STUDENTS at Burton and South Derbyshire College and Newark College have taken part in a competition set by Liberon, the woodcare experts, to test their carpentry and joinery skills. The initiative aims to teach students about specialist woodcare options, and ask them to apply the correct finishes on imaginative items they have made. At Burton and South Derbyshire College the competition required learners on the college’s Level 2 Diploma in Bench Joinery course to design, build and finish an interior chair or bench. At Newark College students on its Level 3 Furniture Design and Making course were asked to design, build and finish a stand either for a pair of spectacles or a mobile phone.
Teams of students at Burton and South Derbyshire College were given approximately fifteen hours in total to complete the project. The winning team came up with the idea of producing a button-themed chair, taking inspiration from a photograph of a piece of Ikea furniture. The finished chair features a removable horizontal section to create a useful storage space. The project saw the team working with plywood and various softwoods.
Course leader, Ian Vanes-Jones, commented: “We asked the students to design, build and finish a project to a tight schedule, and they have done very well. The whole initiative showed off their design skills; abilities on our CNC machine and lathe; and got them working well together as members of a team. I’m very keen on Liberon’s Black Patinating Wax and Palette Wood Dyes, and this competition has highlighted the attractive effects the products can achieve.”
At Newark College, a spectacles stand produced by the competition winner, featured a beautiful bird design with the bird’s beak forming the section onto which glasses could easily be held in place. It was finished to a very high standard. Other interesting designs featured a variety of animals and even an Easter Island style head!
Course Leader, Richard Preece, at Newark College said: “The students produced some excellent work. They were given the option of using Oak, Elm, Ash, Ewe, Maple and Tulipwood. The project has been a good means of testing the learners’ accuracy in marking out and cutting out; their patience; their attention to detail; and their skills in working with a variety of timbers. Ewe’s interlocked grain, for example, makes it harder to plane than other timbers, so using this wood in particular proved to be a good challenge. In addition, the competition looked at the students’ wood finishing techniques, and they could choose from a variety of Liberon’s oils, varnishes and stains.”
The entries were judged by staff at the colleges 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 at Burton and South Derbyshire College each won a £25 Amazon voucher provided by Liberon, as did and the winner, runner-up and second runner-up at Newark College.
Richard Bradley, UK Head of Marketing at Liberon, says: “The students did brilliantly and produced some really imaginative designs. While the winning entries are great, I also congratulate the other participants in the work they did too. Many thanks to all the students who took part and to the colleges too for their enthusiastic support.”
Liberon is renowned for excellence in products such as dyes, waxes, oils and varnishes. The brand is well-known for assisting not just professional woodworkers but also professional painters and decorators in enhancing their reputation. Producing beautiful, right-first-time results means the trades can rely on the products for visually stunning results.
In addition, Liberon has a broad range of solutions available for tackling all kinds of wood preparation and repair to ensure users achieve perfect results and keep them looking good for their customers. These include three-part touch-up pens for disguising scratches and small blemishes; burnishing cream for cleaning, reviving and rejuvenating highly polished interior surfaces; retouch crayons for filling and masking superficial scratches, nail holes, worm holes, etc.; retouch cream for filling mitre joints, pin holes on frames or for furniture restoration; ring remover for removing most white water marks and heat marks; shellac filler sticks for filling surface blemishes; and wax filler sticks for repairing cracks, splits and small to medium-sized holes.
See page 27 of our April/May 2026 issue on our Back Issues page.
