions etc.
i dont know what to do next. anyone have any ideas at all?
There's an awful lot you can teach yourself using books, videos and DVD's. If you get stuck or have questions, just post them on here and someone is bound to be able to help. You may not get a qualification at the end of it but if you are producing good work safely and efficiently and, most importantly, enjoying it I reckon you are doing quite well.
A good first step is a copy of Joyce (there are different versions but the content is the same), which starts with the anatomy of the living tree and works forward from there.
A subscription to taunton's finewoodworking site would also be a sound investment, as would a set of David Charlesworth's videos - very methodical, carefully thought out, excellent steady teaching style and a really engaging bloke to have a chat with if you ever get the chance.
That lot should certainly get you to the stage where you can confidently and proficiently produce a table and chairs. If you then want to take things further, maybe do a short course of a week or two.
I would back that up. Unless you need the qualification for some reason, just give it a go! I would suggest starting with a few basic hand-tools, and acquiring new tools only when you really need to. That way you learn to use the individual tools properly, and work out their limitations.
There must be thousands of people out there who, like me, are entirely self taught. Slightly better, I reckon, would be to get to know another skilled hobbyist who can show you the ropes. If you stick your County and a bit more stuff in your profile, you never know, you might live really close to one of the fantastic craftsmen that inhabit this forum......there are one or two from Kent, I know.
If you're not looking for a qualification, Phil, then there are plenty of short courses going on around the country at various times throughout the year. Some are quite expensive, but you'd only have to book a week off work, say, and you can specialise in specific areas of Woodwork.
As for Ernest Joyce's book, The Technique of Furniture Making, Amazon seem to have the best price for the 2003 edition, which I believe is still the latest revision. I bought mine back in October when it was £30 (£10 over the RRP!).
I coming to the end of my first year Furniture Studies course at the City of Bristol college and there is some danger that we may not have enough numbers for the second year, where you achieve a Cabinet Making qualification at the end of it... There's also been talk that we may have to share a bench with Carpentry students, just to keep the course going... If any starts banging nails in to my side of the bench, well, let's just say that heads with start rolling off the bandsaw!!
My course is only two-days a week ("full-time"); as was the three-year Carpentry & Joinery course I did before it. So, I could easily fit in part-time work around college.
If you can get yourself to Winchester on the 26th June by 10, you can have a free day's training on TurboCAD, which will at least get you going on the designing side.
We have developed a home/distance learning furniture making course, which has projects suitable for all levels of woodworker. I felt there was a need for these distance learning woodworking projects, as our evening classes at Lethenty Mill were oversubscribed. People also often had problems committing to a class because of their work patterns, etc (as you mentioned in your own post). The project manuals are available as downloadable PDFs from http://www.lethenty-mill.com and we despatch kits throughout the UK. Our website will give you lots more information, but do get in touch if you have any further queries.
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