Students polish up their skills in Liberon competition

Students at Burton and South Derbyshire 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 Bench Joinery course to design, build and finish a stool for children, using Liberon's Wax Polish Black Bison Paste. 

Teams of students were given fifteen teaching hours in total to complete the project. The winning team came up with the idea to incorporate a cartoon-like rabbit theme, with eye-catching ears forming a back rest and a highly appealing bunny face seared into the main stool surface. The project incorporated a European Softwood for most of the stool, and Douglas Fir was used to create the bunny ears, with the latter deriving from former local church pews that had been salvaged by the college. A laser was programmed to sear in the facial features and the legs were formed using a lathe. The design went through several iterations, with the students finally settling on an endearing flopped-down style for one of the rabbit’s ears. A feature of the ears was a contrasting central section, created to resemble those of the real-life animal. This was achieved by inlaying Douglas Fir and smoothing it off.

Richard Bradley, Marketing Manager at the competition sponsors, Liberon, said: "The students’ designs were wonderful - a real testament to their skills. We'd like to congratulate the winning team, and wish all the students on the course the best of luck in their future carpentry and joinery careers."

Course leader, Ian Vanes-Jones, added: "All the students should be very proud of what they achieved in this competition. I've been so impressed with the way they have worked together in teams. Being asked to design, build and finish a project within a tight time frame has brought out the best in them. It's great that it has introduced them to new skills such as using the lathe and the laser. I've always been a strong advocate of Liberon's Wax Polish Black Bison Paste, which really brings out the beauty of wood, but this competition has highlighted its attributes even more."

The entries were judged by staff at the college who agreed that the standard of work was high and that making a choice had not been an easy decision. The three members of the winning team each won a £25 Amazon voucher provided by Liberon.