This past week we have been working quite hard on 5 handmade dressers. This week will be a dovetail extravaganza; as we have all the cases completed, our attention will be turned to the drawers. As the students worked on the cases side, planing, scraping and sanding, I hear the occasional, “Oh no, there is […]
We are well into our annual dresser course with 5 students, each making a beautiful 4-drawer dresser that they will take home at the end of this 2 week class. The week started by hand planing and scraping the insides of the chest sides, then each person hand cut 8 dado joints and then […]
We just completed another rocking chair course this past week. We had a great group of guys and everyone had a great time. We had three chairs made out of walnut, and Jerry made his out of cherry. One of the unique points of our school is that we do our best to make sure […]
As I stated in my last post I have gotten a bit behind on writing in the blog. I was faced with the question on whether I should just write starting from now, or if I should go back and write about all the wonderful classes that we had, even though some of them were […]
Our first 2 week Dresser course ended quite successfully on Saturday, May 28th (I am getting a little behind with my posts!). Bob left around 4 o’clock with a finished dresser, complete with oil. He was quite happy! I turned some maple knobs for him which contrast nicely with the cherry. Here is Bob oiling […]
Time seems to be flying by as Don and Bob are nearing the finish line on their dressers. Each one of the guys is making a fine dresser out of solid cherry, complete with hand-cut dovetails and hand-planed drawer bottoms, as well as a beautiful mortise-and-tenon back with raised panels. Here they are cutting the […]
Well we finished the model dresser for our dresser course and I am quite pleased on how it turned out. Our dresser course is well underway, actually we are on the fifth day of the class and the students are moving along quite well. (More on this in the next post.) As promised, I have […]
Tim, our new apprentice and I have been working feverishly on the prototype for our new 4- drawer dresser class. This class will be chocked full of wonderful opportunities to learn many new skills as well as the possibility of improving your dovetail skills! We have cut the dados by hand with a saw and […]
10 students left Saturday evening, tired but satisfied, having finished a fine heirloom Craftsman Style Rocking Chair. It’s always a great experience when after you have worked so long cutting joints and shaping wood it all finally comes together. Getting the shoulders to fit tightly on the rockers is one of the more challenging elements […]
This week we have 10 students hard at work, each one making a fine craftsman rocking chair! Here is Jonathan helping John glue up the back of his cherry chair.We have a father and daughter taking the course as well as another father and son duo. I think this is a great way to spend […]