Hand Tool Joinery $995

The case for hand tools in a machine environment - NEW 6 DAY FORMAT

Prerequisites:         Some knowledge of hand dovetailing (Read Ernie's Book Woodworker's Guide to Dovetails)

Max Enrollment:     3

Price:                      $995 (includes all instruction time, materials) Students supply their own lunch. A $75 nonrefundable deposit is required to secure a spot in this class with the balance due two weeks prior to the course beginning.

Dates Offered:        (Monday-Saturday) August 8-13, 2022 from 8:30am-4:30pm

In this 6 day course you will learn authentic joinery from the time when furniture was built to last. The good news is that this joinery is just as applicable today as it was in the 18th century. In Handtool Joinery participants are shown that hand tools are still unmatched in a machine environment. This is learned in the making a small cupboard out of sassafras (measuring 12” wide x 31” high x 6” deep). Sassafras is a beautiful wood that is easy to plane and chisel and smells heavenly in the working. The cupboard has one drawer below the panel door. In the building process you will learn to hand cut through and half-blind dovetails, mortise and tenons, grooves and dadoes.

The proper use of hand planes will be demystified and these indispensable tools will be stalwart old friends by the time you leave for home. Carcass construction (the main body and drawer) is taught employing two types of dovetail joints, through and half-blind. Mortise and tenon joints will be employed in the face frame and haunched tenons in the panel door. The two shelves for the cabinet are adjustable via a time honored, all wood set of notched racks.

These construction details will give you complete familiarity and confidence in the back saw, bevel chisels and mortise chisels. This foundation course is a must for any aspiring woodworker. No prior experience is necessary and we have added a day to ground students in hand-cutting dovetails and mortise and tenon joints, uses of handplanes, etc.

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