Summer Schedule
Class and Workshop Descriptions and Costs
- Joinery Concentration: Carcases with Gary Rogowski
- Joinery Concentration: Frames with Gary Rogowski
- Workbench Skills: Hand Planes with Jeff O’Brien and Jack Reynolds
- Wood Window Sash Restoration with China Ageros
- Greene & Greene Side Table with Gary Rogowski
- Design with Nature: Developing the Natural Form with Michael Cullen
- Demi-lune Table with Will Neptune
- Dovetailed Hope Chest with Gary Rogowski
- Japanese Hand Planes with Dale Brotherton
- Shaker Breakfast Table with Gary Rogowski
- Hand Tool Concentration: Tools for the Shop with Jeff Zens
- Finishing! with Roland Johnson
- Elevated Seating: Rogowski Stool with Gary Rogowski
- FIND YOUR PLACE AT THE STUDIO
Joinery Concentration: Carcases
with Gary Rogowski
Monday – Friday, June 7 – 11, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Beginner to Advanced Beginner skill levels welcome.
$750, plus $50 materials. Contact us for complete tool list.
Carcase construction is box construction. Learn the dozen ways you can build a box and you can take on any carcase project from a jewelry box to a full cabinet job. Carcase joinery is the focus of our first week of joinery. Learn how to lay-out and cut a variety of carcase joints using hand tools, machines, and routers.
Get practice cutting handmade dovetails, get tricks for machining accurate finger joints, learn how to rout sliding dovetails and carcase mortises. Learn about simple cabinet joints cut on the router table, how to make flawless joints on the band saw, and how to use your hand tools to make each joint fit perfectly.
You are surrounded by a variety of tools in the woodshop and most of them can cut joinery if you know their secrets. Come and learn with the author of the Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery.
Register by mail
Joinery Concentration: Carcases $750
Deposit: Joinery Concentration: Carcases $375
Materials $50
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Joinery Concentration: Frames
with Gary Rogowski
Monday – Friday, June 14 – 18, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Beginner to Advanced Beginner skill levels welcome.
$750, plus $50 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
Frames are fundamental in woodworking. Learn to make them quickly, accurately, and beautifully and you’ve improved your woodworking threefold. Building frames encompasses everything from picture frames to chair making. Learn how to cut frame joinery using a mixture of hand tools, power tools, and routers.
Learn to cut simple lap joints, strengthened miters for picture frames, and discover half a dozen ways to cut mortise and tenon joints. Get methods for accurate lay-out of your frame joints and try your hand at hand cutting blind mortises for leg and apron pieces. Learn routing techniques for through wedged tenons for trestle construction. See how to make raised panels for doors or cabinet sides. Learn frame joinery and its array of possibilities with the author of the Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery.
Joinery Concentration: Frames $750
Deposit: Joinery Concentration: Frames $375
Materials $50
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Take both Joinery Concentrations and save $150!
Joinery Concentration: Carcases & Frames $1350
Materials $100
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Workbench Skills: Hand Planes
Monday – Friday, June 21 – 25, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Beginner to Advanced Beginner skill levels welcome.
$725, plus $25 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
How many times have you wished your hand planes worked better? Or that the antique Stanley on your shelf worked at all? Come to learn techniques for turning your old clunker into a hand plane that sings through wood. Learn how to search out and buy old tools effectively. Discover what you need to avoid in old tools and what parts you can replace.
Get methods for sharpening and fine tuning a variety of bench planes, block planes, and joinery style planes. Then develop techniques for using your hand planes. From rough flattening of stock with a scrub plane to edge joining with a shooting board and jointer plane, learn the tremendous variety of jobs that hand planes can tackle.
Discover which plane everyone needs to buy new straight off the shelf. Learn about using your hand plane for stock prep, as a precursor to sanding, and as a final tool for fine tuning a chair leg or the door of a cabinet. These tools are magical when working properly. Come and get practical methods so you can use your hand planes effectively.
Register by mail
Workbench Skills: Hand Planes $725
Deposit: Workbench Skills: Hand Planes $362.50
Materials $25
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Wood Window Sash Restoration
Saturday- Sunday, June 26-27, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Beginner to Advanced Beginner skill levels welcome.
$225.
Bring your own or practice on one provided; get hands on experience restoring your old wooden windows sashes. Learn the steps and the tricks of the trade to make your old wooden windows look and act like new!
Register by mail
Wood Window Sash Restoration
Greene & Greene Side Table
with Gary Rogowski
TWO WEEKS! Monday – Thursday, June 28 – July 1, 2010 & July 5 – 8, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Advanced Beginner to Intermediate skill levels welcome.
$1200, plus $250 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
The furniture style of Greene & Greene is classic. Using elements of Art Nouveau, Oriental furniture, and Arts & Crafts joinery, these architects forged a style that is considered timeless today. Come and take your woodworking to the next level as you build this classic Side Table. As featured in Fine Woodworking #171, this table will challenge you to build precisely and cleanly. With our eight day format, you will also have the time to complete this project with the details that will make it shine.
