Construction, Design & Manufacturing

CABINETMAKING AND MILL-WORK PROGRAM

Through courses in the cabinetmaking and millwork program you will learn:

How to draw and interpret basic shop drawings.
How to design a cabinet to suit your specific purpose.
Appropriate joinery to ensure sound, cabinet construction.
The safe use of hand tools, power tools and machinery used in the woodworking industry.
How to incorporate modern hardware into your cabinet's design.
The acceptable methods for proper and easy cabinet assembly.

Photos of Our Remodeled Lab Facility and New Equipment!

Program Overview:

Despite the development of sophisticated plastics and other materials, the demand for wood products continues unabated. Helping to meet this demand are woodworkers. Woodworkers are found in industries that produce wood, such as sawmills and plywood mills; in industries that use wood to produce furniture, kitchen cabinets, musical instruments, and other fabricated wood products; and in small shops that make architectural woodwork, furniture, and many other specialty items.

Woodworkers assemble finished wood products. They operate machines that cut, shape, assemble, and finish raw wood to make the doors, windows, cabinets, trusses, plywood, flooring, paneling, molding, and trim that are components of most homes. Others may fashion home accessories, such as beds, sofas, tables, dressers, and chairs. In addition to these household goods, woodworkers also make sporting goods, including baseball bats and oars, as well as musical instruments, toys, caskets, tool handles, and thousands of other wooden items.

Production woodworkers set up, operate, and tend woodworking machines such as power saws, planers, sanders, lathes, jointers, and routers and CNC woodworking centers that cut and shape components from lumber, plywood, and other wood products. The next step in the manufacturing process is the production of subassemblies using fasteners and adhesives. Next, the pieces are brought together to form a complete unit. The product is then finish-sanded; stained; and, if necessary, coated with a sealer, such as lacquer or varnish.

Woodworkers have been greatly affected by the introduction of computer-controlled machinery. This technology has raised worker productivity by allowing one operator to simultaneously tend a greater number of machines. An operator can program a CNC machine to perform a sequence of operations automatically, resulting in greater precision and reliability. The integration of computers with equipment has improved production speed and capability, simplified setup and maintenance requirements, and increased the demand for workers with computer skills.

To meet the training needs of persons interested in becoming a Woodworker Los Angeles Trade Technical College offers a Cabinetmaking and Millwork Associate in Science Degree and Cabinetmaking and Millwork Construction Technologies Associates in Arts Degree; as well as their equivalent Certificates of Completion (Core major classes without general education classes).

What is the difference you ask? The Science Degree is designed for day time implementation and for people that are looking to make first entry into the field. A student taking the Science Degree program must be able to commit to fulltime student status which is approximately 24 hours per week. This commitment in time is required to allow for all of the hands on training in laboratory applications that are utilized during the course of instruction.

The Arts degree program is designed for evening implementation and for individuals that are currently in the field and looking to improve their skills or learn new ones. Limitations on available evening hours restrict the utilization of extensive hands on laboratory practices and the hands on application is assumed to happen at the place of employment of the student.

Industry Information

Woodworkers held about 306,000 jobs in 2006. Self-employed woodworkers, mostly cabinetmakers and furniture finishers, accounted for 14 percent of these jobs. Employment among detailed woodworking occupations was distributed as follows:

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters 148,000

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing 92,000

Furniture finishers 34,000

Model makers, wood 3,200

Patternmakers, wood 2,500

All other woodworkers 26,000

Almost 3 out of 4 woodworkers were employed in manufacturing industries. One-third of woodworkers were found in establishments fabricating household and office furniture and fixtures, and 30 percent worked in wood product manufacturing, producing a variety of raw, intermediate, and finished wood stock. Wholesale and retail lumber dealers, furniture stores, re-upholstery and furniture repair shops, and construction firms also employ woodworkers.

Employment of bench carpenters, cabinetmakers, model makers, patternmakers, and other specialized woodworking occupations will grow more slowly than the average. Demand for these workers will stem from increases in population, personal income, and business expenditures, in addition to the continuing need for repair and renovation of residential and commercial properties. Therefore, opportunities should be available for those who specialize in items such as moldings, cabinets, stairs, and windows. Firms that focus on custom woodwork will be best able to compete against imports without transferring jobs offshore, so opportunities should be very good in specialized woodworking sectors, such as architectural woodworking. Model makers and patternmakers who know how to create and execute designs on a computer may have the best opportunities.

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