Fundamentals of Woodworking 2023B starting July ’23

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Date/Time
Date(s) - 2023/07/23
10:00 am - 12:30 pm

Location
U-Pick Hardwood Lumber

Categories


Fundamentals of Woodworking Class 2023
St Louis Woodworkers Guild
February  28, 2023

Instructors: Bill Schuchat and James Payne

A new class is will begin on July 23, 2023.  The Guild Safety Class is a prerequisite for this class.  If you are not familiar with the power tools in the Guild Shop, you should take the “Beginners Woodworking Class” prior to this class.

You may be interested in this class simply by the title even though you do not know what the Fundamentals of Woodworking are. So before you begin, let me explain what this class will be. It will present information on wood characteristics, joinery, and tools and will lead you through two projects that sequentially build upon one another. We will begin by teaching how to sharpen tools and by machining a board “four square” so that you have reference surfaces to work from. Without reference surfaces, making pieces that will fit together to make a project would be difficult at best.

Some of you will be fast learners; others will experience more frustrations. Practice, practice, practice will become the watchword of the day. Woodworking skills develop over time and you will learn to be patient with yourself. Your instructor(s) will work with you to overcome your frustrations including extra sessions outside the structured class times if you want.

If there is sufficient interest we will have both a Morning session (9:30 AM-12:30 PM) and an Afternoon session (1 PM-4 PM). The first class will be at U-Pick Hardwoods and will be a combined session and will begin at 10 AM.

What follows is some information that you may not be aware of that you should consider:

1. The class fee is $300, non-refundable. The class will run for 10 sessions. If students have difficulty finishing the second project by the end of class 10, we may extend the time for completion and the instructors will be available during weekend Open Shop times to assist you in completing your project.

2. The first class will be at U-Pick Hardwood where you will learn about buying hardwood, some basics of reading plans and how to translate that into purchasing wood. You will be given an opportunity to try out two types of dovetail saws so you can decide which type to buy. Another tool that you need to buy is a mallet;  there are a variety of styles in our shop; find one that feels comfortable to you.  You will need to buy your tools and to buy wood for the first project before the second class.

3. The first project will be a Tool Tote. For the second project, you will have a choice from several plans: a Tool Chest, a side table, and some other similar pieces. The skills you develop will apply to all the other furniture you may build in the future. You will be given an option to modify the Tool Chest design to make a night stand or small dresser, if you so choose.

4. The second class will teach you how to sharpen tools and will include the first steps of creating your Tool Tote.

5. You will be expected to buy tools that will be needed for the class. The tool list is attached and can be a significant expense. The list is actually two lists: A Quality Tool list which totals approximately $450 of tools and an Economical Tool list which totals about one-third of that amount. See the link at the bottom of this post. So if you are sure that you are serious about woodworking, the Quality list will be the right one for you. Alternately, if you are not so sure, you may want to go with the Economical list and upgrade later if you decide woodworking is right for you.

6. You will also have to pay for wood for your projects. This can vary depending on which woods you select, but may total several hundred dollars.

7. This class will be approximately twice per month for project One and once per month for the second project; see the exact schedule below. You will be expected to do homework and keep up with the schedule.

8. The emphasis of the class will be on developing craftsmanship that applies to both the use of hand tools and power tools. You will develop your woodworking skills by learning “hand skills” such as cutting dovetails and cutting mortise & tenon joints. Learning how to do these tasks are valuable lessons that also apply to the use of power tools. In addition to being taught various skills, you will be given handouts for the various techniques that you will be shown and YouTube links where you will be able to see, at home, other experienced woodworkers doing these tasks proficiently. You will also be shown how to use machinery in the guild’s shop to safely do some of the more tedious tasks such as sawing, jointing, and planing lumber.

The schedule for the 10 classes is as follows:

Lesson
1 7/23/2023 Fundamentals 2023A1 @Upick Buying Hardwood
2 8/13/2023 Fundamentals 2023A2              Sharpen-SquareUp a Board
3 8/27/2023 Fundamentals 2023A3              Saw Dovetails
4 9/10/2023 Fundamentals 2023A4              Remove Dovetail Waste
5 9/24/2023 Fundamentals 2023A5              Dados & Rabbets
6 10/22/2023 Fundamentals 2023A6                Mortises
7 11/12/2023 Fundamentals 2023A7              Tenons
8 12/10/2023 Fundamentals 2023A8               Half Blind Dovetails
9 1/14/2024 Fundamentals 2023A9                Finishing
10 2/11/2024 Fundamentals 2023A10    Discussion of “What should be the Next Step?”

See this link for the Tool Lists (2 pages).

Bookings

Registrations are closed for this event.