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Class: Box Making with Erik Curtis

By decommission

Erik Curtis

Box Making

August 7 – 11, 2023

$1,575

Course description:  Everything is a box. Really. Look around. Kitchen cabinets? Simple boxes. Built-in library? Boxes with an open side. Chest of drawers? Small boxes in a big box. Everything is a box. And still the box has not yet been fully explored.

 In this class we will cover the basics of box design, from proportioning a simple lidded box to the tactile experience of the end user, as well as a variety of techniques used to create boxes of all shapes and sizes. Techniques may include dovetails, pinned rabbets, carving, steam bending, laminating, hand tool sharpening, hardware installation, and more. Students will be introduced to a variety of forms for inspiration, experience a guided design process, and be tasked with building a box of their own design using a combination of machine and hand tool techniques. Where you take your box is entirely up to you! Whether you are new to box making or a seasoned woodworker, this class will help you to break free of simple cubical forms–to think outside the box, as it were.

Suggest Tool List:

  • A good set of chisels
  • mallet
  • hand plane
  • block plane
  • handful of carving gouges (if desired)
  • combo square
  • marking knife
  • marking/slicing gauge

Lunches provided.

Register

Class: Foundations of Furniture Making

By decommission

Foundations of Furniture Making

With Rob Spiece

March 25 - March 30, 2024

$1,475

Foundations of Furniture Making

In this course, we’ll dive deeply into the techniques and fundamentals of solid wood furniture making.  We’ll use all the tooling available in the modern home shop and the hand tools that have been used in woodworking forever.  I don’t ascribe much to the concept of being a “hand tool woodworker” or a “power tool woodworker”.  I’ll use the best option at hand to produce the finished results I’m looking for.  The reality is those decisions are often made by what tooling is available to you – or sometimes the mood that strikes you.  You’ll be working in a well-equipped shop, but we won’t rely on high priced equipment exclusively.  There are many ways to cut a mortise – we’ll take you through the process of laying out and chopping by hand, using a plunge router, a mortiser, a drill press, and a domino.  It’s my goal that when you leave this course, you can adapt what you’ve learned to your own shop.  We’ll spend a lot of time on the table saw, with routers, jointers & planers, an array of hand-held power tools and then we’ll fine tune joinery at the bench with hand tools. Continued below…

Foundations in Furniture Making

In this course, we’ll dive deeply into the techniques and fundamentals of solid wood furniture making.  We’ll use all the tooling available in the modern home shop and the hand tools that have been used in woodworking forever.  I don’t ascribe much to the concept of being a “hand tool woodworker” or a “power tool woodworker”.  I’ll use the best option at hand to produce the finished results I’m looking for.  The reality is those decisions are often made by what tooling is available to you – or sometimes the mood that strikes you.  You’ll be working in a well-equipped shop, but we won’t rely on high priced equipment exclusively.  There are many ways to cut a mortise – we’ll take you through the process of laying out and chopping by hand, using a plunge router, a mortiser, a drill press, and a domino.  It’s my goal that when you leave this course, you can adapt what you’ve learned to your own shop.  We’ll spend a lot of time on the table saw, with routers, jointers & planers, an array of hand-held power tools and then we’ll fine tune joinery at the bench with hand tools.

From Scratch

No parts will be prepped for you in this course.  We’ll begin with rough sawn material and finish with a completed piece of furniture.  Learning the craft of woodworking is far more than fancy tools and techniques.  A deep knowledge of the material is at the core of this class.  Hundreds of decisions are made throughout the initial phases of material selection and milling that have a direct impact on the finished quality of the work and you won’t miss out on any of it.  You’ll start the week with a pile of rough sawn boards and end it with a piece ready for finish. 

Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced

Whether you are an absolute beginner or even an advanced woodworker, you’ll leave this course with a renewed sense of ability and inspiration.  For those just starting, you can learn how to safely and efficiently operate woodworking machinery and design furniture built upon traditional joinery techniques.  For advanced woodworkers, a week spent with a professional furniture maker will boost your efficiency, productivity, and bag of tricks – allowing you to make a greater impact in the limited time you may have in your home shops.  There will be plenty of one-on-one time in this course, and we’re happy to tailor the experience to you.

The Project

The project pictured is a Shaker-inspired riff on the hall table.  While we’ll all be working on a hall table, the design is up to you.  We’ll give you several options, but I’ll also encourage you to bring some of yourself to the table.  We’ll discuss what makes a successful design and why, then help you to realize your own ideas.  This project is an ideal piece for a thorough grounding in furniture making techniques.

Required:

  • Safety glasses
  • Hearing protection
  • Tape measure
  • Sharpie
  • Pencils

Optional:

  • Shoulder/rabbet plane
  • Block plane
  • 3/8, ½ chisels
  • Random orbit sander

All Lunches Provided at Pine Croft

Register for March

Class: Introduction to Woodworking

By decommission


Date(s): November 7 through November 12, 2022. Six class days. 9am – 5pm

Cost: $1225

Instructor: Andy Glenn

Description: This class is designed for anyone interested in a full week immersion into a furniture making workshop. The class is designed to use both machine tools and hand tools in making a small, dovetailed keepsake box. The box will be a collection of all the skills and techniques we cover throughout the week.

We’ll work together, generally following this schedule:

  • Monday: Hand tool discussion and sharpening our chisels
  • Tuesday: Machine Room; milling parts for the tripod table, covering common machinery in a woodworking shop
  • Wednesday: Lathe work; turn parts for a tripod table
  • Thursday: Table assembly and hand tool practice
  • Friday: Dovetail box
  • Saturday: Dovetail box

This class is about skills, techniques and a couple projects. My hope, after going through this class, is that you will feel comfortable returning to your shop to make your next project.

The hand tool list is needed for constructing the small box. The tools are not specialized for this class though. They are tools commonly found within a furniture making kit. We’ll have extra to share if your kit is incomplete.

It’s my intention that we have a conversation, either before or after you register for the class, to discuss the tool kit.  Recommending tools is tricky….there are good hand tools, though they are most often expensive.  Then there are cheaper tools, which require more effort to set up and (frequently) don’t do the intended task as well as the higher priced tool.  But there are exceptions, especially among used tools.  My hope is that you purchase tools to fit your intentions going forward (no point in spending a fortune if you’re testing out whether you enjoy woodworking…likewise, no reason to purchase cheaply made tools if you want to collect tools to last your lifetime).  It is nuanced, and is why I’d love to discuss tools before you purchase tools for this class.  My email: glenna@berea.edu

Lunch and materials provided in  class cost.

Tool List:

recommended:

chisels (1/4″, 1/2″ and 1″ or equivalent sizes)

hand plane: either a #3 or #4

dovetail saw

marking gauge (a cutting gauge with a knife instead of a pin)

combination square

bevel gauge

card scraper

mallet (we have extras as well)

tape measure

optional:

safety glasses

hearing protection

sharpening stone (if you have one…no need to purchase one if you do not)