Woodcraft Class

This past weekend was the beginning of a four day furniture making class I am teaching at the Tucson Woodcraft. We are building walnut side tables and covering numerous forms of traditional woodworking joinery including draw bore pinned mortise and ten0ns, integral tenon breadboard ends and hand cut dovetails.  There are 4 people taking the class and all seem to be doing well with the project. I am looking forward to seeing 4 finished side tables by the end of next Sunday. Here is a look at woodworking in action.

At the end of the second day of the class everyone has completed the main joinery for their side tables. All of the tables are dry fit and the breadboard ends are about half complete. I believe that folks are learning quite a bit about the process of joinery and I have heard the phrase “This is a lot more work than I ever imagined.”  I know people are enjoying the process. I have seen students purchasing chisels, starrett squares and even a hollow chisel mortiser.

There is a wide range of skill levels coming into the class. Some folks have made two or three projects based on the mortise and tenon joint. Others are working on their very first. Everyone seems to be very adept at picking up the technique and working the joinery with hand tools is connecting each person more closely to their creations.

The most satisfying aspect of the class is the fact that people have been working nearly 100% of the time. Everyone is keeping busy and we are getting a lot of work done in a very short amount of time.

I will post a progress report after next week. If you live in the Tucson area and you are interested in learning to build your own furniture send me an email or give me a call. There will be several classes in the next year from hall tables, to small cabinets and mirror frames.

-Sam

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