We work for four days our first week learning hand and router techniques for leg and apron construction. Then we shape our apron parts, learn how to accurately edge join boards for a table top and get assembly strategies that will make each of your glue-ups simpler.A long weekend will give students and their families time to recharge and explore the beauty of a Portland summer. Or students can work through the weekend on their project with our Studio assistants. Week Two we finish up the details of the piece inlaying square plugs, carving legs, and getting techniques for applying the breadboard ends on the top. We finish with finishing tips and techniques including stains, top coats, and rubbing out a finish. This format promises to give each student the extra time they need to truly create their own masterwork.
Greene & Greene Side Table $1200
Deposit: Greene & Greene Side Table $400
Materials $250
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Design with Nature: Developing the Natural Form
with Michael Cullen
Monday – Friday, July 12 – 16, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All skill levels welcome!
$725, plus $50 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
Designing with nature challenges the maker to “keep the tree in the wood” as Michael Cullen puts it. Learning to design with the natural qualities of wood while making a piece look untouched by technique or tools is a lesson in restraint and sensitivity. Discover your abilities to see designs and forms in natural elements. Learn to work with found wood and materials using live edges, color, and texture to create sculptural and functional pieces.
Come to work with wood in non-traditional ways integrating pattern, carving texture, burning, and color application to enhance natural forms. Discover sculptural methods for working with raw wood and learn to adapt techniques for individual forms of expression. Plan on a week of exciting creativity that promotes the idea of working freely to make discoveries.
Register by mail
Design with Nature: Developing the Natural Form $725
Deposit: Design with Nature: Developing the Natural Form $362.50
Materials $50
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Demi-lune Table
with Will Neptune
Monday – Friday, July 26 – 30, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Advanced Beginner to Intermediate skill levels welcome.
$725, plus $250 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
Learn the classic woodworking techniques of the Federal Period with a master woodworker. Federal Period makers built card tables in a wide range of shapes but almost always relied on curved surfaces with veneer and inlay for a dazzling effect. The most common pattern was the “demi-lune”, with a curved rim built up in layers by “brick laying” an apron. As a hall table, we eliminate the hinged leg and top while still retaining the veneer and inlay for this stunning design.
Discover how to brick lay the curved rim and template rout its shape. Learn methods for applying veneer to a curved surface. Joinery on the curved rim we will accomplish using simple shop made fixtures. Also get practice tapering legs and applying stringing and banding that you will make in class. Each student will make a sample leg, with a chance to try several inlay patterns, including curved stringing, sand shaded panels and bell flowers. Depending on how much detail you want to add to your table, be prepared to complete the table in class or assemble the inlaid parts at home. Come and learn about the techniques and details of the Federal Period.
Register by mail
Demi-lune Table $725
Deposit: Demi-lune Table $362.50
Materials $250
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Dovetailed Hope Chest
with Gary Rogowski
Monday – Friday, August 2 – 6, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Beginner to Advanced Beginner skill levels welcome.
$750, plus $200 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
Hand cut dovetails are the epitome of classic woodworking skills. And there is no better method for building any style carcase than with dovetails. Build a Hope Chest this week using hand cut through dovetails and improve your hand work and all of your woodworking skills. Hand cut dovetailing is relaxing and satisfying work. It focuses your attention through precision, repetition, and careful adjustments. But along the way this week you’ll also learn methods for sharpening, get sawing techniques and skills for fitting and fixing your dovetails.
This chest is as beautiful as it is practical. With 12″ of edge laminated cherry prepped and ready for work, you’ll start by learning how to lay-out dovetails for looks and for strength. Get practice with your sawing and chopping skills as you cut your tails and then learn techniques for marking and sawing out pins. Come to build your heirloom chest while you gather confidence for more projects to come. Come learn dovetailing with The Dovetail Dr. [See Fine Woodworking, Issue #201 and the Dovetail Dr. video on Fine Woodworking web site.]
Dovetailed Hope Chest $750
Deposit: Dovetailed Hope Chest $375
Materials $200
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Japanese Hand Planes
with Dale Brotherton
Friday – Sunday, August 13 – 15, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All skill levels welcome!
$450, plus $25 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
Learn the secrets to sharpening and tuning Japanese Hand Planes the traditional way. These legendary tools can perform for you just as they do for the master carpenters of Japan. Create paper thin shavings without tear out, finishing your wood far smoother than sandpaper could ever hope to!
Discover first how to prepare your water stones. Learn basic set up and sharpening techniques on your chisels. Practice removing and resetting the handle, fitting the handle ring, preparing the back, dealing with the hollow ground, the blade angles and the subtleties of honing with Japanese water stones. Sharpening is done by hand with no guides as in the traditional manner.
Flatten the back of your plane iron using the “Uradashi” technique of forming the blade with a hammer and anvil. Then we hone on a steel plate for perfect accuracy. Next learn how to shape, hone, and fit the chip breaker to the blade. Finally learn how to micro adjust the blade settings and make shavings that will astound you! Wood will be available for those with time to practice basic chisel and plane use techniques. Come and learn the traditional Japanese approach to hand planes with a Master Carpenter.
