Students excel in Liberon woodworking competition

Students at Walsall College have been put through their paces by Liberon as part of a carpentry and joinery competition. The woodcare experts called on learners on the college’s Level 2 Bench Joinery course to build and finish a child’s Christmas toy train with one engine and one carriage plus a small decoration in the form of a Christmas tree, using Liberon’s Palette Wood Dyes, Finishing Oils and Wax Polish Black Bison Paste.

Students were handed guideline images by their lecturer and asked to complete the project over twenty teaching hours in total. A winning student (Anthony Walker) plus two runners-up (Dayzanaia John, Nico Jones) were selected from the class by Director of Faculty, Neil Sambrook and Curriculum Delivery Manager, Nathan Hartshorne. The project incorporated a variety of hardwoods for the trains and various wood offcuts from previous projects for the trees. A CNC router was programmed by the Joinery Technician, Colin Wright, using the latest advanced technology additions to the department to create wheels for the trains. The winner and runners-up each won a £25 Amazon voucher provided by Liberon.

Richard Bradley, Marketing Manager at the competition sponsors, Liberon, says: “It looks to me like these students have some great skills. It’s wonderful to see what they’re achieving. We’d like to congratulate the winning student and runners-up, and wish all the students on the course the best of luck in their future carpentry and joinery careers.”

The course leader, Paul Underwood, Lecturer in Carpentry and Joinery, added: “All the students should be very proud of what they achieved in this competition. This challenge has showcased and helped to develop their problem solving abilities, their design ideas and utilising a wide range of timber and tools as well as learning how to sand products down through grades of abrasive to get the best finish from the Liberon products. It’s been great to see how the students’ personality and individuality have been highlighted by this challenge.”