Alex Stanton, from Brisbane in Australia, is completing his first major project – a stunning ash console table, with beautiful decorative flourishes. Many students would have made relatively simple legs for what is primarily a functional piece of hallway furniture, but Alex has moulded laminated supports that are a design echo of Gothic cathedral architecture. …
Gordon Young from Edinburgh is well on the way to completing a beautiful and functional desk in oak and flamed beech. Gordon, who has a Masters degree in civil engineering from Heriot-Watt University, is someone who has always been a natural at making things. That innate skill is evident in his desk, which will have …
Anselm Fraser, principal, Chippendale school Our professional course is all about teaching students the skills they’ll need for a career in fine woodworking. It’s a course that we’ve refined over the years, and an approach to teaching and learning that, we believe, can’t be bettered elsewhere. But our professional course also recognises that, while we …
Our professional students have returned from their half-term break and this week are embarked on learning a centuries-old decorative technique. Once upon a time boulle work involved veneering tortoiseshell onto wood to create luxurious embellishments. It’s a process that was perfected by the French cabinetmaker André Charles Boulle in the 17th century, and came to …
Steam bending is a core skill in woodworking, involving strips of wood being steam heated in a steam box, then bent around a former to create a specific shape. It’s a technique still widely used today, and not just in furniture design. It’s a core element in, for example, creating musical instruments such as violins …
Ross Cunnison is proving that a relatively simple piece of furniture can be made wonderful with creative talent and a lot of skill. Ross, originally from Stonehaven but now living in Edinburgh, came on our professional course after ten years working offshore in the oil and gas sector. He decided to enrol on the course …