Register by mail
Japanese Hand Planes $450
Deposit: Japanese Hand Tools $225
Materials $25
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Shaker Breakfast Table
with Gary Rogowski
Monday – Friday, August 16 – 20, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Advanced Beginner to Intermediate skill levels welcome.
$750, plus $200 materials
Simple is beautiful. This breakfast table is patterned after a graceful Shaker design but is scaled a bit smaller for intimate dining. The Shaker aesthetic combines simplicity and utility and makes this table both a visual delight and useful in a variety of settings. The design also allows us to explore a variety of technical issues including choices of joinery for the trestles, through wedged mortises for the stretcher, wood movement and stabilizing large wooden panels.
Come ready to learn hand tool and power tool skills as we’ll combine a good deal of hand work with machine techniques. Hand planes, chisel work, and spokeshave shaping will all be featured in this workshop as well as routing for mortise and tenon work. This table will soon be featured on the Fine Woodworking Magazine web site as Gary shows some of the techniques he uses in its construction.
But there’s nothing like building the real thing to get the knowledge and the satisfaction of building a classic.
Register by mail
Shaker Breakfast Table $750
Deposit: Shaker Breakfast Table $375
Materials $200
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Hand Tool Concentration: Tools for the Shop
with Jeff Zens
Monday – Friday, August 23 – 27, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All skill levels welcome!
$725, plus $75 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
Working with hand tools is a joy. They give a woodworker satisfaction like no table saw or router ever could. Learn how to use your hand tools more effectively as we build hand tools and accessories for the shop. Discover proper lay-out, measuring and marking skills to begin each project. Learn sawing, joinery, and shaping techniques as you build your own mallet, cutting gauge, dovetail lay-out tool, hand plane, and saw horses.
This week will be a great introduction to woodworking for some. For others it will be a needed respite for those who have some experience but want to fine tune their hand tool skills.
Register by mail
Hand Tool Concentration: Tools for the Shop $725
Deposit: Hand Tool Concentration: Tools for the Shop $362.50
Materials $75
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Finishing!
with Roland Johnson
Monday – Friday, September 13 – 17, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All skill levels welcome!
$725, plus $100 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
Finishing is part chemistry, part alchemy. There is science and art involved in a good finish to a project. Furniture makers usually grab a can of something to slop on and then a can of something else to fix the first mistake. Come and learn the right way to finish from a finishing expert and Fine Woodworking Contributing Editor. From surface prep and colors and stains to topcoats, rubbing out, and final waxing, this class covers all aspects of creating a fine furniture finish.
Explore the use of dyes, stains, paints, and glazes to get precise repeatable colors and grain shading. Learn about stain brushing and multi-color stain layering that brings art to simple finishes. Get solid information on milk paints and modern acrylics and enamel paints to highlight any piece. Choosing a top coat is as important a decision as which wood to use. Learn how to select and use solvent and water based finishes to achieve the desired protection and finish sheen. Get practice on sample panels using wiping, padding, brushing, and spraying techniques. Learn how to achieve flawless finishes with rubbing out techniques from a Master Finisher. [See Roland Johnson’s great Hot Rod Varnish in FWW #198]
Register by mail
Finishing! $725
Deposit: Finishing! $362.50
Materials $75
One-Time Registration Fee $25
Elevated Seating: Rogowski Stool
with Gary Rogowski
Monday – Friday, September 20 – 24, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Advanced Beginner to Intermediate skill levels welcome.
$750, plus $150 materials. Contact us for a complete tool list.
This stool project first saw the light of day in 1978 in Gary’s shop. Influenced by several Scandinavian and Chinese pieces, it’s been a favorite design to build through the years. Built entirely with through wedged tenons, it’s a design that is comfortable, timeless, and durable. Learn about the properties of compound angled joinery as well as the value of jigs, templates, router, and hand work in this challenging class.
There are several important mortising and shaping jigs that each student will need to master. Learn mortising techniques for the plunge router, router table tenon cuts, and shaping legs and rails with jigs and templates.
You’ll get practice with both power and hand tool techniques as you shape the seat with a body grinder and spokeshave. Discover how valuable your spokeshave really is for shaping and get practice with the scraper. Assembly of this stool is true excitement in the wood shop but in the end you’ll walk away with a classic design you’ll be proud to say you made.
Register by mail
Elevated Seating: Rogowski Stool $750
Deposit: Elevated Seating: Rogowski Stool $375
Materials $150
One-Time Registration Fee $25
FIND YOUR PLACE AT THE STUDIO
Novice: For those with absolutely no woodworking experience. Feel comfortable in class with other folks who haven’t laid their hands on hand tools before either!
Beginner: Taken our novice class? If you’ve done a little measuring, sawing, or planing here and there, you’ll also feel comfortable in these classes. However, students with varying levels of experience will all find something of value. The Hand Tool Skills class falls into this category.
Advanced Beginner: You’ve had some experience at the bench or with building things, but joinery and sharpening are still mysteries to you.
Intermediate: For students who have taken previous beginning level classes or come to us with a fair amount of woodworking experience. You should be able to take any class offered here.
Gift Certificates Available in any dollar amount. Expires one year from purchase date.
