FDN-100 · Beginner
Coming SoonStart from zero SolidWorks knowledge and finish able to design a complete piece of furniture with production-ready drawings and a full Bill of Materials — taught entirely through real furniture projects.
What You'll Learn
Curriculum
Each module builds on the last, taught through a furniture project rather than abstract shapes.
Course overview, what SolidWorks is and where it fits in furniture production, and design thinking for furniture. We set expectations and walk through how the live + self-paced format works.
1 session
Navigating the SolidWorks environment — the CommandManager, FeatureManager tree, heads-up toolbar, mouse gestures, and view manipulation. The foundations you'll use every single day.
2 sessions
System settings, document properties, units (MMGS), templates, and keyboard shortcuts. We set your SolidWorks up the way a professional furniture studio runs it.
2 sessions
Origins, planes, materials, and file management. Anchoring models to the origin and assigning materials from the standard library — the habits that keep projects clean.
2 sessions
Sketch entities, dimensions, relations, and advanced sketch tools. Fully-defining sketches (black, not blue) so your geometry never moves unexpectedly.
2 sessions
Extrude, cut, revolve, fillet, chamfer, shell, pattern, and mirror — the core toolkit. Built through real parts: tabletops, shelf brackets, cabinet doors, and turned legs.
3 sessions
Views, dimensions, annotations, and professional drawing templates. Producing A3 third-angle drawings with complete title blocks, ready for the workshop.
2 sessions
Mates, sub-assemblies, exploded views, and interference detection. Assembling a bookshelf and a coffee table from the parts you've built.
2 sessions
Combine, split, save bodies, weldments, and joinery within a single part. The professional approach to modelling joined furniture components.
2 sessions
Loft, boundary, trim, knit, thicken, and hybrid solid-surface workflows. Introducing the tools that handle shaped chair backs and curved furniture forms.
2 sessions
Sweep, loft variations, flex, deform, and wrap. Building more expressive geometry while keeping models manufacturable.
2 sessions
Freeform, splines, and organic furniture forms. Modelling a sculpted side table or chair while respecting fabrication limits.
1 session
Global variables, linked dimensions, and design tables. Making a parametric piece of furniture that resizes from a handful of driving numbers.
2 sessions
Design Library, configurations, and reusable components. Building a small library of furniture parts you can drag and drop into any project.
1 session
Bill of Materials, cut lists, and the capstone project — a complete furniture production pack of your own design, assembled, drawn, and costed.
2 sessions · capstone
What's Included
90-minute live video calls with demonstrations, Q&A, and real-time work review.
Every session recorded, plus self-paced tutorials you keep access to.
30 slide decks covering every topic, formatted for reference and revision.
Starter and solution SolidWorks files for every furniture project.
Our production part, assembly, and drawing templates — yours to keep.
Short quizzes after each module to confirm you've got it.
Track your homework and capstone progress through the course.
A Designas CAD certificate of completion on finishing the capstone.
A short walkthrough from Module 6 — modelling a shelf bracket from sketch to finished part. Available in full after enrolment.
Video tutorial available after enrolment
Sample materials. Full course downloads are unlocked on enrolment.
Who This Course Is For
Prerequisites: None — this is the foundation course. You only need SolidWorks 2024 or 2025 installed and a 3-button mouse.
How It Works
Receive the schedule, technical requirements, templates, and access to the course material drive.
1–2 sessions per week, 90 minutes each, with demonstrations and live Q&A. Every session is recorded.
Work through the project exercises between sessions at your own pace, using the supplied files.
Get specific, constructive feedback on your modelling, drawings, and file organisation.
Design a full furniture production pack — parts, assembly, drawings, and BOM — of your own choosing.
Earn a Designas CAD certificate of completion. Top performers may be invited to a paid trial project.
Your Instructor
Production SolidWorks Designers
Your sessions are led by designers who produce manufacturing-ready SolidWorks files for furniture makers, joiners, and manufacturers every working day. You're not learning from someone who only makes tutorials — you're learning the exact workflows, standards, and shortcuts used on live client projects, including the file-naming, template, and drawing conventions our studio runs on.
Pricing
All course materials — learn entirely at your own speed.
Everything in Self-Paced, plus live sessions, review, and a certificate.
All materials customised to your products, delivered on your schedule.
Indicative pricing — final pricing confirmed once the pilot cohort completes.
FAQ
Yes — SolidWorks 2024 or 2025 (Education, Professional, or Standard). We don't provide licences. SolidWorks for Makers ($48/year) is available for individuals at solidworks.com.
Correct. FDN-100 starts from zero — opening SolidWorks for the first time — and builds every skill from there. It's the prerequisite for our intermediate courses.
A computer running SolidWorks, a 3-button mouse with scroll wheel (essential for CAD), stable internet, and a webcam/microphone for live sessions. A second monitor helps but isn't required.
Tabletops, shelf brackets, cabinet doors, turned table legs, storage boxes, bookshelves, coffee tables, chairs, side tables, and a capstone furniture project of your choice — all real and production-ready.
Every live session is recorded and added to your library, so you can catch up at any time and still submit your homework for review.
Live Cohort students who complete the capstone project receive a Designas CAD certificate of completion. Self-paced students do not receive a certificate.
Potentially. We use our courses as a recruitment pipeline — top-performing graduates may be invited to a paid trial project, which can lead to ongoing contract work.
Generally, refunds are available within 14 days of enrolment if less than 20% of the course has been accessed. Full refund terms are confirmed at enrolment.
Be first in line for the beginner cohort. Register your interest and we’ll let you know as soon as enrolment opens.
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