There are some people who just know that a professional woodworking course is absolutely what they want to do. Others, however, are not so sure. It may be that they’ve had no prior woodworking experience or lack design skills. But not to worry, because the Chippendale school doesn’t require experience or skill. All we look …
Eion Gibbs, who graduated from our professional course in June, was also our first intermediate course student. He first came to us on our month-long course while recovering from malaria. He’d been working as a film cameraman on two charitable projects, the Kilimanjaro Project and Trees 4 Kilimanjaro. Both charities are highlighting the environmental damage …
Steve Tripp’s journey to the Chippendale school and our professional course took four years to plan. Steve, a former IT consultant from Minnesota, finally made the move, with his wife also enrolling at a university in Edinburgh. While he was busy learning his new woodworking trade, she completed a Masters in Arts, Culture and Festival …
Anselm Fraser, principal, the Chippendale school’s principal, writes in The Woodworker magazine. Oscar Wilde, the 19th century playwright, expressed it perfectly. In his play, Lady Windermere’s Fan, he wrote that a cynic is “a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Like much of Oscar Wilde’s work, his comedy hides a biting …
We’re often asked how we can turn novices into professional woodworkers in only 30 weeks. The answer is that we have the very best teaching methods and staff. Our professional course has been running for well over thirty years. So, we have learned what works to ensure that our graduates have all the skills they …
Our students at the Chippendale school become good woodworkers by learning the rules of good furniture design. However, we also encourage them to then tear up the rule book. Because great furniture design can also be about incorporating the right level of quirky surprise. It’s about making something that is entirely functional, and then adding …
