By Jasmine Sprangers (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: October 29, 2014
UFV’s joinery program’s open house was an exciting and enlightening function for future students.
The open house started with a tour of the facility and a brief talk about a few of the specialized machines, as well as a game in which attendees had to label different types of wood in as little time as possible (the fastest time was 11 seconds), with a pocket knife as a prize. Mark Ryan and Ted Zak, instructors for both carpentry and carpentry apprenticeship, spoke about program lengths and the types of skills and projects a student will complete throughout the course of a certificate.
The joinery program at UFV covers two main learning components over 34 weeks. Technical knowledge, basic training, and small piece construction make up the first half; the second half tasks students with designing and creating their own project.
A graduate from the program was also in attendance to promote joinery to students, speaking about his experiences in the program and how far he has gone since taking the course — he now runs a furniture-making business and offers bowl-turning classes.
For kinesthetic learners, joinery engages a different education style from most classroom settings — each work assignment, a student will be confronted by physical material made of unique knots, grain structure, and imperfections.
The program pairs new technology together with older or classic woodwork machines — machines such as the CNC and edge-banders as well as the classic jointer, table-saw, and lathe were on display.
