Have you considered escaping the Texas heat this coming August? Why not come up to Maine for a weekend workshop. There are many different ones to choose from but I might be biased in in telling you about a particular one! I am delighted to get the opportunity to teach a 2 day […]
We will be having a special hand tool techniques class this coming Thursday and Friday, October 9-10th. We had a special request from one of our students wanting to learn more in-depth techniques on hand tool usage, so we are catering this class to you, the user. We will cover what you want to learn–you […]
Few things make the difference between success and failure as a fine, hand tool woodworker more than the sharpness of your tools. And nothing makes woodworking more frustrating than a dull edge. In this course, Frank Strazza will show you his secrets for honing a razor edge on your woodworking tools. What You’ll Learn in the […]
I have been meaning to write about this class for a while but you know how time seems to slip by without you knowing! We recently finished a wonderful blanket chest course, with 4 students completing their chests. They were made with cherry as the primary wood and curly maple as the panel wood. […]
Well we just finished up another great advanced furniture class. Although it was hot outside we kept the A/C cranking and everyone had a great time. Especially at 3:00 when we took our afternoon ice cream break at the Café. For those that have never been to our shop, our Homestead Café is a stone’s […]
Wow, we’re done! No it didn’t take 5 weeks, it’s just that I have finally recovered enough to write about it! It really was a great 2 weeks with 5 enthusiastic students. Each one completed a dresser with over 75 hand cut dovetails! The drawers were done with half blind dovetails in the front with […]
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 […]
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 […]
We just completed a fine tool box course. Each student built a very handsome box complete with 4 drawers that were veneered in black walnut which we resawed. I chose a superior grade of alder for each box which was absolutely lovely to work with. Traditionally tool boxes were built using pine because it is […]