Wood Manufacturing and Finishing Apprentice

Profile of Craft The Craft of Wood Manufacturing and Finishing encompasses most of the skills required in the manufacture of joinery and furniture products. The areas of work covered are modern, traditional, reproduction and restoration furniture; stairs, windows, doors and wood mouldings; and stains, polishes and finishes.

Skills

The skills required are wide and varied, and include working with metals, plastics and other manufactured materials. The use of all woodworking machines, IT skills and CAD/CAM software knowledge for CNC programming are essential parts of the trade. A sound knowledge of veneering, inlaying, marquetry, turning, carving, jig making, prototyping, maintenance of equipment and developed hand skills is required. At the end of the apprenticeship the Craftsperson will be able to demonstrate competence in the following:

Technical Drawing:

Drawing in orthographic, isometric and oblique projection, freehand sketching, drawing to scale and in perspective

Setting Out:

Working off drawings to set out standard or off-standard wood products

Breaking out:

Producing common wood joints using a variety of machines

Moulding:

Developing profile cutters and running off wood mouldings

Shaping:

Making jigs and patterns for use on spindle moulders/routers

Sanding:

Operating flat and profile sanding machines, evaluating the suitability of coated abrasives for various applications

Construction:

Assembling by bonding, wedging or using knock down fittings, fitting ironmongery

Veneering and Bonding:

Planning and preparing panels for veneering and bonding, operating all machines associated with the process

Computers:

Programming and operating CNC machines to perform complex machining operations

Finishing:

Applying stain and spray finish to furniture/joinery products Specialist Skills

Wood Turning: Using manual, semiautomatic or CNC lathes to produce turned pieces Saw Doctoring: Sharpening and setting circular saw blades, wide bandsaw blades and handsaw blades Tool Room Maintenance: Operating manual, automatic and CNC grinding machines to sharpen and/or shape machine cutters

Technical Drawing: Drawing in orthographic, isometric and oblique projection, freehand sketching, drawing to scale and in perspective Construction: Assembling by bonding, wedging or using knock down fittings, fitting ironmongery Veneering and Bonding: Planning and preparing panels for veneering and bonding, operating all machines associated with the process Finishing: Applying stain and spray finish to furniture/joinery products

Personal Skills Communications: Engaging with colleagues to discuss procedures/strategies, resolving problems early, constantly updating colleagues both verbally and non-verbally Customer Relations: Keeping to agreements, respecting differences in needs, keeping customer informed Teamwork: Making positive interventions and supports to help achieve common goals

Independence: Carrying out tasks or assignments to the required standard Showing initiative: Making positive decisions or taking positive actions to achieve desired outcomes Problem Solving: Systematically diagnosing behaviour to find solutions to difficulties, obstacles or technical problems