The Foundational Course

Through this series of hands-on workshops, students quickly develop the skills necessary to establish a solid foundation in hand tool woodworking. Students have two options for completing the course. First, students can choose to attend the three separate workshops outlined below, secondly, for those who travel from out of town and prefer to attend a full week of intensive hand tool woodworking, we combine the same three workshops into a six-day comprehensive foundational course.

Woodworking With Hand Tools

A one-day workshop featuring hands-on instruction

Sharpening Hand Tools Students learn the essential skills of sharpening edge tools, handsaws, hand planes, and bench and cabinet scrapers through hands-on instruction and demonstrations.

Joinery Layout We teach the traditional methods used by craftsmen through the centuries.

Hand-Cut Joinery Learn to make hand-cut dovetails, mortise and tenon joints and dado joints using traditional hand methods.

Woodworking Basics

A three-day workshop completing two projects

Project Layout Discover the important steps of laying out a project in preparation for accurate joinery as you build two projects.

Project Construction Establish the skills of hand tool joinery and fine woodworking. Develop the three most important joints used universally in woodworking as you build a dovetailed Shaker candle box and an arched wall shelf.

Developing Hand Skills We designed these projects to reinforce the traditional hand skills and techniques learned in our one-day Woodworking With Hand Tools workshop.

Prerequisite: Woodworking with Hand Tools

Occasional Table

A three-day workshop

Hand-Building Furniture In this hands-on workshop, students develop their first piece of furniture from solid black walnut entirely by hand.

Developing Hand Tool Techniques Hand-cut mortise and tenon joints remain the signature of all frame construction. Students develop further hand tool woodworking skills as they form the joinery and arched aprons to this occasional table.

Finishing Techniques Preparing a project for final finishing is one of the most important steps to completing any woodworking project. We take you step by step as you hand plane and scrape all the parts of your project in preparation for sanding and applying a traditional hand rubbed finish.

Prerequisite: Woodworking Basics