For those individuals who have a keen desire to operate their own furniture studios or achieve a level of mastery in order to enter commercial operations, Pocahontas Woods offers a six month apprentice program. A candidate for this program must be prepared to commit a minimum of forty hours a week. The goal is to provide a level of mastery in all phases of furniture design and construction.
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
a. Safe and Effective Use of all tools and equipment, including proper techniques of sharpening and maintenence.
b. Mastery of the Building Blocks of furniture construction. This includes the fundamental types of joinery such as dovetails, mortice and tenon, box and finger joints, along with mitre and spline. Included in this will be the classic frame and panel and the perfect drawer.
c. Wood, Wood, Wood: Its proper selection and dimensioning. We learn to work with wood movement, it’s expansion and contraction. You will learn techniques for working with a live material that will never stop changing. Gluing and laminating.
d. Proper Design. Choosing the right woods, the correct joinery and assembly techniques. Bad design does not produce ugly furniture. Good design may still produce ugly furniture, but it will last forever.
e. Details. The use of shaping, carving and inlay along with lathe work. Tools that can individualize a design. A small detail can transform a work from ordinary to special. The importance of the proper finish—stain or no stain.
f. Assembly. How do all these parts get attached? Legs to rails, arms to backs. This will cover all aspects of case construction. How did the masters do it ?
g. Getting Started. The development of a good design, and its proper layout. We look for problems that can occur before we face the consequences that can ruin a good idea. The student produces accurate sketches by hand or computer assisted.
The Projects
Very soon after the apprentice program commences, the first of three major projects will begin, A project will consist of the following:
1. A description of the task, and an explanation of how it will showcase the craftsman’s skill or solve a design problem. Each student will provide dimensioned sketches or layouts and a rough materials description, including board footage and wood species selection.
2. The completed project—or explanation.
3. A critique of the entire task from why it was chosen to problems that arose and how they could have been avoided—especially at the design level. A piece of furniture is a solution to a problem such as, "What can we use to serve food on?" Did your project solve the problem it was designed to solve? These critiques will involve everyone available. It is an invaluable asset to see your work as others see it.
